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E-Bikes

After the weather has been fairly crummy the last few days, it's supposed to be fairly nice over the weekend. Tomorrow it is to reach 70° and Sunday 78°. It is to be fairly windy tomorrow with winds around 18mph and Sunday very windy. I'll try to get a ride in tomorrow and hope maybe a bit Sunday.
I'm always anxious to ride when I can.
 
I spent far more time than anticipated doing the chores I wanted to do. By the time I was ready to ride, it was super warm and windy. I told the wife I was just going to ride around in town where I had some shelter from the wind. When I started riding I changed my mind. Just one time to the town South and then ride around town for a while. One trip to the South turned into two... my normal 21 mile loop. It wasn't that bad riding into the wind and was super easy on the return trip. I'm glad I got in the miles because it is supposed to be much windier tomorrow. It was 78° when I got home with wind gusts in the mid twenties.
 
I finished up my lawn chores and did a bit of grocery shopping while it warmed up and became way windy. I decided to go riding in spite of the high winds. The wind is mostly from the West and my loop is mostly North South. It never blew me over but there were times that I had to crab the bike into the wind. It was still very good to be out riding. I rode my normal 21 mile loop and didn't see a single rider between towns. I did see a couple of kids in town riding their bikes. It is 81°, how do you not get out and walk or ride or do something outside?
 
Tomorrow is forecasted to be the only half decent weather day next week. I'm definitely riding! I'm not looking forward to a week without riding. I'll go crazy. Besides being fun and refreshing, I need the exercise and sunshine. I'll likely ride early. I like to get my ride in before school lets out. My loop takes me through two school zones and I guess children today can't walk. Cars are lined up everywhere to pick up the children. There is no riding through the areas when school is letting out.
 
My chances of riding today are decreasing. It warmed up to sixty five degrees then started dropping. The wind was out of the South with gusts near twenty mph and has switched to the North with gusts in the low thirty mph range. I put the mulching kit on my mower and mowed up the leaves instead of riding it seems.
 
I went ahead and rode this afternoon. I stayed in town and logged 12 miles. It was better than not riding at all but not by a lot. I'm spoiled to riding in the country where I don't have to make stops and watch for traffic. There's that and I like to ride faster than is practical or safe in town. I at least got in a bit of exercise in spite of the weather.
 
It never warmed up today and was quite windy. I thought about constructing the bike rack I received the day I had my heart attack. It doesn't look like it will be too difficult to put together. I will be using it when I go to Oklahoma next month to see the eclipse. I plan to transport both bikes and my son is taking his two bikes. That should give us some riding time to explore the area. I would have put my rack together before now but I'm not sure where I'm going to store it. I'll have to make room in my shed... that may prove interesting. :) I had best got off my duff and build the rack while I have the time.
I have some lawns that will likely need mowed next week.
 
The weather has not been decent to ride lately. Today it improved thought it was still a bit windy and in the mid fifties. I decided it would be a good day to assemble the bike rack. I didn't start on the project until late afternoon and didn't have a great deal of success. It was boxed up well and was boxed in a shipping box. It took some time just to open and dig the rack and its parts out of the boxing. I cut up all of the cardboard in chucks small enough to fit into my recycle bin. I next proceeded to step one: placing the hitch into the vehicle's receiver and secure it with the locking hitch pin. The hitch pin wouldn't pass through the receiver. I removed the hitch pin from my truck and it wouldn't pass through the Jeep's receiver either. The locking hitch pin easily worked with the truck receiver. The holes in the Jeep's receiver were just a bit too small.... why???? I have no idea. Being as the receiver is recessed in the rear bumper, it was impossible to drill or ream the holes to proper size. I spent an hour with a rat tail file enlarging the receiver holes so that a hitch pin could be used. I completed step one and called it a day.
I'm impressed with the hitch but not the Jeep :). The hitch is very well made and I don't foresee any problems putting it together now. The rack weighs 58 pounds so it's not going to be any fun carrying it from the shed to vehicle and back. And with that weight, I'm not going to be hanging if from shed roof as I had hoped. I'll figure all that out once I have the rack assembled and adjusted to the width needed to carry my two bikes.
 
