Bikes are great, there’s no doubt about it. They allow you to move relatively quickly with ease and are great exercise. Whenever you have a discussion about changing the way we go from A to B (because cars ARE a really inefficient way to do so), at least in Germany you’ll hear about the Netherlands and their cycling infrastructure. Which is great. And yes, better cycling infrastructure gets more people to cycle. But it’s also an undeniable truth that the Netherlands are mostly flat, while right here the only street names that don’t end in “hill” or “mountain” are those that end in “valley” or “vale”. If you think I’m kidding, I grew up in the “Eagle mountain street” and I now live in the “Oakwood vale”. Which means that cycling around here is great for exercise, but bad for transportation. My daily commute is 8km one way, uphill and downhill. Can I cycle 8km uphill and downhill? Absolutely! Am I presentable and able to work a full work day afterwards? Nope, no way. In comes the ebike and a program that makes leasing one a no brainer.
The ebike is a game changer in individual transportation. It allows people who are not super fit to use a bike as a means of transportation, riding comfortably without over exerting yourself and it allows fit people to expand their range. Also, there’s a program that’s called “job bike”: you choose an ebike and you lease it from a company. But your monthly payment is deducted from your gross salary, thereby reducing your taxes, so in the end you pay a lot less than the actual nominal fee. Now that I finally have a stable contract I qualify for the program and went on hunting for a bike.
There are two small independent sellers that participate in the program and one big sports chain. I went to all three of them, and in the end bought at the big chain. Not because of the price (though that also played a role), but because the people there who are salaried employees were the only ones who acted like they wanted to sell me a bike, while the owners at one of the small ones acted like I was wasting their time while the other just couldn’t offer what I wanted.
Anyway, so here’s my new bike. I’ve done a test run to school and back. It takes 20minutes instead of 12 and is a comfortable ride, mostly on bike lanes. I just need to get out of “gym mode”, remembering that I actually don’t want to do a sweaty cardio workout. Now I need to convince the bosses that we need a decent teachers only bike rack.
Oh, and I’ve also run into my first “no good enougher” on the internet when talking about the bike. What’s a not good enougher? That’s somebody, usually a single male urban somebody, who will dismiss any and all small efforts you make to use less energy or produce less carbon dioxide as “not good enough”. You changed your combustion car for an EV? Why do you need a car anyway? The healthy single man living in an urban area an working from home doesn’t, so neither do you? You made a nice vegan meal using vegan minced meat? Why do you use “ultra processed food”? You got an ebike? No healthy person needs electric support! You know the type, right? Amazingly, they’re rarely working mums, unless their job is social media. They move goalposts so fast you’d think that the speed of light was getting envious.
But they won’t spoil my fun. Financially this won’t save me a dime, but it will hopefully be fun and still provide some additional exercise. We do what we can and recognise that not all things are for everybody.
I live in a very hilly area. Technically, I actually live in the highlands/mountains called Fichtelgebirge/Smrčiny/Fichtel Mountains. Just going to the town means a change in elevation of about 50 m. That is enough for the town to also have a warmer climate, btw.
Moving around on a bike was never an option for me. I was never fit enough to scale the mountains, and even with an electric bike, it would not be feasible to get groceries that way. So for me, a car is an unfortunate must, or walking when I have the time. I am doing my best to reduce my carbon footprint in other ways. And I think every little way helps. Even though no individual action is ever enough, and a systemic overhaul supported by the legislature is needed, the little actions people take add up and make a difference.
Congrats!
I’ve been bike commuting for a few years now, and am generally in favor of anything that reduces personal automobile use, and I think ebikes are a pretty good solution for a few different segments of the population. Plus, I imagine it will save you some money in fuel over time.
And you’ll probably interact with and see more of stuff around you on your commute.
I’m in a pretty unusual situation where bicycle commuting works out pretty well for me, and it’s made some positive impacts on my life. I’m working on learning the maintenance and repairs, and gradually accumulating tools, while working on a improved, lower-maintenance commuter
I must admit I’ve had “no good enougher” thoughts at times. I live in the Netherlands, which as you mentioned is mostly flat. I’m also reaching that age where you can’t just be cavalier about your health (mid 40s) and actually need to put in some effort to stay at a healthy weight. So I cycle.
This means cycling 20km from my home to the nearest really steep hill (we call it a mountain…) in the county (https://nl.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amerongse_Berg), cycling up and down it, and cycling back home.
Now, I’m certainly not in top condition, so I’m in the lowest gear of my bicycle and going up at what is slightly faster than walking pace. At which point it can be extremely frustrating to have quite obese people zip by you, easily/slowly peddling on their “bicycles” and waving at you.
I get it, it’s not a race, and we all need to do whatever works. But to me it still feels a bit like cheating.
