Finally! The big Hills
Today was the day when I planned on tackling one the biggest hills on my ( future ) planned commute to work. Still I was very apprehensive because the route I had planned had me doing the biggest hill toward then end of the ride. With that said I still had fears that the bike would still work me hard. I have an anxiety disorder and there are several situations that can crop up while I'm riding that can trigger a panic attack. Panic attacks are no fun. One of the things that can crop up that triggers an attack for me is if I feel I am over doing things physcially. If I start to get over-heated and start breathing hard this sometimes can produce what I call , "an exercise induced panic attack". I don't always get them but sometimes they happen. I have medicine that helps control this but sometimes the medicine doesn't always do what it's suppose to do. This is why I don't do as much MTB'n anymore as mtbing can be very physically intense. Anyway, so much for that. Need I say it is a royal PITA if you love outdoor activities and have to deal with such a physical limitation.
Anyway as I was heading out with the bike on back of the car I had the idea to change things up from the original planned route. I decided to start the planned route ( about 12-13miles ) at the bottom of the biggest / steepest hill. I figured, "Why wait to do the worst part till last", so that is exactly what I did. I was going know one way or another if the Conduit was going to get me up this massive hill with out over stressing me.
As I started up the hill I slipped the bike into "eco" mode, the lightest assist level. Wow! I have to admit I was quite surprised at how well I was climbing as the bottom of the hill happens to be one of the steepest parts of the hill. Up I went and as I rounded the first turn I was breathing a sigh of relief. As I rode along I eventually came to another steep section and just to see how things would work out I slipped the motor into the second level of assist....Wow! what a difference! Not only was I not panting, huffing or puffing I was having fun again!. Got past the major hill without even breaking a sweat. The ride I was on was a planned loop and although I was familiar with the roads it had been a long time since riding some of these roads. One road in particular I had forgotten how many hill sections there were. No worries though as the Conduit preformed like a champ.
After clearing the last of the big climbs I got rewarded by one of the steepest downhills in the area. The disc brakes were really getting a workout here because the hill was curvy and steep. No problems though as long as I kept my speed down to 25 mph. Finally I got down to the bottom of the hill where I was suppose to hang a right and cross over into Patapsco State Park over a commuter bridge that crosses over the Patapsco River. That was when I got a real Surprise. The bridge was closed off! OH F. ME! Now if the bridge is open I cross over and get basically a flat ride all the way back to the car. It never occurred to me that over a month ago the Patapsco River had flooded and so apparently parts of the commuter MUP had sustained damage and had been closed off to the public....OH NO!. This realization began to trigger some anxiety because the only way back to my car now was to double back. I had keep telling myself that I'd be okay, I was on an electric bike so this should not be a big problem but it did mean I would have to re-climb out of the valley from the very bottom. Since I knew the roads well in the area I decided to take a road that was more of a gradual climb, but a very long gradual climb at that.
Didn't take more than a couple minutes before my fears began to evaporate. Still using just eco mode I realized as I was climbing that it was not going to be a problem. A bit unplanned but not a problem. I think throughout the entire ride I only kicked it into the second assist mode just a few times and that basically only for a minute or two. Now as I was about half way up the hill coming up from the bottom of the valley I did notice that one ( of five ) bars had disappeared from the battery indicator on the handlebar controller module.
After clearing the valley hill it was pretty much smooth sailing back to the car. Other than the slight scare at the closed bridge earlier I ended up really enjoying the day. In an odd way having to climb twice as many big hills as planned ending up being quite beneficial as it boosted my confidence level immensely. Round trip was 13.4 miles. That may not sound like much but almost half of it were on either long and / or big hills that had to be climbed. As I put the bike on back of my car I noticed I still had 4 out of 5 bars of battery charge according to the module on the handle bars. The battery on the other hand which has it's own indicators was still showing five green lit LED's.
Other things I noticed while on the ride: The Conduit e-bike doesn't like rough roads. Since it's heavier than a normal bike any hits you take from road cracks or bumps can be jarring. While I was considering a suspension seat post I really like my Thomson set-back seat post. I saw a nice looking saddle while in REI the other day that looked to offer a little more cushion that the saddle I was using on my other road bike. I think I'll buy that saddle and hope that it works better on the harder bumps. I'll also be ordering one of those clip-on racks with a trunk on back. Should come in handy when I start doing longer trips which I already know I will be doing. Todays ride gave me a lot of confidence. When I get the Conduit setup the way I want I'll post a photo. Should be completely dialed in by Wednesday. I have some days off next week ( Thurs.and Fri. ) so hoping for good weather....My only worry now is how the bike will preform if it starts raining. For that I'll just have to wait and see.