Ever Since

Is there any sentence that doesn't work with just "since" rather than "ever since"?

I find myself getting annoyed when I hear people say "Ever since I started riding my bike to work I haven't felt tired!"

I guess the biggest reason I can see for not just using "since" is that some people might interpret it as "because"?

Maybe starting the sentence with those words is the issue. Here are some better examples along with a definition of "ever since:"

http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/ever_since