Trying to make a habit out of riding to work! The commute in already felt a little easier today than it did on my first go on Thursday, and it took less time too. Melville Street in West Ryde is still a git, though. I made it up the climb but I did stop at the top for a few second to catch my breath, take a drink and undo my gilet.

I am going to rave about ebikes at this point. Without the electric assist there is very little chance that an out of shape, overweight person like me could just dive into a cycle commute like this. I know that because I tried it. Years ago I tried to get back into the habit of cycle commuting to the old office using a good quality but not electrically assisted urban/utility bike, but because I was out of shape and there were unavoidable hills it was just too hard. Each climb forced me into the red zone just to keep moving, and I'd end up arriving at work utterly exhausted. The crucial thing that the ebike allows me to do is moderate my effort. It's a proper ebike rather than a dodgy electric motorbike in disguise so the motor is limited to 250 W, and 25 kph, and is torque activated so it only engages when I'm doing at least some of the work myself. I still get a workout riding it, but using the electric assist controIs I can adjust the intensity of that workout to keep it within reasonable bounds for my current level of fitness. That way I can get to the other end having got some exercise but not completely wrecked, and that means, hopefully, that I'm going to be able to maintain motivation and keep doing it.

Neat animation: https://strava.app.link/8OqYfnNY2Wb

#Cycling #UrbanCycling #SydneyCycling #Ebike #CycleCommuting