E-Bike Commuting 2 years later going strong
The Journey So Far
Wow, it is hard to believe that I am going on two years since I decided to dive full time into bike commuting to work. I didn’t realize at the time when I decided to try this just how much I would love it. I can barely remember what it was like to drive to work every day. What I do remember about it is that I didn’t like it.
Now that being said, riding a bike all year round to work has come with its challenges. The first and foremost of these is the weather. I hate to state the obvious but when you are on a bike what the weather is doing is suddenly a lot more important. I had to learn to deal with everything from cold dark winter nights to blazing hot summer days.
And the wind I can’t forget about the wind. WInd makes everything worse when you are on a bike it blows you around, stops you dead, or makes that drizzle of rain into a blinding torrent.
I learned that dealing with the weather is all about having the right gear. Probably the most important bits of gear I have assembled over the past two years is,
Each of these items I have found to be essential for the most challenging part of bike commuting; the cold dark winter nights. Now you would think that those winter nights would be the worst season of the bike commute but with the right gear, I have found them magical. Coming home at night just me, the bike path, and the cold air filling my lungs has become the best part of my day.
What I’m doing now to improve my Ebike.
But learning how to commute on an electric bicycle hasn’t been all puppies and roses. I had had to go through several iterations of figuring out how to carry my stuff to and from work. This was further complicated by the fact that I wanted to protect the components I could from rain and thievery. The battery and the controller being the most sensitive to both problems I eventually settled on attaching a toolbox to a custom bike rack and putting the battery and controller in there. While that design worked great and it gave me good storage space for both bike components and extra stuff I had to make a change so I would have room for a passenger.
I relatively recently became a parent and if I want to keep doing my biking ways I needed a system that could carry my stuff and carry my kid on the back of the bike. Thankfully the kid is not big enough yet for me to do this but the time is coming soon so I needed to make the changes.
The most critical change I made was the purchase of a special type of bag called a triangle frame bag. This little beauty fits right between the pipes of the bike and carries my battery, controller, and a couple of other extras. It is not near as roomy as my old setup but it will give me the ability to take my kid with me on my bike so it’s worth it.
E Biking and the Future
So one of the good things that came out of the past year and all the changes that happened is an explosive interest in bikes and e-bikes in particular. Not long after the lockdowns started you would be hard-pressed to find a bike of any sort in bike shops across America and more and more people have discovered what e-bikes can do for their lives. It can be argued that a transportation revolution is underway and we are all going to witness it. As the technology continues to improve and the batteries get cheaper I foresee a future where e-bikes not cars will dominate our streets. This will lead to cleaner air, more exercise for us and much better commutes to work.
I for one will keep on biking for work and pleasure and I look forward to sharing this great way of getting around with my kid. If I do my job right my kid won’t be asking for a car when they turn 16 but a new e-bike and that is one vehicle I won’t mind buying them.
