Commute Trial-run

Having received my battery back from Headway Headquarters this week, it was time to test the theory that launched this yearlong quest to obtain a motorized...erm...Quest.

I call her Dulcinea. This is supposed to reference her sweet, slim curves, but I tell ya, when you're pulling 80 pounds of machine up the kind of hills we have around Amboy, "fat-pig" is a term more likely to come to mind.

So, with my motor & battery (adding another 25 pounds) I set out yesterday to see if I could make the round-trip of 58 miles to my office and back, with only one "minor" mountain in between. Oh, and I really wanted to do it in 1.5 hours each way.

A bit after leaving home, I realized I left my battery charger at home, which meant I wouldn't be able to "refuel" at the office. So, I had to be a bit conservative with the "juice".  I have a 36-volt 16 amp-hour battery. I'm told that you should only expect about 13 amp-hours when running a battery of that capacity. So, with that in mind I planned to use no more than 6.5 amp-hours on the way to the office.

Pulling out of Amboy drained about 4 amp-hours. This was using my lowest gear and full-throttle, going 7+ mph for about 6 of the 8 miles required to reach the summit of Kelly road, which is about 1000 ft above sea-level.

From there it switched from an exertion challenge to one of restraint, as I bombed down the other side of Kelly Mountain, a steep descent of approximately 2 continuous miles. I decided that it's best to keep my speed at 40 mph or less, since it does take some lead-time to come to a stop and you never know when a deer will be in the road.

Getting the rest of the way in was relatively smooth sailing. I made it in 1 hour and 50 minutes, (1 hr 43min rolling time), having used about 6.2 amp-hours.

The way back was more of a challenge. My legs were already "well-done" & there is a tad more climbing to do  on the return-trip.

I knew I'd need a solid 4 amp-hours by the time I got to the base of Kelly hill, so I paced the battery and tried to use my legs on the "flat" stuff. Still, I was pretty well exhausted & relied on the motor to boost me several times.

Pulling northbound up Kelly Road was every bit as epic as I'd imagined. I was so grateful to find that my motor and battery could sustain the ascent in my 1st gear...although my input was needed almost the whole way in order to keep the motor from laboring or lugging.

When I made it to the top, my legs were leaden. With my motor allowing me to "spin" I wasn't sidelined with cramps like I had been in the past, but I still contributed the whole way up and my legs were so depleted I began having an altered sense of reality.

To give an example...having reached what I hoped would be the summit, a stretch of road that was relatively "plano"...I decided to conserve battery and pedal alone. The stiff resistance I felt indicated that either my brakes were engaged ( I checked that & ruled it out considering how willing the machine seemed to be to roll backwards) or I was really fatigued and rolling on a flat-tire or two. So I got out to check & found the tires all fully pumped. I was really, really fatigued.

I took the opportunity to to stretch and take some water.

Back in the cockpit, I shed my illusions and cranked up the throttle, allowing me to crest what I finally realized was the real summit of Kelly Mountain. At the top, my joy was reinforced by the animated discussion and pointing that my arrival produced in two men standing in their garage about 70 yards to my right. I waved to them and they waved back. I was filled with the sense that I brought something positive into this corner of the world.

From Kelly mountain it is practically all downhill to my house, so that was quick and easy.

Heidi had roast chicken, mashed potatoes and gravy, blanched kale & buttered lima beans all set on the table when I got home. Bless her sweet spirit.