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| "Dude Where is my Bike" |
Friday, 28 December 2018
Minor setbacks and a change in Mindset...
Hey I may get a little deep here so bare with me...
Now normally I would be writing this and well pissed off, with a kind of "why does this shit always keep happening to me". If it's not my health stopping me from doing something, both work and play, it is something breaking, or getting lost and I am on ages trying to find it. Anyhoo let me explain what has occured on todays little adventure and also go on to how I dealt with it.
Tuesday, 25 December 2018
Christmas Day Bimble...depleting my battery
Normally today is a work day and as such my alarm went off at 06:45am. I awoke and had the inital thought to just roll over and hide under my warm quilt. My little internal voice then kicked in, prodding me into action.
I had to put my prosthetic leg on wonky, as I knew if I popped it on aligned for walking, once I got out on the bike I would be in agony, as the socket tends to rub on my hip. I pre-empted the rub and placed a couple of Mepilex Borders on my hip. I knew exactly where to place them as my last ride out, last Saturday my socket had rubbed a few wear marks in my skin.
I sorted my riding gear and my old Faithful Canon Power Shot SX200, my thinking, well lately all my photo's have been shocking. At least with the small Canon I have a lot more control. To be fair todays ride was more about seeing what the battery was like on my new Specialized Turbo Levo, rather than heading out and taking shots.
I had to take it easy going down our stairs as due to rotating my socket, my foot was now very Charlie Chaplain'esque. Once in the kitchen I removed my Rheo XC and popped my BTK Crosover in it's place. A few more bits and bobs out of the cupboard, my helmet, new Seal Skin Gloves and of course helmet. I decided to take my small Camelbak "Fanny Pack". I had bought it earlier in the year and as yet had never used it. Have to say very impressed with it's stowage capabilities and it is very comfortable to wear. Not only that it is great for getting to things quickly as you do not have to take it off. Money well spent.
I gathered my bike, popped a single ear bud in my ear and selected play on my Mp3 player. There's quite a few varied tunes on there and quite often I sing along to them as I ride. Thank god I had had the hindsight to bring my Arctic ONE Buff as Jeez it was freezing out, quite literally. There was a covering of white frost on both of my cars as I went out into our yard. Yeah I definitely should have put my leg warmer on as I have to say I was cold all day.
My little Leyzne Zecto Drive Lights are another purchase I have not regretted and I switched these on to both guide the way and help me to be seen. I headed up the farmers trail, as this is probably the easiest way for me to get on to the C2C. I had it in my head to go down to Sunderland and the coast and then loop back around via South Shields, up to Whitemare Pool roundabout, then cut up by Springwell and Wreckington, before branching off for Birtley and back on to the C2C and home and this is what I did.
The ride down was a nice and steady one, my bike being in "eco mode". In fact I kept my bike on this setting for almost the whole loop.
I was really enjoying the ride. I was still getting a work out, however the motor was assisting me where I needed it. Well that was until about 5 to 7 or so miles from home. My fuel/battery light had dropped to 2 bars. So at this point I stopped and went into my Mission Control app and found the Smart Control. I then judged how far I had to go and set it in the app. Man the last 5 to 6 miles on the way up from Birtley on the C2C were proper hard. I think I only had something like 10% assistance and this gradually dropped and dropped. My fitness is not on top form at the moment either. Months off the bikes and a nasty chest infection a month or so ago so I was proper struggling with my own natural engine. I had to dig deep, drop to a low gear and slowly move all 21.5 kgs of bike up the gradual incline. As I got to Beamish and Beamish Hills there was no battery left at all, so I had no other option but to get off and push for a little while. Once in No Place I was able to hit the off road trail which leads back on to the farmers trail and gradually came to the top of the hill and a nice rally down the trail.
All in all done 45.7 miles according to Strava with 1,935ft of climbing. I am seriously considering looking at getting a bigger 700 watt battery as apparently it will give me an extra 40% range.
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| Over at the coast, pleased I had my Arctic One Buff |
I sorted my riding gear and my old Faithful Canon Power Shot SX200, my thinking, well lately all my photo's have been shocking. At least with the small Canon I have a lot more control. To be fair todays ride was more about seeing what the battery was like on my new Specialized Turbo Levo, rather than heading out and taking shots.
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| Early in the morning near the River Wear and the New Bridge at Sunderland |
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| Cracking bit of kit |
I gathered my bike, popped a single ear bud in my ear and selected play on my Mp3 player. There's quite a few varied tunes on there and quite often I sing along to them as I ride. Thank god I had had the hindsight to bring my Arctic ONE Buff as Jeez it was freezing out, quite literally. There was a covering of white frost on both of my cars as I went out into our yard. Yeah I definitely should have put my leg warmer on as I have to say I was cold all day.
My little Leyzne Zecto Drive Lights are another purchase I have not regretted and I switched these on to both guide the way and help me to be seen. I headed up the farmers trail, as this is probably the easiest way for me to get on to the C2C. I had it in my head to go down to Sunderland and the coast and then loop back around via South Shields, up to Whitemare Pool roundabout, then cut up by Springwell and Wreckington, before branching off for Birtley and back on to the C2C and home and this is what I did.
The ride down was a nice and steady one, my bike being in "eco mode". In fact I kept my bike on this setting for almost the whole loop.
