Monday, February 8, 2021

Hoover Dam to Kingman, AZ and review of the Super Monarch E-Cells Bike to date.

 First off let me say the ride is great.  Anytime you get out of the normal day to day grind and get on a bicycle and head out destination unknown, no reservations needed; it is going to be a great day.  Whether it rains, snows, sleets, or hails... there is something about the freedom that comes with getting out and riding a bike.  Now with the Super Monarch 1500 E-Bike from Ecells.com you are given a new lease on the hard part of the ride that can sometimes be overwhelming.  As a Cross Country biker, having ridden from Boston to Seattle in 2012 pulling a trailer on a single speed coaster brake bike I know the grueling challenges that can come with climbing thousands of feet in elevation or trekking on bad roads with no suspension.  I know well the pain of being rocked up and down on unmanaged road shoulders, and what it’s like to need to get out of the way of a Semi tractor trailer truck barreling down on you as you try to manage the bad road conditions and keep to the shoulder.  The Super Monarch helps with this very much. It is an all wheel drive bike which means it has a motor on the front wheel and the back wheel to help you along.  It has Full suspension which means an air ride shock absorber in the front and rear to help assist on bad road conditions.  I cannot speak of that as of yet because my front fork is barreling down so I have had to lock it out until I reach a bike shop to have a look at it.  But I can talk about the battery system which is quite amazing.  Okay so everyone has heard of V=IR, yes?  If not Voltage equals current (here in Amp Hours times Resistance).  From this simple equation we can determine how many watts of power we can derive from a battery, and many other pieces of information.  So I technically we could draw about 1700 watts of power from the two Lithium Ion batteries included.  Lithium Ion is so much better than lead acid because they have no memory so you can run them down to almost zero and be able to get a full charge on them the next time.  Conversely, you can plug in with 50 percent left and the battery won’t peak out and only charge half way over a long period of time.  

So since leaving Pahrump, NV I have gotten about 60 miles on my two battery system, replaced with my spare one and received upwards of an additional 30 miles.  Yesterday for example i rode 85 miles without having to recharge, and from Pahrump to Hoover Dam I had to stop and charge for about an hour but only because Google Maps tried to take me on roads I was not allowed to be on, so this added about 15 extra miles to the trip...  Keep in mind the lower the Watt outage on the screen the longer the battery will last for example if I am only putting out 100 watts of power potentially I could ride for 17 hours on a single charge.  This is unrealistic but you get the idea.  Friction, Load, and condition all play a part.  But if you consider my work put in by pedaling, along with climbing several steep mountain ranges, and pulling a trailer with at least 100 pounds of gear, I think you will agree Thais bike lives up to it’s name.  

For the total trip of 1500 miles I am going to have to break it up into two parts.  The destination for leg one is Scottsdale, AZ and when I return from my first deployment I will go from Scottsdale to Houston, TX.  So for this trip we are riding about 400 miles which means we have about 1100 to do once we return.  We will get a better idea then on how far we can ride on basic flat roads as we travel almost the entire distance of Texas 857 miles:-).  But for now I can say this bike is everything it was meant to be and I am pleased with the purchase.  

NOTE:  This is not a motorcycle or a moped.  If you sit on the throttle and try to max it out you may only get 20-30 minutes of a ride.  I have spun the throttle out and the watts can go up to 2000 on the trip computer which means obviously less than an hour of power because there is only 1700 in the bank.  Typically though it stays at around 1000 watts which could give you as stated about 20-30 minutes of peak power.  That is not practical if you are trying to go cross country without pedaling.  And I will one day go cross country on an Adventure Motor Bike, but this is a different ride.  This bike is meant for people who are wanting to bike, stay fit, and get exercise while enjoying the great outdoors.  It is a wonderful tool in your arsenal of outside adventure tools.

NOTE:  I have ran the back battery out twice to total zero %  and still went another 10 miles, and may have been able to go farther, but I was at my destination.  This is because the front battery still had 2 green bars and is not listed on the trip computer,  Also, if you see a red battery light on the left even after charging, do not be alarmed.  It goes away once you get going back on the journey.  It just takes the computer time to register that you are back up to 100% on the batteries.  

Until Next time Enjoy the journey and get you an e-cells e-bike as soon as you can.  Tell them Christopher sent you.  









Saturday, February 6, 2021

Pahrump pah pum pum... Going from Pahrump, NV all the way to Scottsdale, AZ by E-bike...and everything...

