With forecast temperatures approaching 30c, I left home before 06:00 this morning.
I wanted to complete my planned 100 km route before it became too hot to cycle.
This ride was intended as a second evaluation of a borrowed eBike and I admit to being surprised by the results.
I activated the Bosch eBike system when I left home, opting for ‘ECO’, the lowest level of assistance.
This adds around 40% assistance to my human effort.
Translated this meant that I could ascend hills with ease, which would have been fairly challenging on my ‘ordinary’ bike.
For much of the ride the system switched itself off, either because I was freewheeling or exceeding the system speed limit of 25 km/h.
This takes a little getting used to, but before long I had a better understanding of how best to use the system and make the best of the advised 110 km range on a full battery charge.
When I got home I felt that the eBike had made the ride easier in places but not necessarily quicker.
I compared the data from today’s ride and another similar 100 km ride, with similar elevation profile previously ridden on my ordinary bike.
The elapsed time and average speed were actually identical, which surprised me.
However, my average heart beat for the duration of the ride was about 15% less than previous comparable rides.
The eBike computer tells me that of the 100 km cycled today, 36 km were power assisted.
Also, I had 40% battery charge remaining, meaning that I could reasonably expect to ride around 165 km before using 100% of the battery charge,
The fairly obvious conclusion is that on the type of cycle rides I enjoy here in hilly South Limburg, the eBike does not make the ride any quicker, but certainly easier on my body.
My eBike experiment continues.
Today’s featured image is from a country lane near Blegny, Belgium.