After it warmed up this morning, I finished my rack installation. The tricky part was getting the tire cradles spaced the correct amount for the tires to rest completely in them. Then it was a matter of positioning the bikes where they missed hitting the center riser and weren't hitting one another. It took a little time but it certainly wasn't difficult. I loaded the bikes and took a quick tour in the Jeep to make certain all was good. I was happy with the rack. I off loaded the bikes, changed clothes, and went for my normal 21 mile loop. It was a nice afternoon and I saw at least ten other riders enjoying the weather. I was the only one on an E-bike but some of the riders were more than idle riders. They were dressed in their bike kits and weren't riding cheap bikes.
Hollywood Rack.jpg
 
It was incredibly windy today but I went riding anyway. It warmed into the low seventies and I just couldn't resist getting the bike out. I rode my normal loop with a slight deviation which added a mile.
Riding into the 32mph gusts was no fun at all but riding with the wind was a bit like sailing. :) I saw no one riding or walking today. The wind pretty much ruined the day.
 
I did my chores and then went riding this afternoon. It was incredibly windy with gusts into the mid thirty mile per hour range. It was a West wind so I had to battle it the entire ride. It proved to be a fun ride all the same. I logged my 21 miles and called it a day.
 
Another super windy day. The wind was out of the South so only half of the 26 miles I logged today were work. A full sky of blue and upper seventies temps made it fun in spite of the wind. I saw nobody out today. I admit, without some assistance, the wind would blow the fun right off of a ride... especially an old man. I rode my normal loop today then did three mini loops in town.
 
I mowed early and went riding later. It was fairly brutal. The wind was ripping out of the North with gusts nearing 40mph. I rode one loop to the next town South then spent the remainder riding in town. I logged 17 hard earned miles today. The North wind nearly ruined the day.
 
It was just too lousy to ride yesterday. It wasn't a great deal better today but I rode anyway. I waited until late afternoon and only rode in town. I mixed up my ride some and rode mostly East West instead of North South to avoid the North wind that was gusting into the upper 30mph range. It wasn't the best of days to ride but it was too warm to sit inside. It is to be considerably colder the next couple of days so I'm happy I worked in a ride.
 
It was nice today even though the wind was from the North. I mowed three lawns then rested up a bit. I then rode my 21 mile loop. I'm not in mow shape yet so I'm a bit tired. It was a great day to be outside. I met and passed a number of cyclists early evening as well and quite a few people taking a stroll. I noticed as I logged my miles that I've put 301 miles on my bike since my cardiologist cleared me to ride again. Considering there were quite a few days that the weather didn't allow riding, I'm pretty happy I got back into bike shape quickly. Now to get into mow shape before I'm slammed with work.
 
The temperature just barely topped seventy today but there was very little wind and often zero wind. I mowed my lawns and took off for a great afternoon on the bike. I rode my normal 21 mile loop and saw a number of other riders. It was a great day to do about anything outside except fly a kite. :) I always take note of the odometer reading for my logs. When I turned off the bike it was sitting at 2345.
 
No riding today. It's so windy that it was nearly impossible to mow my lawns. There wasn't any way to do any riding. It finally warmed into the mid fifties but I saw wind gusts in the low fifty MPH range. I mowed and did a bit of mower maintenance and called it a day.
 
It was winter like today. It started out at freezing and slowly warmed into the fifties. No riding again today. :( My son was over last night and we were talking about where we were going to ride our bikes the Sunday the seventh of April. We are taking four bikes to our VRBO in Oklahoma where we hope to enjoy the total eclipse the eighth. We found a trail head just five miles or so from the cabin that snakes it's way up the mini mountain there. I think the total elevation is just shy of 2k feet. It could prove to make a fun ride. If not that, we'll tour the hills around us and see some of the multi million dollar retreats tucked away in the woods. One way or another, it should to be a fun time.
 
It is warming up nicely today and the wind is ramping up as well. :( I plan to do some riding today in spite of the wind. It was perfect riding weather yesterday but we had plans to meet with some friends. It was time well spent but it was a bit of a bummer to miss riding on such a day. It will be warmer today but quite windy.
 
I managed to get my ride in. It was windy but doable. It was in the mid seventies when I returned with wind gusts in the low thirties from the South. I just rode my same old loop of 21 miles but it felt great to be out. I met one couple who were walking their bikes. They were going with the wind at the time so they just felt like walking I guess. They were the only people I encountered while riding. It was fun riding through town and smelling all of the different BBQs and smokers going.
 
That's an interesting E-bike. Most are much heavier bikes including mine. My bike weighs over seventy pounds with the battery. The carbon bike has a 250W hub motor and my bike a 1000W. It takes a certain amount of power to overcome the weight of my bike. They may be more similar in assistance than seems at first glace. I don't understand the removal of the hub motor to ride without assistance vs just not using a level of assist. I would like to know more about the bike if it sees production. At first glance, it is a bit feature deprived for the price range they are targeting. More information might prove that wrong.

I still have my carbon frame bike that I rode a million miles on. It hasn't a great deal of value but was quite the bike when I purchased it decades ago.
 
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