Waiting.

I’m waiting for my heart valve to be repaired so that I can ride my bike hard again. In the meantime I need to maintain the best level of fitness I can without straining the heart. I keep my heart rate to around 100 bpm which restricts me to fairly gentle efforts. Fortunately, having converted my Trek Fuel EX8 to a front wheel drive E bike, I can climb hills with the same effort which it usually takes to walk. I’ve been using the bike regularly for utilitarian purposes, which I haven’t recorded on Strava, quite regularly. The day before yesterday I recorded a leisure ride on Strava which turned out to be 7.86 miles in length. I rode much of the distance along the Leeds/Liverpool canal bank so climbed only 201 feet of ascent.

I can’t put in a big physical effort to to improve the bike’s performance but it’s still good to go quickly. along the canal bank the speed feels good and is at the top end of what I could achieve on a conventional mountain bike. The bike is restricted to the legal maximum for road use of 15.5 mph and manages to attain this speed and even slightly more. I often wonder if the speed falls as the battery is depleted but in 7.86 miles it doesn’t appear to be the case. I do notice the pedals are turning more slowly in the same gear on even the slightest incline but on a level surface I seem to maintain my full speed.

I rode north to the locks a Johnson’s Hillock, where 7 locks raise the water level by around 60 feet. One lock in particular has a steep, cobbled ramp, rising to cross a minor road. On a non assisted bike it’s quite a physical challenge but on the E bike I took a full speed run at it and climbed easily. I took the picture above at the top lock with the pub in the background. I should imagine that a drink would have been very welcome in the 19th century after ascending the locks with a horse drawn boat. Canal boats are now used only for leisure and are diesel powered and built from steel rather than wood.

On the final stretch before the locks I’d completed a Strava segment and found later that I’d achieved the 8th fastest time ever out of 125 E bike riders. E bike segments are rare compared to those for conventional bikes. It’s interesting that my inexpensive conversion gives me speed at the top end of the range. Of course it’s the bike which achieve the performance, not the rider.

I began my return on the canal but shortly switched to complete the ride by road, mainly to avoid the many puddles on the canal bank. It was an enjoyable ride and must be good for the leg muscles. I may not have tested my ability but at least I’d spun my legs for over half an hour. My average speed for the whole ride was 13.1 mph.