It was actually 24 miles and yes lots of pedaling. I took it again today and quite impressed. I'm usually pulling 250-500 watts at the most. I don't intend to deplete the battery each time and will be getting extras. I think I will leave it on assist 1 out of 5 on longer trips, it seems hard to pedal fast enough on higher settings. I'm considering going the hub motor route on another bike since my son will mostly use it. I understand the max discharge concern but considering these are running snowblowers, mowers, etc. I feel safe. They use two 7.5 batteries on a power station with a 2000 watt continuous and 3000 watt peak. So I should be fine for half that with 1 battery.