Learning the hard way.

[oobers]

Oh, the last few days have been a trial!

Since I went car free a few weeks ago, I have been mainly doing okay with a combination of electric bike and train. Then, last Thursday, it all went wrong. I loaded up the bike with panniers full of stuff for the weekend and headed off to spend a night at a nearby camping barn where I do occasional volunteer wardening. Halfway up a hill, my front tube exploded. (Lesson no. 1 - don't go mad with the floorpump just beacuse you have luggage) I was only a few minues away if I walked without the bike but carrying it and all the luggage was going to be too difficult. I locked it to a lamp-post and walked to the barn. Someone there drove me back to pick up the bike. It was too late to go to a shop and buy new tube. (Lesson no. 2 - always carry a spare tube, pump and tool kit)

Then, because of the airport mayhem, it seems that my two camping guests from the Czech Republic never made it in to the UK and so I sat there with nothing to do. I locked the bike at the barn, carried my luggage 1 1/2 miles to nearest station and headed home. In the morning, I unpacked all my stuff from panniers into a holdall, walked back to the station and caught a train to Reading, and an onward train to Somerset. Delayed and rerouted, we arrive nearly an hour late. I got a lift to my final destination. (Lesson no.3 - When you go car free and then have bike problems, you inevitably have to rely on the kindness of car owners)

Sunday night, I come home and get to Reading to find timetables are quite different to the times I have worked out from National Rail website, so get on a different train to Guildford to get a quicker connection back home from there. Flash floods have left tracks at two stations under water, so we are delayed and I miss the connection. All other trains are cancelled. Stand in queue whilst rail person hands out dockets to get emergency cabs. Stand in queue for cabs while individuals get into each cab. Two double decker bus replacement services turn up to take people to Aldershot. Nobody wants to go to Aldershot, so two double decker buses drive off, empty - past a queue full of people getting individual taxis, probably to the same place. (Lesson no.4 - Train people only think in a train way - 'this bus is for Aldershot so it will go to Aldershot only')

My taxi takes one person to Aldershot!!! me home and another to Camberley. As we try to get into Aldershot, floods have closed the road. We go in a back way. I finally get home.

10am Monday morning, I get a lift to my bike, get the new tube out to find I have been sold the wrong one (Lesson no.5 - don't trust anyone in a Halfords store) I go in search of a bus to take me to either Guildford or Farnham to change the tube. Half an hour later, a double decker bus arrives and charges me ?5.20 to travel about 6 miles. The two other passengers are little old ladies who presumably pay half or no fare. A sign on the wall of the bus explains that fares have increased recently due to rising fuel costs.

I exchange the tube at Halfords and then, since the bus going back the other way has just left, I have an hour to kill. I walk into town, have a sandwich and purchase another tube at an independent bike shop, just in case. It was cheaper. (Lesson no. 6 - big chain store not always better value) Get the bus back and finally set to work on bike. Electric bikes are a little trickier to change a tube on, as you have cables, motors etc to deal with as well. I figure this out though and soon have the new tube in place. I gather my things and get ready for the ride home. I sit on the bike and... the front tube explodes.

I stare in silence at my bike, (no swear words are uttered) scratch my head, sigh and head for the station to get a train to somewhere (I am a little dazed by this time, so I don't quite know where I am going to go), believing train will be cheaper than ?5.20 It would seem that the first explosion had split the tyre and the metal rim was now going to jut into any new tube I inserted. I needed a new tube and tyre! The trains are either delayed or cancelled. Yesterdays floods have receded but in their wake had come a number of land slips. I finally get a train to Guildford, walk to a bike shop and purchase a tyre and tube. I now don't trust the trains so I go to the bus station. Great - the next bus is just a 40 minute wait. I am philosophical about this now - the day has been written off, so I will just go with the flow. I go in search of some gas canisters for my camping stove. I come back for the bus at the prescribed time and it arrives, 15 minutes late. Gas work has seen the centre of Guildford dug up and all traffic is slowed down. I get back to my bike and proceed with repairs.

6pm. The sun is out, the work is complete, nothing is exploding and I am feeling chipper, knowing i have a lovely sunny 12 mile ride home through beautiful country lanes and paths. Halfway back, I ask myself 'Shall I take the road route? No - I will take the more interesting, Blackwater Valley path'. I note that the path is quite wet in places and I pass through some quite deep puddles. Then, I plough into a flood that at first is quite low, so I carry on. Then it gets deeper, and deeper. The motor is struggling to cope and I have my legs in the air to stop them getting wet. I grind to a halt and plonk my legs down into what is now basically part of the River Blackwater and wade back through knee height water to dry land. (Lesson no. 7 Deep puddles on a path in a valley probably mean there is worse to come and Lesson 8 - Electric bikes don't like swimming) I go to North Camp station and sit on a bench waiting for a train. I wring out my jeans, socks and trainers (much to the bewilderment of people on the opposite platform) and then, just out of curiosity, try the motor out again. It has come back to life!! I ride on (on the road this time) and get a couple of miles before it cuts out again. I carry on cycling. The bike is heavier than a conventional machine but it is quite manageable if you are in the mood. I was not, but summoned up the strength from somewhere.

So, home by 8pm, I reflect on what I have achieved today. I have spent a fortune on bike parts, rail and bus fares, wasted a day when I should have been working, got soaked and have my broken bike back home. And, I have learned some very important lessons about leading a car free lifestyle. I then got drunk.

The electric bike has made alot of trips that would otherwise have required a car so much easier. But, they introduce new levels of complexity that mean that when things go wrong, they are a bit of a liability. My first action this morning was to take out breakdown cover on my ETA membership.

[Andy Hunt]

What a great story, thanks Oobers!

Is there any way of carrying spares for the bike with you - new tyre etc? I suppose it would be a bit too bulky.

Just reading your experience, it's so true that when you give up the car it quite often just means you end up relying on other people for lifts.

Very amusing and ironic though, the number of times your problems were down to energy or transport - from people not turning up from abroad, to roads being dug up for gas, to the bus fare being extortionate because of fuel price rises.

I think we are all in for a lot more of this sort of thing - well done for taking the plunge first! When the rest of us have to do it, you will be a wise old hand at getting around the place!!

p.s. still not got my PV/battery backup system set up - got the batteries and PV, got the inverter on order. Am having great difficulty locating PV wall mount frames and someone to put them up on the wall though . . . hope I get it done in time for the winter! (UPS should be easy enough, I can do that without the PV)

[careful_eugene]

I really feel for you after reading that, thanks for sharing it. I'm interested in your electric bike, is it designed to assist your pedalling or does it do all the work?

[oobers]

The bike is an Ezee Torq. See www.50cycles.com It can take you along without pedalling at about 15mph on the flat, or you can help it along to increase range, and you really need to help it along a bit on steep hills. I wouldn't say it is as good for really hilly country as my old electrio-drive kit - www.electro-drive.co.uk That used to eat hills. However, range is great - 30 miles and then some if you pedal sensibly. I went out for an evening ride the other night (no water obtacles that time) and completed 25 miles without getting even slightly breathless - and I am not that fit. The danger is that it will not help me get any fitter and one day I will need that fitness to ride it when the battery runs out!

[careful_eugene]

Impressive specification, and it looks pretty cool.

[JohnB]

Sounds like I had a lucky escape. Oobers was on his way to my place for the weekend and I had planned an evil hilly route for me to try out his bike on. If a tyre had gone bang while I was out it could have been a hard walk home, as I probably wouldn't have got a phone signal to call for help, and there are no buses or trains to help .