Apart from a local two miler this was my first ride on the nearly new Carrera Vengeance E bike I acquired a couple of weeks ago.
I bought the bike to enable linear walks leaving at one end to cycle back to the car or vice-versa. From today's experience I think that will remain as its principal use.
I guess this is something personal but I have to have no particular reason for a walk, but with the bike I am telling myself I must have an objective. A café halfway round would suffice but in view of Big C that is not an option at the moment. I was enthusiastic about Geocaching for a while but after finding 334 I let that drop back in 2016. There are new caches in my area since. An easy one hidden behind a mile marker on the way to Crooklands gave me something to go for.
The E bike has three modes of assistance and 8 gears. I have found that on the flat without a headwind the bike is easy to pedal at about 15 mph in the highest of the eight gears without assistance (downhill is of course faster) but I certainly felt the benefit and need of switching-on even for the slightest inclines. Until I returned to Arnside to ascend the steep hill up from The Albion there was no need to use No. 3 maximum assistance, but don't be fooled, pedalling is still a form of serious exercise - I had some preconception that E-biking was really cheating, but not so by a long way. The ascent from Arnside was at my limits even in the lowest gear and maximum assistance.
I found myself whizzing past things without having time to see properly. Yes, I know one could stop to look but if one is walking, in view of the slower speed, one can look without stopping , and if required stopping is easy, but with the bike it seems to be too much of a faff. I find cycling to be much harder work and quite uncomfortable, and I get nothing like the sense of enjoyment I do from walking. Another factor is of course my age and I have to acknowledge that whilst I feel reasonably competent on the bike I am nothing like as tuned into it as I was when I used one extensively climbing the Munros eleven years and more ago.
I've been waiting for your maiden ride.
ReplyDeleteIt actually sounds quite successful despite your ambivalence. At least you didn't fall off in the middle of Arnside.
Now for some end to end stuff. What about a tandem on the SD38?
BC - If I did fall off I'm not admitting to it.
ReplyDeleteThe tandem idea - mm! There could be issues, for example who would drive? Perhaps in view of the age difference you could get a bike with a sidecar and you could drive? I'm warming to that idea.
Good to see you using the bike, Conrad, it looks good, but without mudguards you may need goggles!
ReplyDelete