momsonherbike

Three days ago I became the proud owner of a second ebike - a carbon belt drive Giant La free E+1. My first pedal assist, purchased solely as a recreational bike. The maiden ride was a day later at a charity bike ride, and by the end of the ride both the bike and I had found our sweet spot in the partnership. Yup, was still sweating and a touch tired at the finish, and very pleased that my "happy place" level of assist would allow for at least 60+ miles from the battery, and that my body was still comfortable (ie: no pain in any joints). No more worries about dealing with chains - the belt drive is breathtakingly silent and clean. The motor is also completely silent, just like my electric car, and very attentive to being available exactly when I need it. I can easily pick it up (with the battery taken off) and put it inside the Prius, and so it rides nicely inside the car (with front wheel on, too) which makes me happy. (I still have to see if it fits inside the electric car, intact). And the colorful Key West panniers I designed and created for going shopping on my Key West one speed cruiser fit perfectly on the new ebike. I'm already eagerly going through the upcoming charity cycling events this summer and fall, picking out the ones I want to attend. I will be riding the new bike today after I chauffeur my husband to and from a three hour meeting and wait out the those hours happily pedaling around the local community, exploring their streets and admiring the suburban yards and gardens.

For me, it is all about enjoying the ride, enjoying my bike, and enjoying the continued ability to still happily pedal down the roads and bike paths.

I'm using my converted throttle hub drive ebike (another Giant) for road litter cleanup - the bike stays attached to the trailer that carries the orange litter bags. Last month I was VDOT's Adopt a Highway "Highway Hero", featured in their online newsletter with a writeup of my years being part of the federal and state Adopt a Highway program as well as our county's litter control program, with a photo of my ebike pulling its litter bag trailer. That ebike allows me to comfortably travel miles and miles of our gravel and paved roads, picking up litter while the bike does the heavy lifting towing the trailer and "flattening" the hills. The end result is a pleasant ride for me and pristine roads for everyone to enjoy. I can't do that substituting a car (no place to park it within reasonable distance), or walking on foot carrying an increasingly heavy bag of trash, or riding a non-assist bike pulling a trailer. Tried. Didn't work.

The two ebikes give me the ease and freedom to do what I want, and still enjoy the same happiness I had as a kid pedaling my single speed down the road to find new adventures, just me and my bike.

PS - saw quite a few ebikes at the last charity ride, including e-trikes, all converted and quietly unobtrusive. Lots of big smiles from those riders, and lots of deep interest from former riders attending the event, standing on the sidelines, who really wanted to get back into biking but had medical or injury reasons preventing them from using a pedal only bike. It was nice to see the interest generated by the ebikes.