This post is all about how great it feels to commute to work on my BionX electric bike!
What’s so wonderful about cars, anyway?
The other day it was raining heavily (in Vancouver, imagine that), and I happened to have my wife’s Mustang at work (instead of the bike I usually commute with every day). “Aren’t you happy you don’t have to bike home today?” asked one of my colleagues brightly. I replied with a non-committal grunt. But I almost believed her. After all, don’t we all assume that cars are faster and easier than bikes?
Until I drove home, that is. Sitting in the parking lot that is ironically referred to as the Lougheed “Highway,” I found myself wondering, once again, WHY people profess to love the “freedom” of cars.
Finally I arrived home, late, and more stressed and tightly wound than when I left work. This horrible experience caused me to wonder how truly awful people must think cycle commuting is, if they seriously believe being trapped in a stationary tin can is better.
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A typical commute to work on my BionX PL-350 bike
I have a couple of bikes that don’t have a BionX assist, but I use my BionX PL-350 bike to get to work for two reasons:
- I have to travel from Burnaby North, over the Metrotown hill, and right down the precipitous decline to the mighty Fraser River. And then coming home I do it in reverse, which is even worse. It’s almost 4 km of continuous uphill.
- I don’t want to arrive at work sweating like a race horse, and the BionX PL 350 helps me enough that I don’t have to. I do still get plenty of exercise, though.
So at six in the morning, I set out. I zoom off, using the throttle on my BionX PL-350 and one strong kick off from my leg to make a snappy start. At first it’s bracingly chilly because it’s all downhill, but soon the route is uphill, and I start to warm up and really settle into enjoying the exhilaration of watching my legs hammering away at the pedals, and feeling the blood starting to pump through my veins.
I reach Lougheed Highway and the thunder of motorized traffic, but I don’t really care, as it’s exhilarating to race along the broad shoulder as fast as I can. I race to keep up with cars – which might be impossible as I can only get up to about 35 km an hour – but is actually often quite possible, even this early, as the traffic lights in Burnaby are notoriously uncoordinated, so I catch up to the cars at every light. (I have a theory that teams of engineers spend endless hours figuring out how to make sure that no one can ever catch two green lights in a row. I lived in Burnaby and only once in six years caught two green lights in a row. I was so excited that I stopped to pick up champagne – then realized I had totally cancelled out the time savings from the two green lights. Damn.)
Ahead of me I see another cyclist. I expect to catch him easily, but to my surprise, I don’t. It’s slightly downhill now, and I guess he must be doing around 45 km an hour on his racing bike. Good for him … he must be quite an athlete. I pedal along unconcerned doing around 35, confident that I will overtake him as soon as we get to an uphill. (Not that I’m competitive or anything.) Of course it’s not really fair, as I have such a powerful assist. But it’s fun anyway, especially as I’m the wrong side of 50, and most of the guys I pass are a whole lot younger.
I pull abreast of the super athlete cyclist at Lougheed and Gilmore, where we are both turning onto Gilmore. I am already full of happy endorphins, so I give him a cheerful “Good morning!” I can tell he is equally pumped after his downhill sprint, and he gives me a cheerful “Good morning, how are you?” I tell him I’m great, because I am … it’s 6.15 in the morning, and already I feel totally ALIVE.
Of course once we pull off and head along the flat part of Gilmore, and then the uphill, I leave the super athlete in my dust … you’d have to be Lance on steroids (imagine that) to compete with a BionX PL 350 assisted bike on an uphill. I pass a guy who is standing on the pedals, and sail serenely past, seated comfortably in my saddle. Even though it’s so early, I still have to deal with the minor inconvenience of the occasional idiot drivers who do dumb, dangerous things around me.
Just to add the cherry on the top, the sun starts to break through the clouds. After the rainiest April I can remember, this is a very welcome sight. Sure, I can be cheerful cycling in rain … but it’s a lot easier under the gentle dawn sun. Even the ugly buildings of Metrotown look somewhat attractive with dawn’s sunny fingers creeping up them. And even the crows sound happy to see the sun – I fully expect them to dance a tango of joy, but they don’t. They settle for singing (even worse than me).
I get to the steep uphill on Patterson – one of the two reasons why I bought the BionX PL 350 (the other being McKay on my homeward journey). It’s hard to walk up this hill, but with my BionX PL-350 I easily cruise up at around 18 km per hour. This is one of those unfortunate roads that Burnaby calls a bike route (specifically, the Sea to River bike route, reviewed here), that isn’t a bike route at all – just a narrow bus and car route with some signs suggesting that people “share the road”.
This could be intimidating on a regular bike, but the BionX gives me enough speed and power that I can keep myself out of danger with some nifty zigzagging and some pretty impressive speed.
I pass a bunch of miserable looking people waiting for a bus, and wonder why the physically able among them don’t buy a bike. On my BionX PL-350, I am faster than the average bus, once you factor in the fact that buses have to stop constantly.
The singing of the birds is starting to swell – and unlike my singing, it’s very beautiful. This is of course one of the great joys of being on a bike – one can actually hear the birds, rather than being hermetically sealed against nature, as one is in a car.
