First really long ride of the season!

[Joe EE]

Tomorrow, should the weather hold up. With an 80 mile max range it will be interesting to see how far I actually travel.

 

[christob]

Sharp panniers! What / whose are they?

 

[Quadracer]

That bikes a stunner Joe, good luck!

 

[Joe EE]

Hey fellas, thanks so much. @christob these are the bags. Fingers crossed the sun comes out.

 

[Joe EE]

23 miles today. Hilly public roads with traffic on the way to the North County Trail. Lunch in Yorktown where the trail runs right through the center of town and finally on to the Croton Reservoir Bridge where I took a break and some pics and turned around.

Some observations: the bike gets a lot of attention. It’s funny at intersections where the drivers can’t tell exactly what I’m riding and just freeze... allowing me to roll on. Lots of compliments on the trail. Most frequent comment “What is that!?” Lol

Other comments... “That is dope” I think that’s good “is that a Harley Bicycle?” Hahaha



Reactions aside. The bike did me proud. 23 miles of really hilly terrain, using 8.4 AH on my Lipo4 10 AH battery. Did not need to swap out batteries on this ride which was nice. The bike provides 1300 W of power when necessary and the voltage never went below 47 V today . On the trip south my average speed was about 12 mph. On the ride back I was slamming an averaged 16 to 18 mph. Max speed today was about 27 mph in some spots. The trail is worse for the wear after this hard winter we had and is quite broken up in a lot of spots. At one point near the end of the ride I had so many bumps in succession that it banged open my saddle bag a.k.a. battery carrier. This dislodged the pillion seat that I have firmly attached in between the saddlebags and it went flying into the brush and I had to go searching. The new seat that I put on the bike is nicer looking but is not as plush and springy as the stock seat was. Needless to say I am saddlesore but very satisfied with the way this bicycle behaved today. She is more rugged than I thought she would be.

 

[AguassissiM]

@Joe EE
That is just an awesome looking ride.

Went for a ride myself, only 57 km and I got few muscle spasms and had to go home.

 

[Joe EE]

That’s a really long ride my friend. Your bike is looking sharp as well. That red is very fiery!

 

[AguassissiM]

@Joe EE
Thank you for your kind words.

I picked the red because the red one`s go faster ...haha

 

[Joe EE]

I am riding with 2 10 AH batteries. When I ride conservatively, I can get a MAXIMUM of 4 miles to the AH. The rest is simple math.

 

[harryS]

Good ride! Sharp bike. 23 miles is pretty far when you're starting up on bikes. Looking back, 36 miles is as far as I've ridden an ebike, and that was on a far away bike trip with lots of new things to see.

At home, my local bike path, .5 miles away, is 22 miles if I use every foot of pavement. It's more than enough for me, because I am into pedal assist. Most of it is forest/creeks so it's pretty. They just added an extension which would probably double that, but that's all crushed gravel and mainly prairie. The gravel is slippery with a front drive bike and skinny tires.

If you come out to the Midwest, ride slow. Gives us time to admire your bike.

 

[Joe EE]

Hey @harryS. Thanks. Last year I did a 34 mile ride on the same trail with my Voltbike Yukon. The chopper is pretty but she’s a hardtail and in need of a suspension seatpost, which I learned yesterday. I’ve done that ride several times on the fatbike and the ride is cushy compared with yesterday’s endeavors. I am really just at the point of exploring this new bikes capabilities. Strengths and weaknesses.
Next season I plan to be running an additional rear hub motor on the chopper so that she will climb with more power. Always nice to hear some positive commentary. Thank you.

 

[rich c]

Thanks Rich, at the very least you are consistent. A couple of things buddy. As I stated this was going to be MY first really long ride of the season. Don’t know what kind of shape you are in over there Ironman, but for me that is a good bit of a ride. Secondly, I am riding with 2 10 AH batteries. TWO. Got that? When I ride conservatively, I can get a MAXIMUM of 4 miles to the AH. The rest is simple math. I agree, you missed several things in my earlier posts but thanks for not letting me down and your well wishes are most sincere and appreciated.

I'm far from an iron man Joe, but I am considering riding my age in September. I'll be 66 this year. I grew up around Route 66 in Lincoln, IL, might just be the place to do it. Are your batteries on an A-B switch, or do you have to remove one and plug in the other? I am sincere about wishing you happiness with your ride. That's what cycling is about for me.

 

[Saratoga Dave]

I like the “ride my age”thing! I did 62 miles one day last fall on the way across the Erie Canal, so I guess I need to add five more to that and go out and get it done. I’m on it.

 

[Joe EE]

Hey Dave. How many hours did that take? That’s an amazing distance! I don’t know if I’d be interested in traveling that far on a bike. Perhaps if we had a circular route near me. On my favorite trail the only choice is to go back the way I came and seeing the route over again can get kind of tedious. Especially when your butt is busted lol.

 

[PowerMe]

I haven't ridden much at all. Yesterday I did a 22 mi loop. My butt and the upper back of one thigh close to my butt was hurting by mile 9 and by mile 16 I was really in major pain. I stopped, walked around (limped, actually) and managed to ride the few miles back to my car. Still sore today so I didn't ride. Ibuprofen helps.

I use a Thudbuster ST, but I'm not sure how much dampening it really does for me. I was on a paved bike path the entire time.

I was riding a free saddle I got (no name). It's very comfy for about 7mi. I also tried to get used to a Brooks B17-S a couple seasons ago. Put 300 mi on that one, but after 8 to 9 mi. that too is painful and it's a no go. I have yet to find a saddle that is comfortable and allows me to ride for more than an hour.

I ordered the free SQLabs sit bone measuring kit and will look at their active line, as some have recommended.

I do have the original saddle that came with my Easy Motion Evo bike. I think it was the comfiest among the ones I've tried, so I'll put that back on and see how I do.

 

[Joe EE]

@PowerMe i hear ya. This is the second day after my ride and I’m still feeling it. The forward pedal position on this bike doesn’t allow you to rise off the seat to soften the impacts so I’m going to have to do something for rough terrain. I have been looking at the BodyFloat but I’m not sure that’s an option on this bike with the angle that the seatpost has. It is fun to continually modify this bike but this was an uncomfortable way to learn a lesson

 

[PowerMe]

Part of this is getting sit bones used to riding since I've been so slack about getting out there. And tight hamstrings add to the issue. When someone says they're not comfortable after several hours in the saddle, that seems normal to me. I'm in pain after 30 to 40 min. That's not normal, I don't think.

 

[Trail Cruiser]

I used to ride at North County trailways 50-60 miles trip and I also used to do 4 round trips on bike Sundays at Bronx river parkway (52 miles total) but my frail body started aching. Now I only ride a stretch of about 40 miles at a time that is still tolerable to my aging frame.

 

[Joe EE]

Hey Mark, maybe on a full suspension bike I could approach all that and with a circular route it would be more fun. I love to ride, but after 4 or 5 hours I get enough of it.

 

[Trail Cruiser]

Hey Mark, maybe on a full suspension bike I could approach all that and with a circular route it would be more fun. I love to ride, but after 4 or 5 hours I get enough of it.

One of my ebikes is a full suspensions, and the other has front suspension plus body float. However, I tend to ride at average speed of 20-22 mph.