Commute realistic?

[Black Dog]

The bike is a Wisper 905, 16Ah/592Wh battery, Dapu 250W motor.

The commute is 13 miles each way, three biggish hills in each direction, on unlit country roads. Rider 6ft, 17st, semi-unfit.

A bit of background. I have commuted by bike twice before for several years. The first was 16 hilly miles each way, taking about 1:15 mins, the second was 9 flat miles each way taking about 35 minutes. 30-35 years old at the time, overweight and only moderately fit. In my 40s I went down with ME, which took me out of the workplace (and my life, pretty much) for a couple of years. Although I am now mostly recovered, I am a lot weaker in the muscles than I was, and have a lot less stamina. Life is normal, as long as I take this into account and don't try to do too much or too quickly. I have had pushbikes since, but I have only done short rides under no time pressure, mainly tootling about on holiday. And, of course, I am now 60 rather than 40.

I am now working 13 miles from home, and have an ebike as above. We got one each, mainly because my wife has had some serious health issues and we thought it might be a way to get back to the cycling we loved. But now I am thinking I might be able to commute on the Wisper. I currently commute on a motorbike, which costs me about £11 a week, so cost is not the main reason. But I have recently changed roles and now drive a desk for 10 hours on the night shift (4 days a week) and I reckon that the exercise would do me the world of good.

I'm guessing the journey will take an hour or a little over (optimistic?), so I will be riding in between 8 and 9 pm, and home between 7 am and 8 am. This will mean decent lighting from Sept/Oct onwards, and suitable weather gear, but I am happy to deal with those issues.

My question - does this seem like a realistic proposition? The time spent commuting isn't really a problem, as I will regard it as exercise time and justify it that way. There is no public transport AT ALL for my route, and my wife isn't really up to collecting me/dropping me at work at those times. Therefore no option of riding in one day and back the next. I am prepared to buy an extra charger if necessary, although I hope that the bike's range would be enough to cope with there and back between charges. In the few days I have had the bike, I find I am fine riding on the flat with minimal assistance, and would use the boost mainly for the hills and headwinds.

I'm feeling fairly positive about it at the moment, but I have a history of blundering into things that turn out to be unsuitable or beyond my capabilities. I suppose I am posting this here hoping someone will give me a reality check. Thoughts?

Sorry for the long post and thanks for reading. TL;DR: older fat bloke wonders if 26 miles a day is ridiculous or not.

 

[Barry J]

Distance wise I think its doable, but would be concerned about safety on those roads during the winter and in the extreme foul weather. I like riding a bike as a pleasant alternative to driving, Not sure I would want to be tied to it all year round.

 

[jackhandy]

I used to work shifts & rode a bike for years, but coming home from nights was purgatory: Conversely, going in for forenoons at 04.30 was quite pleasant.

Can't see why your 16ah battery wouldn't do the journey, though; unless you're a lazy beggar

 

[Black Dog]

Safety: the route I use at the moment is mainly A-road and I wouldn't consider it on a bike (push or electric). Very fast traffic, away from towns, unlit - very few cyclists use it. I have an alternative which is mainly on back lanes, with little traffic and too twisty for anyone to get much speed up. The last 2 miles to work are on a nasty bit of narrow rat-run (I don't like it much even on the motorbike), but I have bought a set of those bright flashing lights for that, front and rear. I shall have to see how that goes. I'm fairly hardy, and a bit of bad weather doesn't put me off, but I can remember how long rides in the dark and heavy rain can be a bit of a chore.

Laziness: not too bad on that one. I have read on this forum about people using the throttle only, and I won't be doing that. The whole point is the exercise, and mentally, if the whole route was flat I wouldn't be asking the question, I would be out there doing it. Power assistance will be for speeding things up a bit on the flat and keeping it up on the hills/headwinds. Glad to hear the battery will cope. I've been told 50/60 miles, but you always wonder whether they got that figure with Bradley Wiggins in Holland on a sunny day.

Thanks for the responses.

 

[halfer]

If the 16Ah battery is new or otherwise in good condition, that will do the journey both ways. My 8Ah Ave could do that round trip in a low to moderate assistance mode, so a battery of twice the capacity will do at a higher speed and have juice to spare at the end.

Since you will be jetting about at night, my advice is to get good high-vis clothing and spend reasonable money on good front and rear lights. If the roads are dead, a 1200+ lumen light is a great way to make you feel safer at that time of night. Carry spare batteries too. Also, carry the number of a 24 hour taxi firm (assuming your area has one), so you can get a six-seater to pick you up if you get stuck with a puncture.

Will you hang onto your motorbike for the short term at least? If so, why not try the bike one day a week, and use the motorbike for four days? If you feel okay after four weeks, bump it up one day a week for the next four weeks, and so forth.

 

[Black Dog]

Just checked with Google Maps - the route is 13.1 miles, with 886 ft or 270m of elevation changes. That's six hills in all (taking both ways), four long and steady, two short and sharp.

 

[Black Dog]

Halfer, good ideas, thanks. I'm glad you have confirmed the battery life. The bike already has reasonable position lights (i.e. be seen by others) and I have already supplemented these with the bright flashing ones for the dodgy stretches (day as well as night). I plan to also get a super forward-facing light, either fixed or helmet-mounted, and now I know what output to go for. Great idea for the taxi number - hadn't thought of that. I have a brilliant waterproof shell in eyewatering yellow, but I can't find it, so that's on the shopping list too.

