Mile Trial 6/3/2013

I started out around 9:45 am with the goal of doing as many miles as possible per battery and see how many miles I can ride. I made it from home in Cherokee Village to Salem and back 3 miles for 28 miles on the first battery. The next battery took me 34 miles through Hardy and almost to Bowman Hill. The 3rd battery got me the rest of the way to my destination; up a steep gravel road and then back home 12 miles. Coming back down the hill I used the regenerative brakes a lot and enjoyed going really slow down the hill as I generated power to the battery. Out on the highway; which is a main road with a lot of truck traffic; there's not always a good shoulder. Sometimes they come pretty close but this is something bicyclists have had to contend with since the two modes have had roads. Sometimes there's rumble strips; which are impossible to ride on with a small strip next to the side that's smooth. That's actually good because you don't want vehicles to get on the shoulder but the smooth strip is often too narrow. Thankfully there's good shoulders most of the way and when there isn't; motorists know how to pass. The ebike is faster than a regular bike and when I reach a narrow bridge I speed around it. My riding style, when trying to conserve battery, is not to exceed the speed or power of pedaling and use power only to make pedaling comfortable. Out on the main highway the hills aren't ever steep enough to slow me below 20 mph. On local roads; hills may be very steep and I may get down to 10 mph. On the worst ones 5 mph with hard pedaling. This bike weighs 100 lb with all the equipment. With camping gear and food that may be 35 lbs more. I haven't decided for sure that I'm going to take an epic journey but it's a possibility. When I thought about doing a long trip before the ebike I thought maybe I would be able to ride 30 miles a day until I got in shape. Now it's possible that I'll do 150 or more and these trials are getting me in shape. I had a great trip and the bike got a lot of attention. I also met some interesting people and one amazing Priestess! I think it's a viable form of transportation and I will continue to test it and make sure it's built well enough to depend on. So far I've ridden Big EZE 300 miles. A rain trial will be in the works but according to the experts; it can handle it. I'm a little tired today but I'm sure either I or Joel will get out and ride Big EZE a little. LL PS: One thing I need to do is take more pictures; especially of people I meet.