Back to the Bike Commute

I started a new job in January. Now I live 12 miles from work instead of 30. So the bike commute seems possible again.

A year or so ago we were discussing getting an e-bike as a commuter vehicle for nice weather and such. I bought an Aventon Level Step through based on the Outdoor Gear Lab reviews.

I was going to start using it to get too work last week but the derailleur hanger got bent in shipping and it was not shifiting right and the chain wouldn’t stay on when it was on the smaller cogs.

So I rode my old Trek 520 53 miles last week. I commuted twice. And it was fun but exhausting and it took me a really long time because I’m out of biking shape and I’m carrying too much stuff for work.

Today I rode the Level to work and it was so fun. I was in pedal assist 3 most of the time and carrying a lot between my own weight and my lunch and all those things I’m not sure if I’ll need or not because I’m getting back in the groove.

It took me an 75–80 minutes to go one way under my own power and 45 minutes to get to work on the level at pedal assist 3. It’s gotten me thinking a bit about it’s projected range, my weight, the weight of stuff I carry, etc, and I’m quite interested in experimenting with the range and my every day commute carry etc.

And how the heck do you track the exercise on an ebike. It depends entirely on how much you are putting in. I may need to pay attention to my heart rate more than other numbers. Or maybe just use that extra time to do a little bit of weight training.

I feel like might have some blog posts in me again. I always loved writing about my bike commute adventures before I drifted away from it.