happy e-bike-iversary to me!
Jun. 20th, 2021 01:51 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
ilanaramaI'm actually a day late because I misplaced my round tuit, so: two years ago yesterday I got my current hybrid vehicle: a Priority Embark e-bike. It was an excellent decision, both to get a bike and the actual bike I got, because it's a perfect vehicle for my needs.
As you can see I eventually replaced the crappy cheap panniers with fancy Ortliebs, but they're still pink :-)
Today its odometer read 1523 miles, or 76 miles per month on average. This is a lot less than I'd originally estimated, that first summer I bought it, because it seemed I was riding 25-40 miles each week. But in mid-September 2019 I went on vacation for a month (a week back east to visit family and run Reach the Beach, followed by three weeks in Spain), and then it was winter. I still rode 7-20 miles a week, though, and I was expecting that when it got warmer I'd be back to my previous numbers. Then came the pandemic.
We never had the kind of lockdown that our friends back in Barcelona had, or really, people anywhere outside the US had. I still went running most days. But because of covid-19 I wanted to limit my trips to the supermarket and the food co-op, so instead of biking to one or the other weekly I drove twice a month and piled up the pickup truck bed with supplies. All the meetings around town I used to ride to moved to Zoom. So really, it was the same thing most people experienced, driving their cars less, only my car is my e-bike.
Anyway, now that things are seemingly normal again here (I mean, everyone's acting as though everything's normal again, though we're only at about 65% vaccinated; but at least I'm vaccinated) I'm riding it a lot more. Like: This past Monday I rode down to the river trail to go running. Tuesday I rode downtown to meet a visiting friend for lunch, then stopped at the food co-op on the way home. Wednesday I rode over to campus to pick up my CSA, and then later that day down to the bakery and the liquor store (which are across the street from each other). Friday morning I rode to the river trail to go running, and then in the evening Britt and I rode downtown to meet friends for dinner. Saturday morning I rode to the farmer's market. So that was almost 32 miles last week!
Anyway, tl;dr e-bikes are awesome and I look forward to continuing to ride it a lot!
As you can see I eventually replaced the crappy cheap panniers with fancy Ortliebs, but they're still pink :-)
Today its odometer read 1523 miles, or 76 miles per month on average. This is a lot less than I'd originally estimated, that first summer I bought it, because it seemed I was riding 25-40 miles each week. But in mid-September 2019 I went on vacation for a month (a week back east to visit family and run Reach the Beach, followed by three weeks in Spain), and then it was winter. I still rode 7-20 miles a week, though, and I was expecting that when it got warmer I'd be back to my previous numbers. Then came the pandemic.
We never had the kind of lockdown that our friends back in Barcelona had, or really, people anywhere outside the US had. I still went running most days. But because of covid-19 I wanted to limit my trips to the supermarket and the food co-op, so instead of biking to one or the other weekly I drove twice a month and piled up the pickup truck bed with supplies. All the meetings around town I used to ride to moved to Zoom. So really, it was the same thing most people experienced, driving their cars less, only my car is my e-bike.
Anyway, now that things are seemingly normal again here (I mean, everyone's acting as though everything's normal again, though we're only at about 65% vaccinated; but at least I'm vaccinated) I'm riding it a lot more. Like: This past Monday I rode down to the river trail to go running. Tuesday I rode downtown to meet a visiting friend for lunch, then stopped at the food co-op on the way home. Wednesday I rode over to campus to pick up my CSA, and then later that day down to the bakery and the liquor store (which are across the street from each other). Friday morning I rode to the river trail to go running, and then in the evening Britt and I rode downtown to meet friends for dinner. Saturday morning I rode to the farmer's market. So that was almost 32 miles last week!
Anyway, tl;dr e-bikes are awesome and I look forward to continuing to ride it a lot!
I love batteries!
Date: 2021-06-20 08:38 pm (UTC)This sounds like a gas! The panniers are the height of fashion.
Any downsides or hard lessons learned in the motorized vs person-power department?
Re: I love batteries!
Date: 2021-06-20 09:00 pm (UTC)Really the only hard lesson was the time I figured I had enough juice left to do a grocery run and ran out of battery about a mile from home. The good thing was that I'd already climbed the big hill (about 350') up from town; the bad thing was that I still had a 70' hill to climb over half a mile, and let me tell you, a 45-pound bike plus maybe 40 pounds of groceries equals UGH UGH UGH.
Also I have a hard time getting my errands done because people often walk up to me while I'm locking my bike and want to know ALL ABOUT e-bikes! Which is nice, and I love to chat about bikes, but it does take time. I occasionally have people yell out, "You're cheating!" when I pass them on hills, and I just grin and say, "Yup!"
Re: I love batteries!
Date: 2021-06-20 10:13 pm (UTC)Yikes that last 70 feet sounds like a great excuse to have a tasty beverage.
I've also been that educator on the spot -- some of the upstart mobility companies (Whill, Travel Scoot, Fold&Go) offer a referral program complete with business cards.
Locally there was a lot of tension between the spandex-loving super-confident cyclists and folks like us for whom electric assistance makes the difference between non-participation and enthusiastic acceptance. Happily we have a great bike network in town. Some of the spandex gang proclaimed "e-bikes are cheating" and even "e-bikes will let fat people enjoy our bike paths."
Back at the start of this century, DEKA (Dean Kamen's company) underwrote a massive 50-state lobbying effort to permit Segways on streets and sidewalks. They succeeded in making the default "Segways permitted," while some states and cities are more restricted. That legal foundation made it easier for ebikes to get access to what were previously analog bikeways. Segways were always too expensive: the brand was sold to a Chinese mobility company who now sell some amazing self-balancing wheeled toys.
I wish I could rent an upright electric tricycle to see if ebiking could bring back the delights of cycling when I was young and hearty.
Re: I love batteries!
Date: 2021-06-22 01:59 am (UTC)Like I said, I still get "you're cheating!" but it's never acrimonious, it's always amused.
Re: I love batteries!
Date: 2021-06-22 06:41 pm (UTC)I'm glad to hear your biking community is good-humored!
(no subject)
Date: 2021-06-21 10:30 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2021-06-22 01:53 am (UTC)Are you getting out still, or is the winter weather too annoying to deal with?
(no subject)
Date: 2021-06-21 09:15 pm (UTC)Though I do find myself lusting after the model they've developed to replace it. And the battery for the Embark is more difficult to find now, so I feel annoyed with myself for delaying getting an extra one in the next size up that will go for longer.
(no subject)
Date: 2021-06-22 01:55 am (UTC)The battery shouldn't be difficult to find since it's standard Bosch, isn't it? They're stupid expensive, though. Fortunately I don't have a need to exceed the range I have on one charge - my errands are rarely more than 10 miles total in a day.
(no subject)
Date: 2021-06-22 04:45 am (UTC)They ARE expensive, it's true. Which is why I've dithered. But while I don't take as many trips as you, I tend to ride for longer distances. Places I want to get to are often 20-30 miles round trip, which is only okay if I don't want to take any side adventures on the fly. But the distances being what they are here, I can't confidently go out riding around all day without running out of juice too soon.
(no subject)
Date: 2021-06-22 04:59 pm (UTC)I can totally see that if you're doing longer trips you will want a bigger battery!