How to enjoy riding a 50lb bike...

Last week I took a fifty pound bicycle for a couple of rides and enjoyed every minute. No, I'm not talking about some mega-travel downhill rig: I'm far too scared to take one of those anywhere near what they are capable of; nor am I about to be certified insane, as far as I am aware. The bike in question was a Dutch shopping bike, with a sit-up-and-beg riding position, and built with a construction philosophy that the designer of the Panzerkampfwagen IV would have approved of. Ladies and gentlemen, I give you the Montego Elan.

The Elan belongs to my mother and the background scenery is Murcia in Spain, where my parents reside. She very kindly allowed me to let it loose on the hilly terrain around their house and I was able to sustain an average of 14.2mph, dressed in my everyday clothes.  The secret, as the eagle-eyed among you will have picked up on, is the electric motor in the rear hub, supplied with power from the battery pack above the luggage rack.

I haven't ridden a hybrid before and it really is something every cyclist should try. The motor assists the rider on the 'Pedelec' principle, kicking in when the rider exerts a given level of effort, the threshold being determined by a controller on the handlebars. You have to keep pedalling, but the motor helps when the going gets tough. While the motor is no powerhouse and you have to make full use of the seven gears, it's pretty effective and would give you an hour and a half or so of assistance on the 'full' setting. The riding position is awful, the saddle far too wide and the tyres squeal at the slightest hint of a corner, but somehow the absurdity of it all makes it hilarious.

I gather the Chinese have gone in for these bikes in a big way and see no reason why they should not become more popular in other countries, particularly for the non-enthusiast cyclist, who wants to commute, ride to the shops or keep up with the kids at the weekend, for example. I can even see interesting  applications for the keen cyclist, particularly using a more powerful motor and lithium-ion batteries.

For someone who wants to commute a longer distance, electrical assistance could reduce the time  of the journey to something that can be fitted in with other commitments.  It would have the advantages of low cost,  and could enable getting to work without becoming hot and sweaty. The motor cold be used in conjunction with  a single-speed,  keeping the bike simple, allowing a decent gear for speed on the flat, with assistance for the hills, or with a tandem, which can be a bit of a slog when the road goes up.

Of course no self-respecting sporty cyclist would touch one, let alone a racer. Or would they...?

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Following on from my previous blog, the weight loss monitoring is now going to commence in the New Year, fortified with a resolution. Blame this on my parents' hospitality, electrically-assisted cycling and the impending Christmas festivities. Poor excuse, I know!