Cincinnati is a goodly distance away. I'm in Cleveland.

It kind of depends on what problems your back has. I mean, you are still doing some balancing using your core, so if that's hard on your back, it will remain hard. I find that biking is basically neutral for my lower back, neither helps nor hurts it. But my knees, man my knees are a problem. And the pedal assist not only makes hills easy, but is kinder to my knees over all.