By Barry Washkansky
I’m not much of a cyclist, and besides the very occasional off-road ride or promenade cycle with my son, I don’t cycle much. But when the opportunity arose to try out an ebike ride with Ebike Cape Town, from Maidens Cove to The lookout point on Chapman’s Peak, I jumped at it. I think I’ve found my cycling mode.
Now in case you don’t know or haven’t tried out an ebike, this is not a scooter ride. You still need to pedal. The thing is when the going gets tough, like slogging up Suikerbossie, you just push a button and the electric motor kicks in. You’re still pedalling, just less. This is the way to go.
Normal bikes…just not.
These ebikes are normal bikes in every way, they just happen to have a motor to help when you need it, but you don’t need to use it if you don’t want to. The batteries are probably good for about 80 km according to ebikes Cape Town owner, Roland, and at the end of our 42 km cycle, we all had more than 50% battery power left.
There are three levels on the electric motor, eco, the lightest, normal, and sport, the most powerful. So travelling on a slight incline or just getting a bit tired use eco mode, on a steeper incline push normal and for Suikerbossie go sport mode. What a pleasure.
Cape Town road cyclists
I’ve no major issues with Capetonian cyclists who obey the rules, ride in single file and respect motorists. Unfortunately, so many of them seem to be arrogant assholes that they tend to taint the whole bunch with their expensive brush, making for an often unhealthy relationship between cyclists and motorists on Cape Town’s roads, which I accept, are not cyclist friendly.
Having said that, this is always a stunning route to cycle, or run for that matter, and cycling up Suikerbossie or Chapman’s peak and effortlessly overtaking those seasoned cyclists was a pleasurable moment. The look on their sweaty spandex faces as we cruised past them while taking a selfie at the same time was priceless.
Tar and off-road
The bikes are fitted with wide nobblies and Roland does both road and off-road trips, either in Koeberg Nature reserve on the West Coast or on a wine farm in the spectacular Cape Winelands. I did the road version this time, but next time I’m hitting the dirt.
A fun outing nevertheless; check out ebike Cape Town and contact Roland for a great experience. #makingcyclingfun
Barry these comments are not on. Most cyclist are law abiding citizens just having a great day out. If we don’t stop at every light I apologise on there behalf!
Ps Try cycling you will feel even greater then riding a moped!
Unfortunately, so many of them seem to be arrogant assholes that they tend to taint the whole bunch with their expensive
I agree it is a bit of a generalization but it is my experience. I’m not fussed by the not stopping at every light, just a lot of them are rude and inconsiderate on the road.