The true story of e-Bikes!
We ride s-Bikes powered by sweat and occasionally we ride in the company of e-Bikes. Every e-Biker we have ever met says that they only ever cycle in eco-mode which, they assure us, means that the muscle effort exerted pedalling a heavy e-Bike is equivalent to that expended propelling a nimble s-Bike. So why is it that Sally and I always end up lathered in sweat and gasping for air when our sweat-Bikes are paired against electric-Bikes?
This weekend we met up with Fi and Chris to explore the bike tracks of Beddgelert. They were on their Cubes with batteries brim full of electrons. We were on our ‘classic’ Orange P7’s powered by puny lungs, un-toned muscles and a degree of nervousness born out of our last P7 outing on the 16th April. On that fateful date my P7 had bucked me off and smashed my wrist into the road with some significant surgical consequence. Four months on the prospect of testing my metal work on bony mountain tracks was as daunting as keeping up with the e-Bikers.
But Chris and Fi were patient souls and kept up continuous conversation as Sally and I sweated and puffed along paths baked by the August sunshine. Every now and then they would touch their pedals a tad harder and zoom ahead to open a gate or two thus robbing us of even the slightest chance of a breather. Occasionally the climbs relented and we went careering off down stony tracks thankful for our front suspension and fat tyres. My titanium did not yield and I was, at last, convalesced and back in the saddle.
Lunch was at a pub newly released from lockdown with tables set miles apart beneath the Snowdonian mountain backdrop. Then, in the heat of the afternoon, we ground our way up tracks passing lakes, forests, mountain streams and stupendous views as we went. The sweat flowed but the batteries barely shed an electron. Chris and Fi opened every gate forcing us to take unscheduled “photography stops” to catch breath and mop our brows.
At a picture perfect mountain lake, shores daubed with twisted Scott’s Pine, we all paused long enough to catch a group photo and chill in the shade. As we pulled up the last hill to begin a bone and metal shaking descent I am sure I heard the motor on Chris’ bike whirring above the noise of my breathing. So he was sucking electricity after all!
Back at Beddgelert 20% of Chris’ electrons had been depleted whereas my fuel gauge was hovering on empty. It took ice creams, a home cooked supper and drinks on the Town Wall turrets of the Royal Welsh Yacht Club beneath a Menai sunset to replenish our batteries whilst Chris and Fi remained fully charged throughout. Thank you both for a great day out.
