A wonderful thing about my BionX bike is that it enables me to cycle to places I would never have dreamed of going on a regular bicycle. This is because my BionX bike has greatly increased my cycling range and carrying capacity. Recently I realized that now I can take vacations on my BionX bike which previously I would never have considered doing without a car!
Our BionX bikes parked outside Earls, on the waterfront in Victoria – a great place for a scenic lunch!
We went on our first vacation with my BionX bike last fall. My wife Maggie and I decided to cycle the Lockside Trail (20 miles), and the Galloping Goose Trail (34 miles) – a total of 54 miles (one way!), on Vancouver Island. We would stay at a B&B near the end of the Goose. I would ride my BionX bike and carry all the heavy gear on it.
This was a trip we would not have dreamed of undertaking without a car in the past. Not even when we were in our twenties! Yet now, with both us well into middle age, we were hardly intimidated at all. We were confident my BionX bike would make it possible for us.
The vacation was such a great adventure! We took our bikes on the ferry to Swartz Bay, and were happy to find that the Lockside Trail leaves directly from the ferry. The first half mile is pretty steep, but it was no sweat on my BionX bike, even though I was heavily laden. In fact, half way up Maggie switched bikes with me – we realized that even heavily laden, it is easier to go uphill on my BionX PL350 bike than on a regular bike! For the rest of the trip, we traded bikes: whenever one of us got tired, we used the BionX bike for a while. It was still exercise, and still fun – but it was way easier to pedal the BionX, even heavily loaded.
Oh the places you'll go!
We cycled the Lockside Trail on quiet roads overlooking the Strait of Juan de Fuca; then continued through lush farmland. After 20 miles the trail splits: you can either go straight on to the Galloping Goose Trail, or divert about three miles to Victoria. Because my BionX bike was making the trip so easy for both of us, we lunched in Victoria, then doubled back to the Galloping Goose Trail.
The Goose was definitely the highlight of our trip. It’s completely off road, with scenery ranging from farmland to spectacular sea views of the Sooke Basin. Sometimes we were cycling through cathedral-like canopies of trees, other times we were crossing awesome railway bridges. And the battery on my BionX bike lasted the whole way! We’re looking forward to many more fun vacations like this one: North America is full of world class cycling trails to explore with my BionX bike.
And the best part of all? Bragging to your friends that you cycled a hundred miles on your vacation!
By guest blogger Average Joe Cyclist
{ 3 comments… read them below or add one }
How inspiring….how expensive are these bikes and how long does the battery last?
Hi Sidney. Glad you were inspired – that’s my goal!
These bikes are pretty expensive, but WAY cheaper to buy and run than cars. (And much more fun!) But it really depends on what you want and need, so the best is to go into a good shop with knowledgeable staff – such as NYCEWheels – and take a look for yourself. I don’t know how things are in your neck of the woods, but where I live there are some GREAT sales on electric bikes at the moment.
As to how long the battery lasts, it entirely depends on how heavily you use it. The BionX kit gives you a choice of 4 levels of assistance. If you use it at full strength (level 4), it may only last 2 to 3 hours. However, unless you were cycling all the way up a very high mountain, there would not be a reason to do this! If you cycle with NO assistance on flats, and use the battery only for uphills, then it will last all day. This is what we do on long trips. Also, on downhills the battery slows your bike down and recharges itself in the process. Another thing we have done is when we stop for lunch at a restaurant or pub, we plug the battery in to charge for the hour or so we are there. This tops it up nicely!
This clinches it: time for me to think outside the box. I don’t see why I could not do vacations with my girlfriends on bikes. Heaven knows we all want to lose a little bit of the excess padding on our lower halves. I suspect cycling is better than most sports for that being that it is so very thigh-intensive. I have always suspected that those gynae type machines at the gym are useless, and they certinaly have done nothing for ME. Time to start planning a trip around the States on my bike. Once I have some kind of electric bike, that is. I’m not a spring chicken after all!