Interesting video. I'm 75 and cycle 5000 miles each year and at present I'm fit and don't see the need for an electric bike. It's nice to see what can be done. I just hope when I need an electric bike I can buy 'electric legs' as well.:-)
Ebikes serve many people at all different fitness levels and ages. If you bike 5000 miles on a mechanical bike, you could bike 15000 miles or more on an Ebike. The advantage is seeing much more and actually being able to go to places you would never consider otherwise. Just think of all the places you’ve ruled out that you could go to on an Ebike.
Yes we are still riding our ebikes. Since returning to Australia we have clocked up nearly 30,000kms exploring our amazing country. Suffice to say we are addicted to ebike cycle touring!!
in the Pacific NW, Washington or Oregon USA... We have to pay $20 to pitch a tent, and an extra $25-$35 to hook up to electricity. It is very expensive in the USA to do this with a bike that needs electricity. Almost cheaper to get a hotel, and bring the bike inside the room to charge everything. (and you get a nice bed to sleep in) . Jealous of what you have there.. PEACE and ride safely..
Mostly in campgrounds at night. The few times we could not find a campground we knocked on doors (always in the country - not cities) and asked if we could pitch our tent for the night and charge our batteries. People are so generous, so much so we were only knocked back once in northern England.
Where did you actually go? Just wondering - you mentioned Britain, and I could see Holland or Belgium, but I guess 28oookm would have taken you further?
We e-biked throughout mainland Europe and did laps of the UK and Ireland. It was an amazing journey that we would repeat in a heartbeat ... hopefully when this Coronavirus is done and dusted.
@@rachelandgarykuiper-corbet7887 Well done! One other thing I wondered - how did you negotiate bad weather? I tend to time my trips with the weather - but I never went more than a week or so in one go. But when touring a full year, you cannot really choose.
@@featherstone5838 Hi again. From the start we adopted the attitude of "it is what is is" and as such just coped as best we could with what weather we encountered. That said we went to southern Portugal and Cyprus in winter to beat the worst of the cold weather. As long as you have good quality wet weather gear the weather isn't really a big issue. Cheers
Love you video blog. We cycled lake Constance last year and are looking to do Basle to Cologne this year. We are getting to the age where a E-Bike is looking attractive and would appreciate your thoughts on them.
+Steve Gambrell We absolutely love our Haibikes and it has taken cycling to a whole new level. We can do longer distances as well as stay fit because they are pedal assist. The only thing is that the batteries need to be charged every night. We bought an extra battery each just in case but this is because we are trying to break a record for long distance cycling. We have managed to do this at camp sites
Because we had to live in it for 16 months so needed some room to be able to move and be comfortable at night. Also, we had electric bikes so could justify the extra weight. On average we got 60 to 70km per charge for the entire trip
Good to hear to hear you went for a practical approach and simple bought a second battery. I assume you don't empty both of them each day, right? How much assist do you use, are you pushing the 25 km/h speed all the time or just easy peddeling with a bit of support to make it to the next stop in time and decent shape ;-) ? I see many solar powered bikes on the internet but always wonder what's the point when going from campsite to campsite and electricy is everywhere.
Hi Hans Given we were aiming to set an e-bike long distance record (which we achieved - 27,800kms) we tried to e-bike as far as possible every day. As such we always tried to use minimum boost on the first battery and would only permit ourselves a "rest" on the second battery once we knew we were in sight of our stop for the night. Solar is a great idea if you plan to go to the back of beyond, but as you say is unnecessary when there are plenty of campsites. Regards Gary and Rachel
Hi Gary and Rachel, Thank you for the informative answer. Just came back from a 103 km bestride, testing and trying how to maximise what I can ride on one battery on one day. With an average of 21,7 and a small stop every 10 km things went rather well and controlled. I tried to limit the power my own body had to give at any moment, keeping it light and relax. Now I need to see if tomorrow morning my body is ok with what I did today ;-)
That's the best way to tackle your daily ride, just let your body tell you what you are capable of and adjust your kms to suit. We found that on a daily basis we could ride anything from 50km to 140km over similar ground depending on how strong we felt. If you are planning a long ride over days, weeks or even months however I would strongly recommend that you invest in a 2nd backup battery. Nothing worse than running out of power in the middle of nowhere - remember an ebike is just a VERY heavy bike without a charged battery.
Wow impressed I have a e bike riese and muller duel batteries fab bike you have a good set up most important you do it together
Interesting video. I'm 75 and cycle 5000 miles each year and at present I'm fit and don't see the need for an electric bike. It's nice to see what can be done. I just hope when I need an electric bike I can buy 'electric legs' as well.:-)
Ebikes serve many people at all different fitness levels and ages. If you bike 5000 miles on a mechanical bike, you could bike 15000 miles or more on an Ebike. The advantage is seeing much more and actually being able to go to places you would never consider otherwise. Just think of all the places you’ve ruled out that you could go to on an Ebike.
