E-Cycling as a healthy lifestyle

Both have top-level sports careers behind them, which taught them discipline, performance and respect for their own limits. Today, though, they agree that the e-bike has opened up a whole new dimension of cycling for them, one they see as more intense, more varied and more fun.

End of a career? More like a new beginning

Richard "Gaspi" Gasperotti, legendary freerider and Red Bull Rampage competitor, approaches life after his racing career without sentiment. "Age is just a number. What matters is how you approach yourself and life. I want to do things 100 percent for as long as I can," says Gaspi.

Mišo Kolář, who raced as Peter Sagan's domestique at world-class road races such as the Tour de France, the Giro d'Italia and Paris–Roubaix, is closing his professional chapter in a similar spirit: cycling hasn't stopped for him. It has just changed form. Gaspi and Mišo share one moment: the shift from racing to exploring. And that is exactly where e-bikes became a natural continuation of their story.

The e-bike as freedom, not relief

One of the most common myths is that e-bikes are for lazy people. Both ambassadors have a completely different experience. "An e-bike is hard work. It uses your whole body, not just your legs. I can't imagine doing this when I'm old," says Gaspi, who first came across e-bikes about seven years ago through his collaboration with Bosch eBike Systems and the Mondraker brand.

At first he didn't believe in it, but he quickly realised a new world was opening up in front of him. "It really put new blood in my veins," he says of the moment a new phase of cycling began for him. Mišo Kolář sees it very similarly, only from the angle of an athlete used to gruelling hours on the road. "There's no such thing as a boring day on an e-bike. It doesn't matter whether you're going uphill or downhill, it's all fun. And above all, it's worth getting on the e-bike even if I only have an hour, which I'd never do with a road bike," he says.

A healthy lifestyle on the move

For both of them, the e-bike isn't an escape from sport but an extension of it. The key idea is movement without barriers, whether of time, terrain or mindset. Gaspi says that he used to wonder whether it was worth going out "just for a short ride". Today he simply gets on and goes. No overthinking.

"I don't think about it. I just ride. An e-bike is a great tool for discovering new trails. I used to hesitate and didn't feel like climbing a hill only to find out at the top that the trail leads nowhere. Now I don't care. Worst case, I turn back. I get to ride more trails and I'm just as tired as on a regular bike," he explains. This approach captures the essence of the healthy lifestyle that e-bikes support: regular exercise, more frequent activity and a lower mental barrier to jumping on the bike and heading out.

Sport without an age limit

The two ambassadors also share an interesting view on age and stereotypes. Gaspi rejects the idea that e-bikes are for older people: "If you only buy one when you're old, you just use it like a tram. You'll discover its real potential if you start earlier." He adds that active sport can be part of your life well past fifty.

A new definition of cycling

The stories of Richard Gasperotti and Mišo Kolář show that e-bikes are not a replacement for sport but its evolution. They push the limits of what you can fit in, experience and explore. And that is where their greatest strength lies. They don't take physical intensity away from cycling, they add freedom to it.

As both athletes show, a healthy lifestyle isn't only about performance. It means regular exercise, the joy of riding and the chance to be outdoors more often than before. And in that sense the e-bike is more than just a means of transport. It's a new way to keep moving for as long as you possibly can.

Gaspi talked more about e-bikes at KolemKolem Fest. Watch the CzechCrunch × KolemKolem interview, or find a loop around Lipno to ride on your e-bike in our route planner.

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