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| Proper muddy over by the cliff edge, lovely the sun shining off the water |
I was really enjoying the ride. I was still getting a work out, however the motor was assisting me where I needed it. Well that was until about 5 to 7 or so miles from home. My fuel/battery light had dropped to 2 bars. So at this point I stopped and went into my Mission Control app and found the Smart Control. I then judged how far I had to go and set it in the app. Man the last 5 to 6 miles on the way up from Birtley on the C2C were proper hard. I think I only had something like 10% assistance and this gradually dropped and dropped. My fitness is not on top form at the moment either. Months off the bikes and a nasty chest infection a month or so ago so I was proper struggling with my own natural engine. I had to dig deep, drop to a low gear and slowly move all 21.5 kgs of bike up the gradual incline. As I got to Beamish and Beamish Hills there was no battery left at all, so I had no other option but to get off and push for a little while. Once in No Place I was able to hit the off road trail which leads back on to the farmers trail and gradually came to the top of the hill and a nice rally down the trail.
All in all done 45.7 miles according to Strava with 1,935ft of climbing. I am seriously considering looking at getting a bigger 700 watt battery as apparently it will give me an extra 40% range.
Friday, 21 December 2018
A little bit of assistance
What a day to introduce my new bike to some local trails. It's absolutely filthy, hacky and dirty out there, plus due to being over wrapped up last week I decided to cut back on the layers and ended up be rather chilly today
So first impressions of this new fangled Specialized Turbo Levo which I got from the very friendly people over at Rutland Cycles and their Specialized Concept Store in Nottingham. It's canny! In "eco mode" it kind of brings back a recollection of what it used to feel like riding with 2 legs. The bike enables me to bimble along at a nice pace and keep up with my mates. I was not sure I had made the right choice in getting the size XL, however after a proper run out today the bike feels good under me. Using my BTK Crossover I have to say getting up and out of the saddle is effortless. I know not much to all you "Norms", however for us one legged blokes riding out the saddle takes a bit of practice. Especially to maintain your pedal revolutions and even more so if attempting to ride up an incline.
Not being entirely used to an eBike, it did take me a little amount of time to get used to the bike. I discovered on my first encounter with a steepish climb that I was in fact in a high gear and pretty much motoring up the incline. This was in "Eco Mode" too. Now normally I would be on either my granny ring or on the 11 speed Fatty in the lowest gear possible. I was still a little out of breath after the ride up past South Moor Golf Club and onto Wagtail Lane and that is because I did not want the bike to do all the work.
In trail mode the bike is awesome, especially in the muddy areas I encountered and believe me there were lots. Due to the motor kicking in, it just gave me that little bit extra drive so that I didn't come to a stand still and then have to put my foot down.
Other than experimenting for a short blast in Turbo mode, to see what it was like I did not use this mode much at all today. I noticed in Turbo the motor cutting out, once I had reached the 15.5mph. Oh and I also tried pedalling with the motor off all together. It is weird as once you have been using the motor and pedal assist and you switch it off, it is like riding a bike with a flat tyre and you really feel the weight of the bike. Speaking of weight, you definitely notice it, for instance before getting to the trails I had to pop the front wheel up over a kerb. This sort of caught me off guard as the front end feels proper heavy. I suppose it's like anything else just getting used to it. On the trails the bike feels pretty planted, not sure of the tyres at this point too early to say. They did feel a bit better than my Maxxis Mammoths, which are fitted to my Fat Bike, they just offer no traction at all.
I was out with my friends Lee and John today and really enjoyed the adventure, it's great to not have to beast myself to keep up and now that I am sat at home I don't feel wrecked. I know a lot of people bash the whole electric bike scene, as I have mentioned before, however it's horses for courses.
Moving on may as well leave you with a moan, yeah it's the whole camera thing again. It must be something to do with the bad weather as my shots recently have almost always come out either blurry, dark, grainy or generally just not up to standard. I have messed with setting etc, but once again it's a kind of fail. It is really difficult trying to take photo's when you are out and by yourself. The downside of the Hero 5 is that it does not have a timer on. Oh and I tried voice control today, however my GoPro once in it's protective case must not have been able to hear me. No amount of "GOPRO TAKE A PHOTO" was going to work. In the end it was more a case of "Awww GoPro Feck Off". I see the new Hero 7 has a few more features including a timer and also the photo quality is supposed to be better without messing with lots of settings. May have to invest.
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| Out on my New Ride Specialized Turbo Levo |
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| John doesn't need a motor LoL |
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| It was proper manky over on Chapman's Well |
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| BTK and Bike preforming well together |
Other than experimenting for a short blast in Turbo mode, to see what it was like I did not use this mode much at all today. I noticed in Turbo the motor cutting out, once I had reached the 15.5mph. Oh and I also tried pedalling with the motor off all together. It is weird as once you have been using the motor and pedal assist and you switch it off, it is like riding a bike with a flat tyre and you really feel the weight of the bike. Speaking of weight, you definitely notice it, for instance before getting to the trails I had to pop the front wheel up over a kerb. This sort of caught me off guard as the front end feels proper heavy. I suppose it's like anything else just getting used to it. On the trails the bike feels pretty planted, not sure of the tyres at this point too early to say. They did feel a bit better than my Maxxis Mammoths, which are fitted to my Fat Bike, they just offer no traction at all.
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| Set my camera up then had to push...man it was slippy |
Moving on may as well leave you with a moan, yeah it's the whole camera thing again. It must be something to do with the bad weather as my shots recently have almost always come out either blurry, dark, grainy or generally just not up to standard. I have messed with setting etc, but once again it's a kind of fail. It is really difficult trying to take photo's when you are out and by yourself. The downside of the Hero 5 is that it does not have a timer on. Oh and I tried voice control today, however my GoPro once in it's protective case must not have been able to hear me. No amount of "GOPRO TAKE A PHOTO" was going to work. In the end it was more a case of "Awww GoPro Feck Off". I see the new Hero 7 has a few more features including a timer and also the photo quality is supposed to be better without messing with lots of settings. May have to invest.
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