Day 2 & 3 – On the Joys of Electric Assist
I’m am stiff as a pinetree! Or, at least, that is how I felt as I climbed on my bike the past two mornings. On Monday I made a mad dash home in the rain, dropped my e-bike off and grabbed my CCM single speed to make a run out to meet a friend for wings (30km all told). That extra 10 km on a single speed probably compounded any stiffness and soreness I was feeling.
The steps leading to my current experiment weren’t undertaken overnight. Having decided months ago that I wanted to get back into cycling with an eye towards going car free, I purchased a new bicycle. From there, I did a trial run to my office one weekend... and was thoroughly trounced by the hills.
Understand, I am an out of shape 300 pound man. I hate going to the gym, so training at the gym and building up to riding to work is a pipe dream that will get me well on my way to 400lbs. If I want to get anywhere, I need to ride in the real world where I actually enjoy the ride. In light of being whalloped by those hills, I decided to blow the remainder of my tax return on an electric assist.
Without that electric assist, this experiment would have been done on Monday. With the electric assist things still take effort (I am still sweaty when I get to work – so it is of some value from a work-out perspective) BUT they are doable. If I am tired and stiff and not at all interested in making the ride to work, the electric assist gives me that extra boost I need to make it happen.
One of my longer term goals is to build up my endurance such that I will eventually be able to comfortably do my commute without electric assist. But for now, it is getting me out the door and up those steep hills. And, I have to say, things are going well.