It’s Electrifying

We clearly remember the moment the idea first flashed through our minds … Mallorca, November 2017, on our way back from a ride out to Cap Formentor. 

Struggling up a steep slope, legs burning, sweat dripping into our eyes, lungs gasping for air, we were surprised by an older lady serenely cruising past us, shortly followed by her husband.  She was riding a sit-up bicycle with a wicker basket on the front and looked as if she was pottering down to the local market.

At first we couldn’t believe it and pushed harder, standing up on our pedals. But the older couple simply glided away from us.

Then we realised … they were riding electric bikes!

The idea started to grow. Should we go electric too? Would it make bicycle touring even more enjoyable?

With the passing of the years the physicality of climbing hills on fully loaded bikes gradually became less enjoyable and more challenging. On the toughest days, the thought that we could be doing this on e-bikes got louder  – the Seven Lakes Road in Argentina, the Wilderness Road in Tasmania, through the Badlands of southern Spain. By the time we rode the Blue Ridge Mountains of Virginia last October, it was screaming at us.

Now we’ve taken the plunge and have just set off for our latest adventure on two Cube e-bikes with Bosch batteries and motors. Our trusty old Ridgebacks are left behind in the garage, trying to console themselves with happy memories from the journeys they’ve taken us on over the last few years, but probably realising their time is up.

As many of you know, our dream has always been to cycle across Europe from Bath to Istanbul so we’re heading in that direction and waiting to see how far we get. Our rough route takes us 3800km through Holland, Germany, Austria, Slovakia, Hungary, Romania, Bulgaria and Turkey but we know we might have to turn around at any time.

We’ve always enjoyed keeping our plans flexible but it’s a bit more complicated this year.

Not only is Istanbul much further than we’ve ever pedalled before but Andy was diagnosed with a heart arrhythmia (atrial fibrillation) shortly after we got back from America last year. His AF is not too serious and it’s well controlled with meds but it could get in the way if the episodes become too frequent. The good news is that Andy’s cardiologist has given his blessing to the trip, especially when he realised we would be on e-bikes.

Stage 1 meant four days of cycling through seven counties of undulating English countryside from Bath to Harwich and then boarding a ferry to Holland.

Friends had joked that we would need to be extra vigilant at ‘avoiding potholes’ in the UK, but we found the road surfaces to be pretty good overall, getting better the further East we went.

There were some familiar bike-touring experiences … diving down a muddy track on a dreadful detour, a stand up lunch outside a village convenience store, sheltering from a sharp shower under a tree.

Despite the mixed weather it was lovely to pedal in familiar countryside past fields of golden wheat and barley, through quaint picture postcard villages, up tree-lined lanes to the top of gentle hills.

But we nearly didn’t make it out of England alive!

In Luton there is a ‘Busway’ that crosses the town on dedicated concrete tracks, a bit like a railway for buses. A cycle path runs alongside it. Having never seen this ingenious public transport system before, we mistook the Busway for the cycle path.

Once on there was no way off. Concrete sides blocked our escape and our heavy bikes would take too long to turn around. All we could do was to put our heads down and race to the next station, much to the surprise of the local commuters. Our luck was in, we made it out … just ahead of the number 23!

So how have we found the e-bike bicycle touring experience so far?

It’s early days but the two big differences seem to be speed and effort.

We go faster which means we can go further each day.  Travelling across England we managed three consecutive days of 100km or more, something we would have thought was completely barmy on our old bikes.

And whilst we have to pedal, giving  plenty of exercise, we don’t get the exhaustion that used to come from tackling long or steep hills. We simply flick on a higher power setting and serenely pedal up them … just like that lady in Mallorca!

Bosch offers 4 power settings:

• Eco (Green) – low level support for the longest range

• Tour (Blue) – consistent, smooth support for long rides

• eMTB (Purple) – dynamic acceleration for rough tracks and hill starts

• Turbo (Red) – maximum power for steep ascents

More power means less battery range … and we definitely don’t want to run out of battery, not once, not ever.

But any range anxiety we might have felt has now completely disappeared.

After the first day, Andy’s knee was sore, sore enough to hobble down the stairs. Not a good sign with well over 3000km still ahead! To ease it, he made some micro adjustments to his saddle position and increased his cadence (speed of pedal strokes) to cut down the force he had to press onto the pedals.

But the best medicine came from riding at a much higher power level using blue or purple with gay abandon and even throwing in some extended blasts of red. On that second day we rode for 108km … and at the end of it Andy still had a quarter of his battery left and a knee that was beginning to feel much better.

E-bikes also come with several features that are useful for bicycle tourers such as built in lights and a stand … but there are a few downsides.

They are really, really heavy, weighing in at 28kg or around 46kg fully loaded. This makes them difficult to manoeuvre in tight spaces. Lifting them up stairs is a no-no and even turning them around is hard work … we’re getting used to 3-point turns and wide circles.

They’re more attractive to thieves so we’ve invested in strong locks and insurance. Bosch also offers a phone app that immobilises the motor and sets off an alarm if they’re moved.

They’re banned from aeroplanes because of the size of the batteries. That raises the question of how we’re going to get back from Istanbul if we get that far. A question we don’t have an answer to yet!

It did take us several days to get used to the day-to-day mechanics of an e-bike tour … the way the panniers fit, recharging the batteries, the different pieces of equipment etc. On the second morning Clare rode off without her plastic battery cover which is important to stop rain and mud ruining the electronics.

Fortunately, we had enjoyed a lovely stay near Oxford the night before with our good friends, Neil and Gill. Realising the cover would be difficult to replace, Neil drove out of his way to to reunite her with it before any dampness got inside.

We’re now settling into the rhythm of both our new machines and of being back on the road. The panniers are going on smoothly, the 3-point turns are working well and recharging has become easier. 

Andy’s knee is now fully recovered. However after more long days on our saddles in a row than we’re used to, we can’t say the same about our bums! 

So with apologies to the makers of Grease …

“We’ve got pains, they’re multiplying

And we’re losing control

‘Cause the power Bosch are supplying

It’s electrifying!”

We’d better shape up!

Clare and Andy