Russell
1 MW
Inspired by tales of motor mayhem from Doctor Bass and his wife on their trip up a mountain I set out to find the highest point in the county. It turns out that is Lapham Hill, a landmark that since my recent move to the city of Waukesha I have ridden by a number of times, but never have made it a destination. The peak of the hill stands at 1,230 ft above sea level and is roughly 500 ft above the lowest point in Waukesha County.
I located Lapham Hill on Google Earth and found that Government Hill Road provided a good test for my Bafang equipped E-bike. The road climbs 167 ft in 2,113 ft making it a 7.9% grade, which isn’t nearly as steep as some other hills in the area...nevertheless it was my quest for the day.
I took it easy on the way there and when I arrived at the base for my “assault†I had traveled about 12 miles and used just over 1 Ah. Maybe it’s the narrow shoulders on the main roads or traffic zooming by that makes other hills seem more difficult or maybe I’m just trying to maintain a higher speed but the hills I face on daily rides seem tougher than this. Anyway the ride up pedaling moderately, holding a tad over 12 mph, was a piece of cake. Diving back down the hill I reached 37.3 mph (59.7 kph) before I had to brake at the cross road; not my highest recent speed, (39.7 mph, 63.5 kph) but close.
I traveled up the highway to the official entrance to the park, then followed the longer, winding road to the top. I caught up to a mountain biker along the way and came along side to say “hiâ€Â. He kinda looked at me funny. After we chatted a bit I confessed I had a little helper and pointed out the hub motor. Then he said he wondered how I was pedaling so easily. Once again the little Bafang surprised me and although it growled a bit at the slow speed a light touch on the throttle and moderate pedaling was all it took to ascend the grade along side this guy. When a car came up from behind I applied more throttle and spun faster to move ahead and form a single line and just for a moment I felt like Alberto Contador making a break-out move up a mountain stage of the Tour de France.
My pretenses as a world class cyclist were dashed however on the way home. Down a slight grade with an unfavorable wind a Roadie stretched out on aerobars passed me as I was just getting up to 29 mph. At that speed the motor isn’t doing anything, it’s just me, a heavy 50 year old on a decidedly non-aero 62 lb bike…I didn’t have a chance. As the road leveled I could only maintain low 20’s and could only watch as he widened the gap.
The little side excursion took a bit extra out of my battery and after 29 miles and 2 miles from home the voltage dropped markedly indicating that the SLA booster had given up at 4.7Ah. The Fatpacks still had some power left so it’s kinda like the “low gas†light coming on in the car, a reminder to fill’r up as it were.
Oh ya I don’t have any pictures of my own to share but I did snag these pretty views from the top of the hill from Google;
-R
I located Lapham Hill on Google Earth and found that Government Hill Road provided a good test for my Bafang equipped E-bike. The road climbs 167 ft in 2,113 ft making it a 7.9% grade, which isn’t nearly as steep as some other hills in the area...nevertheless it was my quest for the day.
I took it easy on the way there and when I arrived at the base for my “assault†I had traveled about 12 miles and used just over 1 Ah. Maybe it’s the narrow shoulders on the main roads or traffic zooming by that makes other hills seem more difficult or maybe I’m just trying to maintain a higher speed but the hills I face on daily rides seem tougher than this. Anyway the ride up pedaling moderately, holding a tad over 12 mph, was a piece of cake. Diving back down the hill I reached 37.3 mph (59.7 kph) before I had to brake at the cross road; not my highest recent speed, (39.7 mph, 63.5 kph) but close.
I traveled up the highway to the official entrance to the park, then followed the longer, winding road to the top. I caught up to a mountain biker along the way and came along side to say “hiâ€Â. He kinda looked at me funny. After we chatted a bit I confessed I had a little helper and pointed out the hub motor. Then he said he wondered how I was pedaling so easily. Once again the little Bafang surprised me and although it growled a bit at the slow speed a light touch on the throttle and moderate pedaling was all it took to ascend the grade along side this guy. When a car came up from behind I applied more throttle and spun faster to move ahead and form a single line and just for a moment I felt like Alberto Contador making a break-out move up a mountain stage of the Tour de France.
My pretenses as a world class cyclist were dashed however on the way home. Down a slight grade with an unfavorable wind a Roadie stretched out on aerobars passed me as I was just getting up to 29 mph. At that speed the motor isn’t doing anything, it’s just me, a heavy 50 year old on a decidedly non-aero 62 lb bike…I didn’t have a chance. As the road leveled I could only maintain low 20’s and could only watch as he widened the gap.
The little side excursion took a bit extra out of my battery and after 29 miles and 2 miles from home the voltage dropped markedly indicating that the SLA booster had given up at 4.7Ah. The Fatpacks still had some power left so it’s kinda like the “low gas†light coming on in the car, a reminder to fill’r up as it were.
Oh ya I don’t have any pictures of my own to share but I did snag these pretty views from the top of the hill from Google;
-R