Charly
Yeah, that’s the thing. Hauling food for one person? Totally possible! For three people with a substantial distance? Nope. The bike also won’t get your sick ass to the doc or your elderly parents or young children to appointments.
lochaber
I don’t think it will save money on fuel, but it’s good for me and spending money on me being healthy is a good investment.
robert 79
I think the common mistake here is mistaking your personal goal for a universal one. You want to get some serious exercise at the limit of your ability. Others don’t have that goal.
For my serious exercise, I go to the gym. My bike is for transportation and I don’t want to arrive at work drenched in sweat. Also, take it from an obese woman: Everything that gets you moving is good. Very few obese people will start working out with the goal of matching your ability. That’s much more than most people have the time and dedication for. They will not start training so that maybe next year they can ride their bike to work.
+++
Well, after two days of commuting, I think my butt will be glad that it’s a short week. I still need to slow down a little and get a grip on switching gears. This bike has a hub gear, which I actually prefer (less risk of your chain slipping on your way to work), but haven’t had since I was 12 or something like that.
just starting can be a bit rough -- when I started, my thighs were jelly for like 2-3 months. :)
If you can take days off, that will probably help with the recovery -- I started by using transit in the morning, and cycling home every other day, until I got used to that, then cycling home every day, then cycling both ways every day.
One of the things I found helpful about using gears, was to start in the lowest (slowest) gear, and only shift to another gear when you can’t pedal fast enough. I don’t know all the reasoning behind it, but I’ve heard some claims that it’s better for cardiovascular/health, and it’s also easier on your knees/joints, and the bike drive train as well (might be less of an issue with an ebike?)
And I just reread the previous post, and if your primary vehicle is EV/hybrid, then, yeah, I guess you may not be saving much fuel ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ but, the activity/exercise will be a nice bonus once you adapt to it. I save about ~$150/month on transit fees alone through my bike commute, so my bike has essentially “paid” for itself, all it’s accessories, and much of my new/planned build. And it’s certainly kept me in a better mood, been more reliable than transit (probably a mostly U.S. thing…), and kept my waistline down a bit.
It might be worth looking into casual group rides in your area, I’ve gone on a couple, and they were pretty easy effort/ability-wise, and I thought it was neat to meet other cyclists in the area, and learn some routes and such aside from my commute, and just see some new things.
Apologies if this is all stuff you are already aware of, I’m just really happy with being able to bike commute, and like discussing it with other people starting or considering a bike commute. :)
Everybody doesn’t need to be a “spandex missile” if they want bicycle. Different strokes and all that. I did love it when my then employer had shower facilities and I commuted to work by bike.
Giliell @ 4
It could be that the third day is the worst. At least for me, that has been the case for different kinds of daily exercise.
Giliell if you continue to find the seat uncomfortable consider changing it, there are seats designed for those of us with wide hips, and having one made a lot of difference to my comfort when riding. The other option is padded shorts or trousers, which again in my experience also make a difference, and they don’t need to be spandex! In fact you can get padded underpants to wear under your normal clothes, though that never appealed to me, the padding is very perceptible to the wearer and I wouldn’t want to spend a day working wearing it. But it’s worth giving it a couple of weeks at least to see if you get used to your existing saddle.
OT but I think the Never-ending thread needs renewal.
@lumipuna, I noticed it, I am on it.
Thanks, Charly.
lochbar
I’m definitely not looking for a new hobby. I haven’t got time for the hobbies that I already have. This is strictly for getting some exercise on the side while also doing the environment some good. It won’t save money even compared to our combustion car. That would only work if I could sell the car, but I can’t do that. I also spent another 400 bucks on things I need, mostly bras, because my current amount of them doesn’t allow for daily changes. Though if I started picking up the cans on the side of the road I could probably recover money that way (Germany has a deposit system for cans and plastic bottles)
Jazzlet
The butt is getting used to it. It knows it doesn’t have a choice anyway.
+++
Well, I already had my first hickup. On Monday on my way to work the e support suddenly stopped working and I had to cycle the rest under my own power, thus proving that yes I can do that, no I really shouldn’t. I was soaked in sweat and pretty much checked out by the time that I arrived, since school is about the highest point in the commute. Thankfully I had my 11th graders who are ok with giving me 15 minutes to come back to life.
The issue was actually pretty small, once I had time to search the internet: There’s a magnet on the back wheel that passes a sensor on the frame, thus calculating speed and regulating the e support. It had turned some 15 degrees, probably by going over a bump and was no longer facing the sensor and the bike couldn’t calculate my speed. Since e support is limited to 25 km/h, it therefore ceased my support.
Giliell
Glad it was an easy fix. Good to know that you could do the cycling anyway even if it’s not leaving you in a work ready state.