As I
seem to have concentrated on posting about motorcycles recently I thought it
time to give details of my main mode of pleasure transport these days. My
motorcycles have always been a means of release from my "trap" in the
south eastern corner of England - trapped by Cobbett's "Great Wen" of
London (and even greater now than in Cobbett's day) which effectively cuts Kent
off from the rest of the UK and my glorious Wessex.
I
tend to travel less far these days (age and health) so motorcycling is less and
I have reverted mainly to my old love of bicycles. I am a life-long club
cyclist, but, post stroke, I am only able to continue with the help of electric
assistance and my roamings are usually delineated by my neighbouring Romney
Marsh. Less is more; I cover less ground more slowly and see in greater detail
than I would have done on a motorbike - although when the sun is up and winter
gone I shall be looking forward to riding them again.
Abroad e-bikes are proliferating. (A friend has just returned from a week in cycle-friendly Holland where they abound and the streets are thronged with thousands of bikes of all types. Incidently amongst all those thousands he only saw one rider wearing a cycle helmet - the Dutch are far more relaxed about such things - probably why cycling is so popular there.) Let's discuss my own bike. Its source of power is the battery behind the seat tube and this drives the electric motor in the rear wheel. My first e-bike conversion (of my own Claud Butler, ) had a motor in the front wheel and I said "never again" when I rode it over ice and the front wheel, losing all traction, spun at peak power and the bike deposited me, very hard, on the road.
The bike has disk brakes, very powerful, I have learnt to use the front one cautiously. It has sprung front forks and a sprung seat post so Kentish potholes are taken care of. The side stand is a boon, one does not have to look around for somewhere to lean the bike. Since my stroke I sometimes have difficulty knowing the position of my feet on the pedals, so I have substituted the toe-strap pedal clips I have always been used to for open ones that are easier to locate. Front and rear lighting is driven from the battery and I have fitted puncture resistant tyres (try removing a rear wheel with a motor therein to get a tyre off!)
Day to day luggage needs are taken care of by the neat top bag.
Note my club badges, I am a
life member of the Cyclists' Touring Club and a member of the Veteran-Cycle
Club (the bikes not the members, although that is sometimes a moot point on
meets!). The faded pin brooch, given to me by my daughter, has an appropriate
quote from Tolkien, "Not all who wander are lost". The side panels
unfold if required to give two panniers bags - useful for the weekend papers or
to take our Christmas parcel for Australia to the post office.
A comfortable seat is
essential. I dumped the squashy foam item and fitted a Brookes leather one
which has a cut-out for male comfort in the perineum area
Let's talk about the controls:
I
like foam grips on my handlebars and the "horns" give a change of
position and better "pull" if needed. "1" is a twist grip
throttle, independent of pedalling which will take the bike, illegally, (15.5
mph is supposed to be the limit) up to 20 mph. However I only use this to give
me a push as I move off on hills, or for quickly crossing busy roads. Usually I
use pedal assisted e-power which only works if you are actually pedalling. This
has 5 modes, first gives assistance up to 3 mph and is practically useless,
second assists to about 10 mph, third to 12 mph (the most used by me), fourth
to 14 mph and fifth to 15.5 mph, the legal limit. The more power you feed in
the shorter the distance between battery charges. (Nothing in life is free)
"2" in the image is the control panel, let's have a look in detail:
It
is controlled by the grey buttons on the left, these are almost impossible to
operate, particularly if wearing gloves, so I have glued brass rivet heads to
them to use as "braille". Top one turns power on/off (it can be
ridden without power if conditions are easy). Third one down increases power
levels and bottom one decreases. Power level is shown bottom left (on
"0" at present). Top left section gives battery information (as I use
it, I can go about 60-70 miles before a recharge pedalling at a steady 12 mph).
Top right shows road speed, bottom shows total distance covered. (I have
managed 2,664.7 miles to date).
Back to the previous image; "3" is a separate computer I have fitted so I can keep tabs on distance since last battery charge (it's on 15.3 miles above) and also shows speed. "4" is the twist grip change for the derailleur gears (7, but I seldom need more than the top 3 because of e-assistance).
The bell is essential. Ashford has many cycle paths shared with pedestrians and it can be amusing to see such checking their mobiles when I ring it! Not so amusing when they walk towards or across me, head down to their phones away from this world. Another essential is the mirror, especially since this old geezer has trouble turning his head behind him (arthritis).
Well this seems complete so I am now off for a ride and get lunch some place, before commiting to publishing it.
Some
three hours later. Back from a pleasant ride down to the Marsh and across to
the little seaside town of Dymchurch.
About 25 miles in all. The weather overcast, cold, but frost-free and
completely windless. I rode the last mile to the town along the sea wall, the
tide was in and the sea was like a mill pond. A hearty meal of fried eggs on
toast, sausages, hash browns and baked beans seemed appropriate, followed by a
large mug of steaming tea. Total cost only £4.50. (you get the picture of the
type of cafe it was).
8 comments:
The "OXYGEN" bit of the OEAB is the stuff you process in your lungs; no? Now why do Dutch cyclists not wear helmets? Could it be that the unfortunate pedestrians into whom they run, not infrequently(!) supply a soft landing? There were a number of occasions when I was in the Netherlands that it would have seemed safer to cross the M25 than to cross a Dutch cycle lane. But what the heck? There are only two types of pedestrian - as I'm sure you've heard before - viz. the quick and the dead.
Tom:
I guess it all comes down to empathy and sharing by ALL road users. I used to lecture on road use, driving, riding two wheelers, pedestrians and I made sure that empathy (putting yourself in the other guy's place) always came up for discussion. Mind you, like all philosophies, it always seems to be honoured in the breach rather than the observance!
"Oxygen" is the name of the bike firm, but I take your point; it's not just the electricity I need to push it along .
Amazing bit of technology there. All the world in a grain of sand.
Zhoen:
It's great. Enables me to continue cycling in my decrepit old age!
Some time ago I imagined I would have to give up driving; happily it was a case of "listening to the fleas cough" but I did find myself toying with the idea of having to revert to two wheels, notably to get to my French lesson (I've been at it for 17 years) and to singing lesson. I do have a pedal bike and I was able to envisage a circuitous alternative for French, avoiding hills. But singing was another matter and hills were unavoidable; one part of the route consisting of about a mile uphill, gradient probably about 1 in 8.
My Col du Tourmalet days are long gone and I knew you had an e-bike. In fact you'd already posted a photograph and I started speculating. I was aware that battery power is directly related to battery weight and that with any electrical vehicle there comes a point where the law of diminishing returns decrees no more returns. It seemed to me that the battery on your bike is comparatively small considering the work it has to do but then it only augments the power you provide, it doesn't take over. Are you able to talk about respective power ratios (you vs. the battery) or do they constantly vary depending on gradient.
But there's another point. The bike looks quite heavy and this would have to be factored in. Also I suspect I weigh more than you do. The hill I mention is only one of several, a couple of others are almost as severe but shorter. I'm not sure about the distance but by car it takes twenty minutes; car speeds are lowish because there are many corners. Perhaps eight miles.
I have an instinctive feeling that this journey would be a fairly tough ask for an e-bike, even though the return would of course be less demanding. Also it would be fairly dangerous due to very narrow lanes, a multitude of corners, and high hedges. Any comments?
RR:
I have considered that your queries deserve a separate post as they may be of use to others.
The parcel arrived very quickly! Beautiful looking bicycle too!
love Daughterx
Daughter:
I did consider delivering it personally whilst I had it in the pannier, but then I decided that perhaps Perth, Australia might be a little out of range of the battery!. Pa xx
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