Electric Legs

I’ve started commuting in style. I put my fairly new electric Rayos bike to the test last night as I headed up the mountain to my cabin. WOW! Does that thing have PEP … and thank goodness! After working 16 hours straight at The Lodge yesterday, I  had next to none. Our cabin is only 1.3 miles away, but most of it is steeply uphill, so my legs need a little help on the incline, especially after having been on them all day long. Of course, getting back down to work this morning was a breeze, but for once, it wasn’t too much faster than the ride home, even though today it was all downhill to the Lodge!

I had done some research on bikes two years ago, and originally purchased it for my husband as a Father’s Day gift. I thought we could go riding around town together, using our bikes to go to the post office and get around the village instead of using our cars. He turned out not to be quite as excited about the idea as I was, and so it sat in the shed for a very long time. When the lease was up on my wonderful Mazda, I made the decision not to renew or to trade it in for something else. It was the fanciest car I’ve ever had and I loved it to death, but its mediocre mileage started nagging at me until I was actually anxious for the lease to expire so I could take it back. Come fall I’ll be getting a Smart Car, but ‘til then, this is the way to go!

Rayos bikes are used as rental bikes at many of the National Parks around the country, and are a viable source of reliable transportation. 'They' claim that the electric batteries that power them uphill are good for about 20 miles. (I wonder if they are considering ‘White Mountain Miles’ or ‘on the flat’?). Twenty miles up these hills seems a bit unrealistic to me, but wouldn’t it be great?! Maybe I could get a tiny bumper sticker that says “This Bike Pedalled Itself Up Mount Washington”! Of course bikes do go up it’s 6280’ all the time – hundreds of them several times a year – and all on human powered energy. But I will never be one of them … Gee Whiz, isn’t life hard enough without tackling that?! :-)

My bike is equipped with a battery that needs to be charged after use. I have the cord plugged in out near my bike rack, so it was fully charged when I tried it out last night, and had as much oomph as a motor scooter when I needed its help (which I often did). Unfortunately, I couldn’t get the bike’s headlamp to work (I think it needs batteries), and since the full moon had just passed, it was as dark as midnight. My husband was driving his Prius and lit the way for me, telling me that we would kill our kids if they attempted anything so stupid. Agreed … I’m guilty. (True, I could’ve driven home with him, but I have to leave again by 5:30 am and he doesn’t!). Tonight I’ll have my reflectors, helmet and light ready for action!

Biking, even if using an electric bike, seems like a good fit with my current passion for Tiny Houses and simple living. I’ll elaborate on this more in future blogs … right now, we have another full house and I have to get back to work!