It’s not often that I leave it 5 days between rides but after snow and rain I got a better day on Friday. It was still seriously wet but quite warm compared to earlier in the week.
On the way up the trail at the back of Healey Nab I heard a bike coming up behind me. It wasn’t a young whippet on a mission, it was too men much younger than me on E bikes.
With 250 watts of electrical assistance it’s easy to keep a good speed up on the climbs but are they any good?
I have done 2 demo days where I’ve had a good off road ride in the Lake District on E bikes and I enjoyed the experience. However, I wouldn’t want one to be my only bike. I do realise, though, that there will come a time when I find even Healey Nab to be too much of a challenge and an E bike would give me many extra years of riding.
I was riding the red route and the E bikers were using the black otherwise I’m sure I couldn’t have resisted the temptation to chase them and see if I could keep up. I’m fairly sure that my lighter weight and nimbler handling would have given me an advantage on the down hills. I also know from my riding experiences that once an E bike reaches it’s top speed under power, which is 15.5 mph, you’ll struggle to go any faster.
So E bikes are in the distant future for me and yesterday I had a good ride despite the conditions. I had a chat with the E bikers and they were doing a long ride. I did a typical hour and a half and 3 laps of the Nab. I turned off onto an alternative climb which I’ve rarely ridden for many years. I used to use the route before the trails were built and will be giving them a go in the drier summer weather for a bit of variety. There are a few single track corners and a natural jump to ride. I’ll probably ride on Sunday, life (or is that wife) permitting!
Mountainbiker 