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Sussexman

Finding my (electric) wheels
May 2, 2022
7
3
Hello! I guess I am an experienced user of e-bikes having had a couple over the years and made a long distance trip from uk to Spain a few years ago on an Ansmann FT15. The bike, like me, is getting long in the tooth and I am looking to either refurbish it or buy a new one.
 

jasono

Pedelecer
Sep 19, 2009
217
3
Leicestershire
Hi, your trip from the UK to Spain sounds interesting. How long did it take, what did you do to keep the battery charged and would you do it again?
 

Sussexman

Finding my (electric) wheels
May 2, 2022
7
3
I spent about 6 weeks on the ride in 2014. A solo trip, selfishly planned as a treat following retirement.

On a few nights I used the warmshowers app, on a few I camped but the majority of night stops were through Booking.com. I would call/mail ahead based on how far I thought my leisurely progress would allow and check that they could provide somewhere safe for the bike. I would charge the battery in the room.
I would do it again in a shot but am not sure that my wife would be quite so supportive. I am older and not as fit following a heart problem so it might be considered a tad irresponsible for me.

I followed the route called the Velodyssee and kept a blog: here it is: www. e-rider.eu

a great experience which I commend to anyone!
 
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guerney

Esteemed Pedelecer
Sep 7, 2021
10,049
2,966
On a few nights I used the warmshowers app, on a few I camped but the majority of night stops were through Booking.com. I
Cool! I've never heard of the Warmshowers App - I've been planning a long ebike journey myself using cheap AirBnBs, but will also look into Warmshowers... I wonder how many members they have in the UK, how close they are to each other, and how even coverage is across the country. Are all conversations with hosts about bike parts? ;)
 
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Sussexman

Finding my (electric) wheels
May 2, 2022
7
3
Warmshowers isn’t the site it used to be sadly. It used to be an open source community but it was taken over in about 2015 and no longer seems to have the same, free sharing, ethos
 

guerney

Esteemed Pedelecer
Sep 7, 2021
10,049
2,966
Warmshowers isn’t the site it used to be sadly. It used to be an open source community but it was taken over in about 2015 and no longer seems to have the same, free sharing, ethos
That's good to know. In my experience, "Free" often turns out to be more expensive in others ways, most notably in terms of time and effort expended engaged in exhausting social niceties. I'd happily pay a small Air BnB fee to avoid that! Did you feel pressured by your hosts to hand over boxes of chocs or money?
 

Nealh

Esteemed Pedelecer
Aug 7, 2014
19,991
8,173
60
West Sx RH
Sounds like it should be renamed to Coldshowers or lukewarmshowers.
 
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Sussexman

Finding my (electric) wheels
May 2, 2022
7
3
When I did my trip the warmshowers hosts were brilliant and there was no pressure or expectation that you would make any contribution. Far from it, they went out of their way to be helpful to someone who was clearly an inexperienced tourer. We went on to host 3 groups of long distance cycle tourists visiting the Uk over the following couple of years and we’re very happy to do so without any form of payment. Perhaps those were more innocent times!
 
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