For more than a month, since my cargo Lectric eTrike was delivered, all my visits to the grocery store (5 miles, roundtrip) have been on the trike. It's been fun, and my gas consumption (some trips are still too far, or time is a factor, or I need the pickup to haul something big) has been cut in half. Hope to do this through the winter. #EV#eTrike#eBike
@pleaseclap
I've snow-shoed. Been on a snowmobile and hated it.
The challenge is dressing for the ride, then discarding and storing warm clothes while attending to business indoors. Need a gym bag, basically.
@rgulick My biggest recommendation for year round biking: real winter gear. Stuff for active snow sports (skiing/snowboarding/cross country skiing) that is windproof works well. Particularly gloves and something to keep your ears warm, I like 180s, but some people prefer hats. Scarf or balaclava. Also invest in a good raincoat that works with your riding position
(reminder to self: you need to replace the raincoat that disintegrated last year, you have <2 months!)
Assuming you ride an eBike, in the winter when you arrive somewhere and go inside for more than a few minutes, do you remove your battery and take it in with you?
@rgulick@SRLevine When I'm riding my ebike in the winter, I definitely take my battery off if I'll be inside for an hour or more. I notice a significant decrease in range when it's cold. I've actually been thinking of setting up some kind of warming system on the bike too.
@rgulick@SRLevine I knew you were going to ask that. 😂 I haven't gotten much further than "I should look into this." I imagine some sort of USB powered heating element along with a cover of some sort. Perhaps that foil bubble wrap that cold food items are shipped in?
As an aside, I'm a fan of poagies for your hands and a bike-specific rain poncho for winter riding gear.
@Karstan@rgulick FYI they will warm back up to "regular" performance outdoors, especially under heavy use. So I'd think an insulator would be good and helpful - both wind-proofing to stop heat suck and insulation to keep heat in. I wouldn't use it over 40 degrees though, and take it off while charging
Certain EVs have a function you can set where they wake up early to warm up their batteries for your commute
I think if vehicle trips were analyzed, lightweight electric bikes/trikes/quads would be found adequate or preferable in many instances, recognizing there would be a big difference between urban and rural areas because of distances and infrastructure.
I think getting more of these types of vehicles on the road is mostly about creating infrastructure (consistent, ubiquitous bike paths would go a long way), and changing personal habits.
Oh absolutely. I'd love to be able to get one and use it.
However, when we were finally able to afford a house last year (after 10y living in a trailer), all the homes in city limits or nearby bike trails were 100k USD above what we could afford.
We ended up in the county, in a non-dense suburb. Roads are 30-40MPH, and people routinely go 50MPH. It's just not safe to use an #ebike in my location.
That's really the curse of transportation in the USA. The store's only 3mi away, on roads that are patently unsafe to bike. So I'm effectively forced to drive. And it's terrible. I know it's wrong, but individually I'm powerless to stop it.
I'm not even in the town's limits to even vote on it. Couldn't afford to be.
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