Winter Biking

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fan of Ray Williams

fan of Ray Williams

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Had unrealistic hopes that the cold would not arrive. Today is one of those ‘hard to catch your breath’ days.
 

Haven't even taken the winter bike out yet.
 

I changed my bike path to avoid the drivers who no longer stop when turning right. They all stare to the left as they turn right. Clown show out there.
 


Yeah not going to be much better for the next few days either.
 


Today is one of those, “can really taste that road salt”, kind of days.
 

Not bad today. Have to keep an eye out for a little patches of glaze ice. Somewhat damp, but no studded tires on January 23rd!
 

As a general rule, I don't go biking or jogging if it's below 10 degrees outside (note that I work from home most days). And I'm all in on studded tires in winter months.
 




No ice to worry about here! Nice to get back out on the trail, finally. Days getting longer, a little warmer. Snuck in 20 miles yesterday and 24 today, time to get the miles ramped up and shed a few winter pounds
 

Ogee Ogilthorpe said:
No ice to worry about here! Nice to get back out on the trail, finally. Days getting longer, a little warmer. Snuck in 20 miles yesterday and 24 today, time to get the miles ramped up and shed a few winter pounds
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Nice! Looks like another easy day here.
 


Been trying to pack in the miles these last several days before another cool patch comes. Damn, I love being out on the bike; the speed, some music in your ears, heart going, watching the Watts on the computer... not a lot better than that.
 



Somehow managed to get in just about 250 miles in the last 11 days, trying to get the legs back in bike shape after a couple months of offseason. Nothing really intense yet, just logging easy miles to get the legs back
 


Seeing more and more e-bikes on the bike trails. Unlike some hard core roadies, I'm totally fine with them out there. I think more people out there riding is a good thing, absolutely. I do have two observations though, minor causes for concern...

1. I'm surprised how many of them are not wearing helmets. Shocked really. And a lot of them are older riders not wearing helmets. Good grief, it doesn't take much to go down on a bike.

2. I do get concerned when I see people on e-bikes who are going pretty fast and they are clearly not experienced riders and don't know how to handle a bike at higher speeds. Handling a bike with 28mm-40mm tires at a speed of 20-28 mph (the e-bikes top out at 28mph I believe) is no easy task.

Ironically, it's often I see people on the trail that are in both of these groups mentioned.
 

Remembered I had bought a used wheel with a studded tire earlier in the Winter. Threw it on one of my bikes and went out. It is cold. Not used to it. Didn’t wear a balaclava which was dumb. Also prefer both tires to be studded as opposed to just the front one like on today’s ride. Huge difference for me. Looking forward to next week’s melt.
 

Ogee Ogilthorpe said:
Seeing more and more e-bikes on the bike trails. Unlike some hard core roadies, I'm totally fine with them out there. I think more people out there riding is a good thing, absolutely. I do have two observations though, minor causes for concern...

1. I'm surprised how many of them are not wearing helmets. Shocked really. And a lot of them are older riders not wearing helmets. Good grief, it doesn't take much to go down on a bike.

2. I do get concerned when I see people on e-bikes who are going pretty fast and they are clearly not experienced riders and don't know how to handle a bike at higher speeds. Handling a bike with 28mm-40mm tires at a speed of 20-28 mph (the e-bikes top out at 28mph I believe) is no easy task.

Ironically, it's often I see people on the trail that are in both of these groups mentioned.
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Was out riding today and ran into this guy I know that uses an e-bike. However today he was using a regular bike and I quizzed him on why he wasn’t on his usual ride, the e-bike. Said the battery is bad and needs a new one. Of course I am nosy and ask how much a new one costs for his particular e-bike. He said 800 dollars for a new one! It’s a recumbent, so maybe that plays into it also. The price blew me away.
 

fan of Ray Williams said:
Was out riding today and ran into this guy I know that uses an e-bike. However today he was using a regular bike and I quizzed him on why he wasn’t on his usual ride, the e-bike. Said the battery is bad and needs a new one. Of course I am nosy and ask how much a new one costs for his particular e-bike. He said 800 dollars for a new one! It’s a recumbent, so maybe that plays into it also. The price blew me away.
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I would have to guess the recumbent doesn't factor into it, the battery is the battery I have to believe, depending on the manufacturer.

The introduction of the e-bike is really something. My perception for several years, as someone who has a few road bikes in the garage, is that the e-bike was not much more than a toy, certainly not something for a "serious bike rider like myself!", that kind of mentality. I could not have been more wrong.

I can do virtually any bike workout on my Road e-bike (I have a Trek Domane+) that I would do on one of my road bikes. There are some workouts I WOULDN'T do, but I can do most any workout. At the end of the day, it's all about the Watts. As long as I'm pushing the watts I want to produce, who cares how much the bike is contributing?

The real kicker for me with my road e-bike is that it gets me out on a lot more days that I maybe normally wouldn't go out; maybe it's really windy out, maybe I'm just not feeling it with my legs, or getting in a recovery day is hard that day.

There's a loop that I do from the house, about 35 miles, around 2500' of elevation gain/climbing. For a bigger rider like myself (I'm not 5-9, 155 pounds like a lot of roadies), that's a lot of climbing. Even when I'm in bike shape, I would have to really be ready to do that on one of my regular road bikes. With the e-bike, I can do that any day I want, and I have complete control over the level of effort; I can average as little as 180 watts, I can average 200 watts, I can average 230 watts, whatever I want to push that day.

I'm glad I finally took the leap and tried one!
 

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