As an old person I know that it's great to be young, and it's even better when you're young and fit enough to enjoy bike-touring. When young you think that you're immortal and that nothing could happen to you and that unthinking arrogance comes through in some of the posts regarding the use of e-assist bikes in this thread.
I've been lucky enough to bike-tour for around forty years and for that time cycling for me was not just a sport or a hobby, it was a way of life which included my friends, my cycling club and importantly my self-image. That life came to abrupt stop however when I suffered two heart attacks in succession, both happening while cycling.
No matter how hard I tried...and I did try hard...it was then impossible to keep up with my cycling mates after losing a third of my large heart muscle. An e-assist bike allowed me to rejoin my club-mates on club runs and share again the sense of belonging and camaraderie which is such a large part of being a cyclist. Now for me that's important and makes this pointless wrangling about definitions not only meaningless but downright silly and petty.
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"Reading maketh a full man; conference a ready man; and writing an exact man". Francis Bacon