29.04.2023 Finally, justification for buying a "45."

 ~o~

 Saturday 29th 50F [at 8.30] cloudy enough to qualify as an overcast. Slept until 8am after an earlier squint at the clock in poor light. I am aching all over. So I had better have a walk. The house looks empty downstairs after the recent tidying. 

 I plan to do a tour of some charity shops. To look for leather straps for the battery. I can circle around three shops before returning by another route for three more. They should all be open this morning. Many don't open every day. Nor even until the afternoon on weekdays. 

 The hovel's 4.3m x 2.3m [14' x 7'6"] kitchen after I cleared and cleaned it. The phone camera has distorted the proportions and angles.

 I was pleased with yesterday's ride from a speed, range and comfort point of view. Using only one battery and it ended on 29% charge after averaging 27kmh over 52km at 86rpm cadence. I was deliberately riding quickly at higher levels of assistance. Mostly [64%] in Sport mode. The rest in Tour mode. No interest in riding in Eco mode. Except to get home on a flat battery. Which shouldn't happen any more.

 My highest speed was just 55kmh downhill. It is not easy to exceed 45kmh even pedaling hard downhill in Sport mode. I haven't tried this in Turbo mode. My reflection in empty shop windows show I am much more upright than I was earlier. All thanks to the riser stem with modest reach. My hands no longer feel sprained during and after a ride. 

 The wider, leather saddle is beginning to show its value.  So the heavy investment in a "45" Speed-Pedelec is beginning to prove itself a good choice. I know I would have been bored to tears by a "normal" e-bike's speed limit. [25kph/15mph] I could probably manage that average speed under my own power on my trike.

  The new Ortlieb panniers promise long life and more than enough capacity for shopping or touring. This, after making a very poor choice in purchasing the Innergy panniers. Which were held to the rack with little more than four poppers. Hardly serious!

 Carrying a spare battery now doubles my range. Doing so at well above my average speed on the Trykit trike. I have gained comfort and much increased speed, over a longer range, with a much shorter period in the saddle. Without the former, desperate panting and aching legs on climbs. A vertical gain of 520m on yesterday's very hilly route. Without feeling exhausted after every, longer ride. Yet I still get a really good workout at high pedal revs. [Cadence] Which maintains my overall fitness as the years keep accumulating.

 Unlike the kid who raced past me yesterday. At double my speed [which was just over 30kph [18mph] at the time.] He was slumped like a sack of sand. On a screaming 2-stroke scooter without number plates. [So officially rated as a Small Moped in Denmark] His legal maximum speed of 30kph should only have matched my cruising speed. He was at the far end of a long straight before I had managed to travel a quarter of it.

 It was a  gorgeous morning for a ride in the countryside. With freshly washed, spring sunshine lighting the bright new leaves. I covered plenty of ground in my search for leather straps. Finding two which would do. This was after discovering the Ortlieb shoulder straps worked perfectly. To hold the battery securely onto the rack. 

 59km in 2h:12m. Averages of 27kmh and 83rpm average cadence. 418m ascent. 86% Sport mode. With the rest in Tour mode. Leaving a useful reserve of 18% in the battery. Again, I made no effort to conserve battery charge. Aiming for high cadence in Sport mode with 30kmh my target. 

 I was never breathless nor suffered pain in my legs during long climbs at comfortably higher speeds than the trike. I often see 110rpm when I flick into a lower gear and spin all the way up the hills. This is where I gain most speed over a manual cycle ride. I wore padded racing shorts and suffered only mildly from saddle soreness at odd times. A buffeting headwind made the last leg rather tiring.

There were hundreds of motorcycles out in convoy today. Including many Harley-Davidsons. It was rather amusing to be right at the front of a very long queue of bikers at a hilltop traffic light. 

 I took off and bombed down the following hill on the narrow cycle path at 50kmh.[30mph] With the big bikes constantly roaring past.  The Moustache felt very safe at all times. With powerful [Magura 200mm disk] braking when required and very sure footed on rough stuff and corners. 

 Note that I am extremely careful around other cyclists and pedestrians. Slowing down to a crawl at times. To pass drooling idiots walking in the middle of the path while wearing closed headphones! Or dogs zigzagging on a hundred meters of retractable lead!

 I am rapidly regaining my confidence as I remaster two wheels. Since I pumped the tires hard it is often difficult to tell I have full suspension. Not to mention a sprung, leather saddle. I chose the top end of the range of tire pressures suggested on the sidewall. Since I am riding primarily at speed on [supposedly] smooth roads. Except that the paths are often only MTB worthy. While the road could be easily be used for snooker. On one hill I climbed today. The surface of the cycle path was so corrugated. That it collected sand in the countless hollows, despite the slope. 

 No doubt a few yards on the trike would quickly remind me how harsh an unsprung cycle can be. I have repeatedly checked that the suspension is working and not locked out. It may be that I should choose slightly lower tire pressures. Not once have I ever noticed unwanted suspension movement when pedaling hard.  

 The XLC T010 dropper post is working well in rise and fall but has quite a lot of rotary backlash. Which I notice at certain pedal revs. As the saddle twitches from side to side and clicks under me. Not what you'd expect for the considerable asking price! 

 Dinner was chicken and mushroom curry. No pictures please! 

 

~o~