 As we have heard many times in life “The Journey of a thousand miles begins with the first step”.  I don’t even know who coined the phrase, but it has meant something to me for many years now.  As I sit here in my Hotel room in Boulder City Nevada; I reflect on just how good God has been to me these past many months since choosing to uproot my entire life again and move to Houston, TX just so I could attend and volunteer at Lakewood Church as a fellow member of the Body of Christ.  Leaving Pensacola, FL was the hardest decision I have made in sobriety.  Thinking about the security of the job I had teaching at the Escambia County School District, the ability to drive for Uber, and Lyft on the weekends, go sailing and fishing at will, and just being close to family.  Looking back in hindsight, had I stayed, my boat would have been destroyed, and all my belongings may have been lost.  Leaving was the only sane thing to do.  However, art the time I had no idea of that, nor of the trials that lay ahead as I sailed away... the broken rudder after 24 hours, the loss of my GPS and having to only use a compass and charts to navigate, the loss of auto pilot, and running lights due to my batteries failing...  So many other things too numerous to mention... 

Yet through it all God provided.  I was able to get help in fixing the boat, even in the height of COVID-19 I was able to finish the school year and I didn’t go hungry.  I was able to see my Grandma several times more before she passed away, in August 2020.  There are many blessings and one that I am going to start writing about these next several blogs is the desire I have had for YEARS to ride long distance on a bicycle again.  This time I wanted to do it on an E-Bike.  I have been studying these bikes for years, and in particular I have had my heart set on the particular brand called E-Cells.  www.ecells.com I hope you will check them out and tell them Christopher sent you if yo are interested.  So, finally just this week I was able to save enough pennies to go and purchase one from Mr. David Cleveland and his wonderful company.  www.ecells.com. I have tried to establish a relationship with them for years now as I truly believe in them and really want to promote their product as well as get involved to the extent they will let me.  One thing I knew I could do was ride like the wind to be free again... and I wanted to do just that. 

Originally I had planned to go from the North to the South of the United States.  This is still in my mind’s eye, but the timing didn’t work out for them to get involved at the time I had the ability and time to do it, and I didn’t have all the financing available in order to buy the bike outright either.  It is important to note here that I am paying cash for everything now as much as depends on me and I believe God is honoring my commitment to get out of debt one day at a time.  The trip plans as of now are between now and next week I am going to bike from Pahrump, NV to Scottsdale, AZ.  From there the plans have to go on hold because on the day I flew to Pahrump to meet the E-cells team, a job I have also been applying to and doing the needed things for two years to get called me to hire me.  WOW... God is good.  So, That brings us to today Saturday Feb. 6, 2021:-). I am here at the Quality Inn having went to the Hoover Dam today to walk around and see the magnitude of the great work so many people did.  It is difficult to fathom all the work that went into building it such as blasting, using pick axes,  such heavy and hard labor.,. And yet here it is today bringing such Beaty and power to the majestic places all around AZ and NV.  To be able to do it on an E-Cells E-bike is just a dream come true.  It is training but not so rigorous that I get hurt or give up.  It is pleasurable and not to mention just downright fun.  It’s heavier than a regular bike, but I like that feature as it feels safer and more secure.  I also like the thought that after riding it around for a year or so, when I do get on an ultralight triathlon bike again I am going to fly fly fly...  

So I arrived in Pahrump on 2/3/21, met them on 2/4/21, made the purchase, took it back to the hotel, went to an AA meeting online, went to Wal-Mart, bought a tent and a sleeping bag, some toiletries for the journey and got some emergency food and got a good nights sleep.  Heading out on 2/5/21, I didn’t realize how treacherous the mountain terrain can be.  I forgot... from my first journey across the United States on a single speed bike in 2012.  My lips were chapped, my face was chapped, my legs ached from pushing hard with the assist up the mountain in order to conserve energy in the batteries...  It was so worth it though to reach the top of the mountain and head mostly downhill back into Las Vegas.  Google led me on four little goose chases, because although the directions for bicycling has greatly improved, many trails do not allow e-bikes (motor vehicles) and many roads have the no pedestrian or bike signs which made for a real struggle... then there always as seems to be at least one leg of the journey where I am led to a dead end or a no trespassing private road...  such is the adventure:-). So because of this I had to stop and charge the battery bank for about an hour in order to reach my final destination which was here in Boulder City.  I originally only planned to stay One day, but it has turned out very pleasant and the trip to Hoover Dam today was a dream come true.  Looking down doesn’t do it justice.  One really needs to see it by boat, so on my next visit there I am going to bring my little sailing Dinghy and sail around there... the real magnitude is noticed when looking up in awe and wonder; however looking down was pretty magnificent as well, and HOW COOL IT WAS TO DO ALL THAT ON AN E-CELLS E-BIKE:-). #JOYJOYJOY

If you are interested in my other blogs like the one from my trip across America, check them out at the links below:

www.christopher langham.blogspot.com

www.babybluebelle1.blogspot.com

There is much more to come.  you can also see videos of the adventure at my YouTube channel: christopher langham

Check out these photos and video of the trip so far.