I have found my touring bike, mostly. The best touring bike was the Easy Racer Tour Easy, but they are not being made anymore. Therefore, parts are hard to find, especially when on tour. I was seriously thinking about purchasing a new bike in the $1500 to $2300 range. The bike above is an 8 year old model that costs new at $1500. I paid $350 for this used bike. It has a steel frame and it may not be my final ride, but it is the bike I will train with.
I have looked into electric assist options for the bike. An electric assist is a battery operated motor placed either in one of the wheel hubs or in the crank case. A brief look on the Internet looks like a powerful hill climbing motor would cost about $1500 to $2200, the cost of a new bike (and I now have a bike!)
One of the mountain passes along the transamerica bike trail is at 11,200 feet. That mountain alone could destroy my trip. An electric assist motor would help a LOT. Some of the e assist configurations would allow no pedaling up to 50 miles per charge. I want to pedal, but I don’t want to kill myself. I’ll be 64, not 24 when I take my cross country bike trip.
However, I have to lose weight. My bike is rated to hold 300 pounds. With a high powered electric assist unit the rating falls to 286. That means I can carry NOTHING with me on this trip at this time. If I want to carry 40 pounds of gear, I have to lose 40 pounds, with little margin of error.
So, while electric assist is probably in my future, I have to train and eat well so my weight loss can be placed on the bike as equipment. I am in my second week of training (of 32 to 36 total). I’m shooting for 5 days a week of training, starting last week at 20 minutes on flat easy roads. By increasing 5 minutes each week, I’ll be up to 1 hour after 9 weeks. At that point I’ll increase my flat workouts up to 2 hours, and hit hills to get my legs ready for the mountains.
Half the fun is planning for the trip. I’m looking for an adventure, even if I “cheat” by using an electric motor to help me up hills. I’m a realist. If I was 20 I’d not use electric assist. At 64 going on a solo trip, I’d be a fool to not have a backup for exhausted legs and body.
This is fun. Now time to fish.
Tight Lines!