I wake up at 5 AM and check the weather forecast. The sunny Monday I was promised last night has been rescheduled to Tuesday. I can’t wait three more days for the weather to clear so I’m going to have to push over Sherman Pass with only the barest hint of electric assist. It’s going to be a leg day. Every day is a leg day.
Lower gearing on the bike would have helped a little in this situation. I’ve never had to climb a 14 mile hill with an average grade of 4.5°. I know it can be done with a full battery so a plug-in charger would have handily remedied the situation.
I set off early and take breaks at 330’ (100 m) vertical intervals. Climb 330’, eat a banana. Climb 330’, eat a cookie. Climb 330’, have some walnuts. I make it to the top before I run out of cookies.
I’m ready for rain but only get a few drops. Solar power averages only 35 watts to the top compared to 200-300 watts in full sun so I only use the bare minimum of assist needed to stay upright on the steepest sections. The rest is all pedal power.
The descent is epic for regenerative braking. My battery goes from 1% to 20% on the way down.
SOLAR ebike 
Reading along with your daily updates is very enjoyable 🙂 Is there a triple chainring on the front? I can’t wait to have regenerative braking, but just saw that Phaserunners are out of stock until August 2022! 😦
LikeLike
Thank you. Double chainring, Rohloff hub in back. Didn’t know about the PRs… maybe a BaseRunner would work?
LikeLike
Pictures are great so far
LikeLike