Haha, no way will I be getting rid of the motorbike! I have three at present and each has a specific function (fast and shiny, slow and rugged, poorly and awaiting refurbishment). I might go down to two - but which one to sell? Nah, won't happen. I work four days a week (4 x 10 hours) and I had already thought of doing alternate days. That sounds like a good idea to start me off. Very helpful, thank you.

 

[Deleted member 4366]

I'm the same as you: 100kg and not very fit. When I first started with an electric bike, I had one with a 250w motor and a 9ah battery. My Commute was 30 miles and had some long hills. I could always do it on one charge. After a couple of months, I became a lot fitter, so could do it with about 5ah.Then I got a 500w motor and a bigger battery, so became lazy, and did it with about 12aH. You should manage it easily with your bike.

 

[Black Dog]

That's reassuring d8veh, thanks.

 

[Jonah]

I have a Wisper Alpino 705 (amongst many other bikes) and as others have confirmed 26 miles will be fine, even using highest assist level all the way.

 

[Black Dog]

even using highest assist level all the way.

Hehe, result.

 

[halfer]

One other thing, relating to Barry's mention of poor weather conditions. In the UK we rather think we have bad weather - to the degree that we're rather proud of it! But it's not as bad as we usually think. If you have decent waterproofing kit, including overboots, you can cycle most days and just shake it off.

I would say that, over these last four years, I'm on the e-bike around 300 days a year. Of those, I've probably come home drenched about 4-5 times a year, and I just strip off the wet clothes and jump in the shower. It's an annoyance, but certainly not enough to put me off tackling bad weather on the bike, and nor is it enough to persuade me to buy a car.

 

[Black Dog]

I remember reading many years ago in Richard's Bicycle Book that in spite of the weather statistics, it only rains on your actual journey quite rarely. Having commuted by motorcycle for the last 30 years, I can confirm this. I quite like riding a motorcycle in the rain (I'm strange like that) but the days of actual downpours are half a dozen a year, as you say. Drizzle is far more common. And I am living in Wales, where you know it's summer because the rain is warm.

I think it's still worth getting the kit, mind you. I don't mind a soaking on the way home, but sitting for 10 hours at work in drenched uniform is probably not going to do me much good. The question is, what to get? Perhaps that's worth a thread in itself. But I have never had overboots. Sounds like a great idea.

 

[flecc]

From at least two of us in here you will get a strong recommendation that a traditional cycle cape is the best defence against wet weather when cycling.

A good one sits over the handlebars and hangs well down there, keeping the legs dry, and the traditional yellow colour over a large expanse is a good safety measure to ensure drivers see you in poor conditions.
.

 

[jackhandy]

I wear a Gore bikewear "Path" Jacket (which is sensibly sized - Some bike gear is sized for racing snakes) & have cheap Crane "breathable" overtrousers, from Aldi.

The jacket copes well, staying pretty much sweat-free & I only use the trousers when it's hosing down - then I don a cape in a deluge.

Normal wet see's me in shorts & jacket, but the cape makes a handy bivvy for consumption of sandwiches & tea.

 

[Black Dog]

Interesting that someone still uses a cape - I'm inclined to think that their decline is a result of fashion rather than usefulness. Of course, a decent one also keeps the rain off the handlebars, where the switches and things are -not a bad thing, although you can't use a bar-mounted headlight.

I'll investigate the Path jacket as well, many thanks.

 

[flecc]

Interesting that someone still uses a cape - I'm inclined to think that their decline is a result of fashion rather than usefulness. Of course, a decent one also keeps the rain off the handlebars, where the switches and things are -not a bad thing, although you can't use a bar-mounted headlight.

I'm equally sure fashion is the villain, as so often these days. That doesn't worry me, nor d8veh apparently, since he is also a strong advocate of capes.

I daresay bike shops are also involved, since the sale of fancy cycling gear is so much more profitable than a cape sale.
.

 

[Deleted member 4366]

Interesting that someone still uses a cape - I'm inclined to think that their decline is a result of fashion rather than usefulness. Of course, a decent one also keeps the rain off the handlebars, where the switches and things are -not a bad thing, although you can't use a bar-mounted headlight.

I'll investigate the Path jacket as well, many thanks.

Yes, everyone in China wears a cape when it rains. They know something about cycling. I can't understand why you rarely see them here. They used to be very popular here too.

Capes have a massive advantage over waterproof jackets, trousers and boots: They keep the bike electrics dry as well as the rider, and what's more, you can leave it to cover the bike while you park it up - not to mention how much more comfortable it is in the rain compared with waterproofs. I can't understand why anyone would want anything else. The only disadvantage is that in very strong winds, you get a bit of buffetting.

 

[RobF]

I wonder if cape hostility is due to fear of the thing blowing inside out and causing a fall.

Those of us who have used capes know this doesn't happen, but before I used one I thought it would happen.

 

[neptune]

We caped crusaders need to stick together. I am the proud owner of a cape, and am about to buy another. A cape has its uses, but there are times when it is a mixed blessing, especially on a non assisted bike battling a strong headwind. It is a good get you home device, but if I am actually starting a journey in the rain, I prefer a jacket and leggings, or sometimes an oversuit.

The headlight issue would be a problem if you ride in the dark, which I don`t these days. The answer could be a zipped opening, or possibly a see-through panel.Cheap flimsy capes are better than nothing, but a heavy cape is less likely to blow about in the wind. I once had a cheap cape blow over my head, and I had to stop quickly. More expensive capes have a waist strap as well as hand straps to prevent this.