Some additional context, between about 19 and 12 years ago I was a keen cyclist in pretty good shape. I never got into any kind of racing, but I would cycle to and from work each day and then go for a hilly 80-90 km group ride on the weekend just for fun. Back then a moderately hilly 12 km each way suburban commute was no big deal. OK, I'd regularly have ute drivers almost kill me, but the physical effort required was no problem.

I remember at the time I was sceptical about the utility of ebikes. I accepted that they would be useful for elderly cyclists and other people with mobility issues, but reckoned that for most people the additional weight (and cost) of the e-assist system would outweigh the benefits of having it. To be fair e-assist systems were heavier back then, but I was still wrong.

Then, almost 12 years ago, my son was born, and with a newborn baby I had neither the time nor energy to keep up the cycling. I got out of the habit, and got out of shape and overweight. I have tried several times since then to get back in to the cycle commuting habit, but each time I bounced off it because the hills made the ride just too hard when I wasn't already fit.

If I lived somewhere totally flat and didn't have to mix with motor traffic at all then maybe I could do this by just going slower, but that simply doesn't work when there are unavoidable hills and places where you need to get amongst cars. When you're out of shape those will force you into excessive effort.

Hopefully the combination of the ebike and a somewhat easier commuting route will enable me to stick with it this time, and get back into shape. At which point I wouldn't really need the ebike any more...

#Cycling #UrbanCycling #SydneyCycling #Ebike #CycleCommuting