Newly discovered advantage of an e bike, by me at least.

tenderbehind

Pedelecer
Oct 31, 2008
159
0
Had the day off today so took the bike out to a rural situation, had intended to cycle to a town about 12 miles away but saw an inviting road on the way so went up that. The road became a lane and the lane turned into a track and became very wet, full of puddles which I went through, till the biggie, it looked like all the rest though a bit longer in length but as I crossed it I realised it was a lot deeper, probably the depth of water was about 7 or 8 inches, I could only carry on, If I had slowed I would have gone over and in. This is where the throttle (only) came in, I kept the pedals still and horizontal, to use them would have got my tootsies wet and wouldn't have done much for balance, but just to use throttle only made the crossing comparitively easy, if It felt I might tilt over I just tweaked the throttle and the bike became righted again. Of course I should'nt have used the bike through such a ''pond'' but I'd rather get it a bit dirty and use it as I need to and want to rather than molly coddle it, and it is a mountain style bike, (Wisper 905se). Anyway, no harm seems to have been done, and I enjoyed the day, much better than 'ordinary' cycling, 23 miles covered and still loads of life left in the battery.
 

Beeping-Sleauty

Esteemed Pedelecer
Dec 12, 2006
410
5
Colchester, Essex
Had the day off today so took the bike out to a rural situation, had intended to cycle to a town about 12 miles away but saw an inviting road on the way so went up that. The road became a lane and the lane turned into a track and became very wet, full of puddles which I went through, till the biggie, it looked like all the rest though a bit longer in length but as I crossed it I realised it was a lot deeper, probably the depth of water was about 7 or 8 inches, I could only carry on, If I had slowed I would have gone over and in. This is where the throttle (only) came in, I kept the pedals still and horizontal, to use them would have got my tootsies wet and wouldn't have done much for balance, but just to use throttle only made the crossing comparitively easy, if It felt I might tilt over I just tweaked the throttle and the bike became righted again. Of course I should'nt have used the bike through such a ''pond'' but I'd rather get it a bit dirty and use it as I need to and want to rather than molly coddle it, and it is a mountain style bike, (Wisper 905se). Anyway, no harm seems to have been done, and I enjoyed the day, much better than 'ordinary' cycling, 23 miles covered and still loads of life left in the battery.
Good stuff... glad you enjoyed your ride TB.

why... i can feel a song coming on 'Ode to the unpedalled puddle.....' or some such,

met a few puddles on my travels and know that one of these will be the pond too far, resulting in the 'instant stop' and at least one thoroughly wet foot.

got away with it so far
 

essexman

Pedelecer
Dec 17, 2007
212
0
cb11
We did a ford crossing once that was very high.

My wife and i took our shoes and socks off and tied them onto the back of the bike. I went through first, hit it at speed then pedalled through it. Cool

My wife takes the same line. Gets through. Gets of bike to put shoes back on and cant see her shoes.

A quick dash to the river saw them bobbing away downstream.......
 

Tim

Esteemed Pedelecer
Nov 1, 2006
770
78
London
I recall Flecc's original Agattu review, nearly a year ago now, included an immersion test when crossing a ford. Certainly helps cut through the water.
 

musicbooks

Esteemed Pedelecer
Oct 10, 2007
719
29
I recall Flecc's original Agattu review, nearly a year ago now, included an immersion test when crossing a ford. Certainly helps cut through the water.
Or in the case of the Agattu, roll effortlessly across the top :D
bw
musicbooks
 

Wisper Bikes

Trade Member
Apr 11, 2007
6,320
2,283
70
Sevenoaks Kent
Great news

Thanks for that account of your encounter with the monster puddle Tenderbehind, I wish you had had a camera with you!

All the best David
 

tenderbehind

Pedelecer
Oct 31, 2008
159
0
Glad you (all) enjoyed the post, and David, I'm a very keen photographer so will take the camera next time.
 

MaryinScotland

Pedelecer
Dec 14, 2006
153
10
Dumfries, SW Scotland
My route to work includes going through a small car park that floods several inches deep in heavy rain. I know the surface underneath is okay, so I tuck my feet up high so they won't get splashed, and let the motor take me through.

I'd be more cautious if I didn't know what was under the water. If anybody ever throws a brick into the floodwater, I might get a bad surprise...

Mary