A grumpy motoring journalist and an ebike: part 2


So far, the exercise is welcome. The traffic is not.

Nile Bijoux/Stuff

So far, the exercise is welcome. The traffic is not.

After a bit of time coming to grips with an ebike there has been one unexpected side effect for me – a minor existential/midlife crisis as I finally realise I am no longer a reckless idiot.

The last time I regularly rode a bike on the road was when I was around 17 and at Otorohanga College. Otorohanga is a small rural town with a population at the time of around 2500 (although it served a much larger rural population as well).

Growing up in a small town meant my mates and I went everywhere on our bikes and were, of course, totally bulletproof and essentially immortal, so we rode like utter dicks. Sweet jumps and wildly ill-thought out stunts were high on our agenda, and the inevitable injuries were brushed off with the arrogance of fast-healing youth. After all, scars look cool and I never really needed that left knee to work properly when it is cold now anyway.

DAMIEN O’CARROLL

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And, of course, what traffic there was in Otorohanga in 1985 was just something to be swerved recklessly between on your way to buy fireworks, because you could do that more than just a few days of the year back then too. What I am trying to say is that we were all reckless idiots (ie; normal kids) and are literally the reason it is mandatory to wear a helmet on a bike now.

READ MORE:
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And if I am being completely honest, I always thought that reckless idiot was still a big part of me. Until I hopped on a bike in Auckland for the first time and realised I was no longer that daring, carefree rebel, but indeed had become a nervous old man wobbling uncertainty along, scowling at the cars whizzing past mere centimetres from my handlebars.

The last time I rode a bike regularly I had less tattoos and more dog. The dog’s name was Rex and he was awesome.

Glenda O’Carroll

The last time I rode a bike regularly I had less tattoos and more dog. The dog’s name was Rex and he was awesome.

And there sure is a lot more traffic in Auckland than there was in Otorohanga in the 1980s. Pretty obvious, I know, but I have to admit that wasn’t something I really considered when hatching my grand plan to test an ebike. And it kinda freaked me out.

Well, okay, it wasn’t quite that bad, but it certainly was a shock to the system to suddenly feel so vulnerable after decades of safely being wrapped up in a metal cocoon with the stereo blasting. And also to realise that all those cool things I did on bikes when I was a kid were stupidly dangerous…

The absolute saving grace so far has been the fact that my new ride is an ebike and has a feature that Michael Tritt, owner of Electrify NZ and designer of the Black GT I am riding, pointed out to me – the GT has a throttle and is capable of reaching speeds of up to 40kph.

Now, back when I was a reckless young idiot, this would have been used for sick speed boosts over sweet jumps, but now that I am a scared old man, it is a wonderful tool for just getting the hell out of the way of those two tonne metal death machines bearing down on you.

While it isn’t exactly a rocket with 110kg of me to haul around, the GT will slam up to 20 or 30kph far quicker than I could haul my bulk off the line unassisted, so gives you a nice buffer and a nice sense of security.

But, man, traffic is sure something I wasn’t actually expecting to be an issue (after all, I still considered myself a reckless, bulletproof idiot, remember), but is something I am slowly getting used to.

I guess the key is to not get too used to it and maintain a healthy dose of caution among the city traffic…



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