So great. I use to make bicycle tours, though shorter :-)
Nice video and well done to you both, I’ve just bought an ebike, are you still riding your ebikes😊
Yes we are still riding our ebikes. Since returning to Australia we have clocked up nearly 30,000kms exploring our amazing country. Suffice to say we are addicted to ebike cycle touring!!
@@rachelandgarykuiper-corbet7887 that is quite amazing Gary, well done to you both😊
in the Pacific NW, Washington or Oregon USA... We have to pay $20 to pitch a tent, and an extra $25-$35 to hook up to electricity. It is very expensive in the USA to do this with a bike that needs electricity.
Almost cheaper to get a hotel, and bring the bike inside the room to charge everything. (and you get a nice bed to sleep in) . Jealous of what you have there.. PEACE and ride safely..
where did you recharge the battery along the way?
Mostly in campgrounds at night. The few times we could not find a campground we knocked on doors (always in the country - not cities) and asked if we could pitch our tent for the night and charge our batteries. People are so generous, so much so we were only knocked back once in northern England.
@@garycorbett9038 Well that is truly inspiring!
Where did you actually go? Just wondering - you mentioned Britain, and I could see Holland or Belgium, but I guess 28oookm would have taken you further?
We e-biked throughout mainland Europe and did laps of the UK and Ireland. It was an amazing journey that we would repeat in a heartbeat ... hopefully when this Coronavirus is done and dusted.
@@rachelandgarykuiper-corbet7887 Well done! One other thing I wondered - how did you negotiate bad weather? I tend to time my trips with the weather - but I never went more than a week or so in one go. But when touring a full year, you cannot really choose.
@@featherstone5838 Hi again. From the start we adopted the attitude of "it is what is is" and as such just coped as best we could with what weather we encountered. That said we went to southern Portugal and Cyprus in winter to beat the worst of the cold weather. As long as you have good quality wet weather gear the weather isn't really a big issue. Cheers
@@rachelandgarykuiper-corbet7887 That attitude is probably best! Guess I developed a rain allergy living in the west of Ireland...
What an amazing lifestyle. FREEDOMMMMMMMMMMMMM.
Thanks entirely to our e-bikes!!
Love you video blog. We cycled lake Constance last year and are looking to do Basle to Cologne this year. We are getting to the age where a E-Bike is looking attractive and would appreciate your thoughts on them.
+Steve Gambrell We absolutely love our Haibikes and it has taken cycling to a whole new level. We can do longer distances as well as stay fit because they are pedal assist. The only thing is that the batteries need to be charged every night. We bought an extra battery each just in case but this is because we are trying to break a record for long distance cycling. We have managed to do this at camp sites
+Steve Gambrell Don't wait for age! Just do it.
why such a big tent? approx milleage between charges?
Because we had to live in it for 16 months so needed some room to be able to move and be comfortable at night. Also, we had electric bikes so could justify the extra weight. On average we got 60 to 70km per charge for the entire trip
Great video! Is that a Aevon STD100 trailer?
No, a German made Tout Terrain trailer. The best travel companion you could ever have!
👍👍👍
At what point during the day did you stop and charge your bikes?
We always charged our batteries at night in campgrounds. We had two batteries each which gave us 120-plus kms per day ... more than enough per day!!
Good to hear to hear you went for a practical approach and simple bought a second battery.
I assume you don't empty both of them each day, right? How much assist do you use, are you pushing the 25 km/h speed all the time or just easy peddeling with a bit of support to make it to the next stop in time and decent shape ;-) ?
I see many solar powered bikes on the internet but always wonder what's the point when going from campsite to campsite and electricy is everywhere.
Hi Hans
Given we were aiming to set an e-bike long distance record (which we achieved - 27,800kms) we tried to e-bike as far as possible every day. As such we always tried to use minimum boost on the first battery and would only permit ourselves a "rest" on the second battery once we knew we were in sight of our stop for the night.
Solar is a great idea if you plan to go to the back of beyond, but as you say is unnecessary when there are plenty of campsites.
Regards
Gary and Rachel
Hi Gary and Rachel,
Thank you for the informative answer. Just came back from a 103 km bestride, testing and trying how to maximise what I can ride on one battery on one day. With an average of 21,7 and a small stop every 10 km things went rather well and controlled. I tried to limit the power my own body had to give at any moment, keeping it light and relax.
Now I need to see if tomorrow morning my body is ok with what I did today ;-)
That's the best way to tackle your daily ride, just let your body tell you what you are capable of and adjust your kms to suit. We found that on a daily basis we could ride anything from 50km to 140km over similar ground depending on how strong we felt. If you are planning a long ride over days, weeks or even months however I would strongly recommend that you invest in a 2nd backup battery. Nothing worse than running out of power in the middle of nowhere - remember an ebike is just a VERY heavy bike without a charged battery.
What trailers did you use?
Tout Tout Terrain Mule single wheel trailers - the best travel companions you could get!
I hope you didn't pay for that awful music
I chose this song because I love the words!