Does anyone suffer from battery range anxiety like people do with electric vehicles?

[Stefan Mikes]

Found out more about the Death Valley (DV) half-century from the RideWithGPS profile and a member who's ridden it. The elevation gain's 1796 ft, not 2500 ft.

You must ask Mr. @e-levity! He and his wife did the Death Valley on two Vado SL!

 

[CanNik]

No

I have 2 bikes that use the same battery, when I go further I take a spare battery

 

[e-levity]

You must ask Mr. @e-levity! He and his wife did the Death Valley on two Vado SL!

Hi Stefan and Jeremy,

Death Valley Natl Park is a great place to ride with wonderful views and little vehicle traffic. I looked up this year’s Century ride:

Death Valley Century

planetultra.com

The section to Badwater offers good vistas of the lower valley and surrounding mountains and is a relatively easy rolling ride (unless windy!). The section to Beatty, NV, involves much more climbing and less sweeping views although a side trip to the nearby historical town of Rhyolite is worthwhile.

If I were to make the trip I would choose to skip the Beatty, NV, segment and instead use my climbing legs to ride theArtist’s Palette loop on the way back from Badwater. It’s a beautiful ride with lots of fun twists and turns as you cut through the hills. There’s also the bucket list ride from Furnace creek (sea level) to Dante’s View (5400 ft) overlooking Badwater, the Valley, and the Panamint Mtns. We’ve done all of these rides on regular road and mtb bikes as well as road e-bikes. It’s always fun (if the weather is nice).

Here are some photos from past trips to encourage you to get out your range extender and ride!

The road to Artist’s Palette with Telescope Peak in the distance

Dante’s View above Badwater Basin

 

[Jeremy McCreary]

Hi Stefan and Jeremy,

Death Valley Natl Park is a great place to ride with wonderful views and little vehicle traffic. I looked up this year’s Century ride:

Death Valley Century

planetultra.com

The section to Badwater offers good vistas of the lower valley and surrounding mountains and is a relatively easy rolling ride (unless windy!). The section to Beatty, NV, involves much more climbing and less sweeping views although a side trip to the nearby historical town of Rhyolite is worthwhile.

If I were to make the trip I would choose to skip the Beatty, NV, segment and instead use my climbing legs to ride theArtist’s Palette loop on the way back from Badwater. It’s a beautiful ride with lots of fun twists and turns as you cut through the hills. There’s also the bucket list ride from Furnace creek (sea level) to Dante’s View (5400 ft) overlooking Badwater, the Valley, and the Panamint Mtns. We’ve done all of these rides on regular road and mtb bikes as well as road e-bikes. It’s always fun (if the weather is nice).

Here are some photos from past trips to encourage you to get out your range extender and ride!

The road to Artist’s Palette with Telescope Peak in the distance
View attachment 194858View attachment 194857

Dante’s View above Badwater Basin
View attachment 194859

Very helpful info! Beautiful photos, too. The temptation level just went up.

Of course, no good deed goes unpunished. Questions to help this so-so rider decide whether to tackle the half-century between Furnace Creek and Badwater:

Q1. If you were to ride it on a Vado SL 1, would you carry any range extenders?

Q2. In topography and elevation gain, the 29-mile rolling middle segment of the half-century (profile above) looks a lot like my rolling coast rides north of San Diego.

What SL assist levels have you typically used on that middle segment? (My 10 to 40 mi coast rides are usually in varying combos of ECO and OFF at 12-17 mph.)

Q3. What's a typical average speed in that middle segment? The RideWithGPS profile implies an overall average speed of 12.9 mph, including the climbs at both ends.

Many thanks!

 

[Mr. Coffee]

You guys all ride in such flat places.

 

[Jeremy McCreary]

You guys all ride in such flat places.

View attachment 194862

Nice effort at ~100 ft of gain per mile!

I do inland hill rides like that on occasion, but couldn't do a steady diet of it. Most hill rides are more like 70-80 ft/mi, coast rides around 30-40 ft/mi. Roughly equal time in both topographies overall.

 

[e-levity]

@Jeremy McCreary - The climbs on the Badwater Half Century are all short (<200>ft) and gradual (<6%). Basically rolling terrain.

My suggestion would be to turn around at Badwater rather than continuing a few more miles along the valley floor. Then you can take the Artist’s Palette side loop on the way back. It’s much more scenic, interesting, and fun. The organizers were likely afraid or not allowed to do so because the loop is a one lane, one way road with some sharp corners and steep pitches over 14% for short distances. A ride there October 29 last year on a Vado SL is shown below: distance 42 miles (from the campground at -150 ft), elevation gain 3000 ft, moving average 14.8mph. We used range extenders, and I finished with 10% battery having used turbo mode on steeper sections . We’ve done the same ride on regular bikes as well, just slower with more suffering

 

[e-levity]

Here ya go, @Mr. Coffee -
one of the “flat places”, the ride to Dante’s View

 

[Jeremy McCreary]

@Jeremy McCreary - The climbs on the Badwater Half Century are all short (<200>ft) and gradual (<6%). Basically rolling terrain....

A ride there October 29 last year on a Vado SL is shown below: distance 42 miles (from the campground at -150 ft), elevation gain 3000 ft, moving average 14.8mph. We used range extenders, and I finished with 10% battery having used turbo mode on steeper sections . We’ve done the same ride on regular bikes as well, just slower with more suffering

View attachment 194863

Very helpful! Just 1 range extender each?

So the Artist's Palette side loop nearly doubles the overall gain to 71 ft/mi. That might be tough for me to do in ECO at 15 mph. But looks promising without the loop.

If I really can get by with just 1 RE, the money will probably work. Then it becomes a neck question. Will do some 50-milers in coming weeks to see if my neck can hold up that long.

 

[e-levity]

Yes, just a singe RE each.
And I adjust assist levels so that the bike batteries and my battery both run out at about the same time

Let me know if you decide to go and I can suggest some fun shorter rides and some nice hikes in the area to fill out the trip.

 

[stompandgo]

Then it becomes a neck question. Will do some 50-milers in coming weeks to see if my neck can hold up that long.

I sympathize with your neck issues. No fun.

Enjoy your ride.

 

[Mr. Coffee]

Oh, and this was unplugged: