21.03.2023 Prop stand falling off and battery range.

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 Tuesday 21st 5C/41F. Heavy overcast. Rain expected for much of the day.

 07.00  I should go for a walk before it starts raining. Just to the lanes. Nothing unusual. Birds making a racket.

 8.30. 43F. Whoopee! The rain isn't due until this afternoon. I plan on a ride. 40km x 2 = 50 miles round trip. I am recharging the battery while I prepare myself. From memory I left it at 76%. The battery LEDs are blinking between four and five bars. The air is cooler at  this time of year. So one can't expect the same battery capacity as when it is warmer.

 16.00 9C/48F. I was gone for four hours. Covered 86km. Battery depleted from 100% to 21%! Max speed 48kph. Average speed 21kph. Average cadence 80rpm. Mostly in ECO mode. With TOUR used only to crest rises or to assist on bigger hills. I tried very hard to maintain 90+rpm but faltered towards the end.

 The dropper seat post was both fun and confusing. I set off thinking I had the saddle at the perfect height. Then had to keep stopping to raise the saddle a little more. Eventually it felt like I was cycling on stilts. Yet it was now the correct height. I could lift myself off the saddle with my heel. With the pedal at its low point. After that the problem was remembering to drop the saddle at stops. Then pulling away from a stop. As if I was riding a little kid's bike. Or a BMX.

 It rained with a light headwind for the last hour. I was soaked except for the area covered by the Endura jacket. Which began to feel cold and the cloth darkened with wet on the sleeves. Which surprised me for a brand new jacket. No detectable wet inside though. Except at the cuffs. Should I return it and upgrade? If the DWR fails to bead after its first hour of rain the waterproofing may not last long.

 I have put the battery on charge. The casing shows 13C/55F on the 'pistol' thermometer. 15C in the lounge with the stove unlit until now. 19C/67F upstairs.

 18.00 I had a nap for an hour. Fully and warmly dressed, with a fleece cap. Just in case I had hypothermia. I woke from a nap, shivering violently, after one recent ride. Which was why I bought the jacket. I was very tired after today's ride. ECO in bottom gear felt as if it wasn't helping. I had to engage TOUR mode to overcome the hills towards the end. Despite wanting to nurse the battery. Bosch battery management is well respected but can't achieve the impossible. 

 I still think the claimed ranges on the Kiox display is complete bullshit. I should have been able to ride entirely in TOUR mode today. If the indicated starting range could be believed. I rode mostly in ECO again. 

Could the battery be three years old? Like the bike itself? That might explain the discrepancy. I'll have to do some research on the battery labeling. I was told by the dealer that it was replaced with a new battery. 

 I have contacted Bosch for confirmation of the battery's release date. Google lens cannot identify the QR code.

 The prop stand wanted to fall off today! It couldn't be trusted. The pivot fixing was very loose but impossible to see. It felt like an upward projecting bolt. I couldn't grovel on the wet ground to take a proper look. 

 Back at home: I used a torch and a mirror. There were two, hex socket head bolts. One was countersunk into a hole. Both bolts were literally hanging by a thread. They each took several complete turns before there was any resistance at all. 

 Dinner was beans on toast. A bit later than usual. I was already full from my 4pm lunch. 

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