Thank you Eric, this was an awesome article. I got my first e-bike in 2017 and went 1750 miles, 2018 was 1828 miles, and in 2019 I went 2050 miles. Like you I am in my later 50s and I feel much better and more fit than ever.
I like to say that an e-bike gets rid of all my excuses to not ride a bike. I rode my regular bike about 400 miles in 2016. Now if its windy, no problem, hotter day than normal, no problem, need to run an errand after work that takes me 7 miles out of my way, no problem.
The one thing that I would suggest though is to be extra careful, especially now with coronavirus. The hospitals can’t take ordinary cases any more and you really don’t want an accident.
By the way, the bike that I REALLY love is my iZip moda with a Brose motor. I have ridden a Specialized like yours and loved it, but it was more expensive than my iZip Moda. The Brose motor is the best one out there (in my opinion) and I have tried them all. The iZip Moda is sort of the same bike as the Vado except I don't have the really nice ability to connect it to a phone app and it doesn't do the shift detect that the Specialized does.
An e-bike changed my life and I use it more like a car now. I would highly recommend getting a rear rack to hold a big trunk bag with panniers. This allows you to go by bike to stores and get quite a bit and still haul it home. With a non e-bike, you would go oh crap now I have to go up the hill with an extra 20 pounds of groceries or other stuff that you picked up at a store.