The Proliferation of Weird Cycling Contraptions

A weird experience this morning, riding out of the town of Muiden on my way to work. It was a beautiful morning with virtually no wind, some very light fog here and there, and temperatures that were already very mild. I was moving along just fine in a short sleeve jersey and a vest. Shorts, obviously. I never go hard in the morning; it just doesn't feel right, shortly after getting out of bed and with the whole work day still ahead of you. Still, I think I was doing 18-19 m/h, happily spinning a 39x16 gear when some guy riding a kind of hybrid bike blew by me at maybe 25 m/h. It was the weirdest thing: he was wearing street clothes, sitting pretty straight up, and you could see that his tires weren't the skinniest around. He was pushing, but the elements in the picture just did not fit together. I mean, there are probably people (guys my age or older, like this guy) who could come up with the kind of power to move a bike like that at this speed, but they're very few and far between, and they probably would not be riding to work that way in street clothes. The ensemble did make a considerable amount of noise, which I first attributed to the fat tires. But then I thought: Cancellara!, as in: electric motor! (Sorry man!) And after a brief Google image search I think I've figured out what we had there, this morning. It's the Trek Ride +, or something like it. First I had to get used to these cigar-type vehicles people here use to "ride" to work, and now this. At least in the case of the electric bike you can choose to draft off it, the way you would with a moped or scooter. Come to think of it, it's really good for that because there are no fumes. It will look weird, but just in case he passes me again on the way home, I think I'll jump on his wheel.