The Commuter Challenge.
Next week is the Commuter Challenge. I've signed up and registered for the Oracle-Kanata workplace (30KM from home).
I encourage you to register for this great cause! Let's improve our air quality by re-thinking how we get to work!
I plan on e-biking to work and telecommuting from home next week.
Cheers,
Grant
Showing posts with label ebike. Show all posts
Showing posts with label ebike. Show all posts
Friday, June 01, 2007
Thursday, May 24, 2007
E-bike commuting and errand running.
Have I mentioned how cool my e-bike is? ;-)
This week I rode to work and back on a couple of occasions (it's just shy of 60KM round-trip). It's amazing to me how quickly I'm making progress. On each trip I get a little faster, and yet feel less tired when I arrive.
I have to use level 3 assist on the way to work, as it's more uphill. All the hills are relatively gradual, but the dirt roads have been graded recently, which makes them soft and tricky as well as power-robbing. I can use level 4 (max assist) on the way home as it's more downhill. This is nice because I can arrive home and not be completely bagged. I still feel like doing things in the evening.
When I bought my bike, I let the salesman talk me into a mountain bike style. I had big plans for hitting the trails and doing real "serious" mountain biking. Turns out, I was just kidding myself -- I did about 5 technical rides in 10 years.
So I finally decided that what I really needed was a bike that I was comfortable going relatively long distances on - in short, a commuter. So I set about "commuter-ing" my mountain bike. Off came the knobby tires and on went semi-slicks. It got fenders, a more-upright handlebar, a rear-view mirror, the BionX assist kit (which I love), lights, kickstand, rack and pannier baskets. In short, all the things it needed to make the bike USEFUL.
Today's ride home from work included a side-trip to the grocery store. It makes me so happy to be able to pick up some stuff on the way home. :-)
Here's what my useful bike looks like:
Here I am after a 30K+ ride in 30C+ temperatures:
And one final shot of Jordan getting some lovin' with flower petals in her fur.
Ahhhhhhh. :-)
Grant
Have I mentioned how cool my e-bike is? ;-)
This week I rode to work and back on a couple of occasions (it's just shy of 60KM round-trip). It's amazing to me how quickly I'm making progress. On each trip I get a little faster, and yet feel less tired when I arrive.
I have to use level 3 assist on the way to work, as it's more uphill. All the hills are relatively gradual, but the dirt roads have been graded recently, which makes them soft and tricky as well as power-robbing. I can use level 4 (max assist) on the way home as it's more downhill. This is nice because I can arrive home and not be completely bagged. I still feel like doing things in the evening.
When I bought my bike, I let the salesman talk me into a mountain bike style. I had big plans for hitting the trails and doing real "serious" mountain biking. Turns out, I was just kidding myself -- I did about 5 technical rides in 10 years.
So I finally decided that what I really needed was a bike that I was comfortable going relatively long distances on - in short, a commuter. So I set about "commuter-ing" my mountain bike. Off came the knobby tires and on went semi-slicks. It got fenders, a more-upright handlebar, a rear-view mirror, the BionX assist kit (which I love), lights, kickstand, rack and pannier baskets. In short, all the things it needed to make the bike USEFUL.
Today's ride home from work included a side-trip to the grocery store. It makes me so happy to be able to pick up some stuff on the way home. :-)
Here's what my useful bike looks like:
Here I am after a 30K+ ride in 30C+ temperatures:
And one final shot of Jordan getting some lovin' with flower petals in her fur.
Ahhhhhhh. :-)
Grant
Thursday, April 19, 2007
Le Tour Nortel
Every year, there's a bicycle tour called the Tour Nortel, which raises funds for CHEO and other good causes.
Each year, I've told myself I should do the tour and raise some money for the cause. Each year, I find some lame excuse for not doing it.
Well, now that I have a fancy-schmancy BionX PL-350 on my bike, I'm doing it! I signed up for the 70K tour. It should be challenging. ;-)
Please consider sponsoring me for this worthy cause.
Cheers,
Grant
Every year, there's a bicycle tour called the Tour Nortel, which raises funds for CHEO and other good causes.
Each year, I've told myself I should do the tour and raise some money for the cause. Each year, I find some lame excuse for not doing it.
Well, now that I have a fancy-schmancy BionX PL-350 on my bike, I'm doing it! I signed up for the 70K tour. It should be challenging. ;-)
Please consider sponsoring me for this worthy cause.
Cheers,
Grant
Ebikes are fun!
Yeah, I know it's been a long time since we posted to the blog. Sorry about that. Now that spring is (finally) here, it's time to dust off the old blog and add some sustainable-living, eco-minded content.
Lately I've been obsessed with electric-assist bikes. My plan has been to upgrade my Raleigh mountain bike by turning it into a commuting hybrid-style bike, with an assistance motor. The motor and battery are a BionX PL-350, sold and installed by a great guy, Juergen Weichert at Acclivity Solutions.
Today is a very happy day for me -- I rode to work for the first time on my electric-assist bike! I got 30 minutes of exercise, covering a route from Stittsville to the Oracle Kanata office.
The weather was excellent. The carefully-selected route minimized the amount of time I have to spend in heavy traffic, and was relatively efficient. It was nice to be out in the springtime air.
As I was pedaling along, I saw another cyclist (and he looked like he knew what he was doing), so I followed him. Good thing I did -- he showed me a better route for part of my journey. It was through a nice quiet sub-division, and away from the very busy main road I as expecting to take.
I feel great! I've always had a hard time convincing myself to get exercise for exercise's sake, so this is a great option. I can get exercise as part of my daily commute to work.
The plan is to increase the length of my route once I get strong enough, but I don't want to push it too hard at first. Laura will be the first one to say that I have a real tendency to overdo my exercise at first. ;-)
I'll post a few pics of the bike once I get it cleaned up (I got it very muddy riding around in the rain the last few days).
Cheers,
Grant
Yeah, I know it's been a long time since we posted to the blog. Sorry about that. Now that spring is (finally) here, it's time to dust off the old blog and add some sustainable-living, eco-minded content.
Lately I've been obsessed with electric-assist bikes. My plan has been to upgrade my Raleigh mountain bike by turning it into a commuting hybrid-style bike, with an assistance motor. The motor and battery are a BionX PL-350, sold and installed by a great guy, Juergen Weichert at Acclivity Solutions.
Today is a very happy day for me -- I rode to work for the first time on my electric-assist bike! I got 30 minutes of exercise, covering a route from Stittsville to the Oracle Kanata office.
The weather was excellent. The carefully-selected route minimized the amount of time I have to spend in heavy traffic, and was relatively efficient. It was nice to be out in the springtime air.
As I was pedaling along, I saw another cyclist (and he looked like he knew what he was doing), so I followed him. Good thing I did -- he showed me a better route for part of my journey. It was through a nice quiet sub-division, and away from the very busy main road I as expecting to take.
I feel great! I've always had a hard time convincing myself to get exercise for exercise's sake, so this is a great option. I can get exercise as part of my daily commute to work.
The plan is to increase the length of my route once I get strong enough, but I don't want to push it too hard at first. Laura will be the first one to say that I have a real tendency to overdo my exercise at first. ;-)
I'll post a few pics of the bike once I get it cleaned up (I got it very muddy riding around in the rain the last few days).
Cheers,
Grant
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)