Then I get to the part of my ride where I rocket down a nature trail, bouncing over tree roots, and I find myself spontaneously yelling “Yeahhhh!” That’s another thing I love about commuting on a bike – sometimes I just feel like a big, happy kid. I cross the pedestrian overpass and stop to look at the poor suckers in their crawling cars. “What is the point, guys?” I find myself saying, pityingly. I have the bridge all to myself, unlike the motorists in their lemming-like lanes.
Then I am next to the Fraser, and gently squeeze on my disk brakes to stop as I spot a huge blue heron beside the river. I pull out my camera to take a couple of shots, thinking how lucky I am that I am not in a car, so that I actually get to see this beautiful sight. I spot his mate high up on a light pole, gazing admiringly at the rising sun.
I drag myself away from bird-watching and cycle the last bit to work as a short hammer fest. I get to our offices feeling in great shape, ready to hit the gym for a workout before starting work. It’s a great time for a workout, because I don’t have to do a boring warm-up – I’m already well and truly warmed up, as well as pumped full of endorphins to power me through a few hard sets of bench presses. I’d bet good money that by the time I start work, I am feeling way better than anyone who has crawled to work in a car, perhaps stopping to join a line-up at Timmies for lumps of starchy, sugary donuts!
I love my BionX PL-350!
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“Trapped in an endless, butt-ugly snake of trapped cars, crawling forward more slowly than a man might take himself to the gallows.”
I love that! Terrific piece, lots of fun to read and share your ride.
The thing I find about hills and rain is that they’re a lot more of a psychological barrier than a physical one. They loom a lot larger in the imagination BEFORE you face them then when you’re actually tackling them. Rain in particular is really not a big deal if you have the clothing to handle it.
That having been said, that hill up Patterson IS pretty tough. I ride a completely “manual” bike between the BCIT Burnaby campus and southeast Vancouver on a fairly regular basis, and I discovered that Inman Avenue, a block to the west, has a much more manageable grade. Same elevation gain, but spread over a longer distance, on a much quieter street, and it works well for me since I head westbound from that point anyway. Smith is a more moderate grade, but is considerably busier.
I find that there are a lot of “official” bike routes are really not very optimal for cycling. Another one not too far away from there is Vanness Avenue in East Vancouver, which is a very narrow, hilly street. Euclid Avenue, one block south, is almost perfectly flat by comparison and much wider.
If you ride a route regularly I think it’s worth exploring a little – my experience is that you can often find a better route than the one you’d choose based on the bike maps.
Thanks Sean! I get your point about rain being a psychological barrier … often I DREAD going out into the rain, and then within a few minutes I am warm and enjoying myself. However, for me, hills are more than just psychological … because I carry some excess weight, despite my insanely healthy lifestyle. (I utterly believe that weight can be a genetic thing … my doctor basically told me I look like my father, get used to it! He carried extra weight too.) So I’m stuck with the weight, but I still want to cycle uphill, so the BionX seems like a good compromise. That said, I never use it except for work, because I can handle other hills. By the way, the hill up McKay on my way home makes Patterson look little …
You make an excellent point about the strange choices sometimes made about bike routes. Vanness Avenue being a case in point … I used to commute along that horrible road once. I did not know there was an alternative just a block away …
Great description, I too feel the angst of driving when I switch modes for whatever reason. You gotta try and capture your commute on video, wondering what a hill means in Vancouver lingo (as opposed to an Ontarian ‘hill’).
here’s a waterloo attempt – http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ug_bKUsUDHM
Thanks!
Thanks Graham! I do plan to capture it on video, but have been having trouble getting a decent cam. Just given up on my Ridercam (wrote a scathing review about it a couple of days ago), and now am going to try a V.I.O. POV 1.5 (once I can figure out how to attach it to my helmet). I am keen to use it to show the hill on my homeward route, which is killer …
I checked out your video – looks like a fun route a lot of the time! How far is it?
Hey Graham … I just posted a comment on your website and did not get any acknowledgement that I had posted … could you please let me know if my comment came through? It was on your hilarious posting about how to react to bad drivers.
I used a POV 1.5 on my helmet for about a year before switching it to a tail-cam. I used the adhesive velcro mount on a vented helmet, using a few shims to help get the angle right. It was one of the mounts in the mount kit: http://www.vio-pov.com/products-mounts/pov-mount-kit.html
Thanks Alex, that’s helpful. I just figured out how to use one of the many included bits and pieces to attach my new POV 1.5 to my helmet. I am worried about the angle being right and staying right – planning to take it for a test run as soon as we have a sunny day (August perhaps?). I did not know you could buy dedicated mounts. Would you recommend doing that?
If what you’ve set up works, then great! The extra mounts are handy too… the star mount I used on the helmet let you easily adjust pan and roll angles, although tilt required jamming shims under it until the angle was right. It took a few test rides to get it right. I definitely underestimated how much of a downwards angle I look when I ride, so I had to compensate by aiming the camera at an extra upwards angle.
There is some kind of star mount that came with my camera … only I have NO idea how it works. The manual offers minimal advice, unfortunately.
And a picture being worth a thousand words, it looks like this, only with the POV1.5 and not the POV.HD in the holder: http://www.vio-pov.com/media/catalog/product/p/o/povhd7.jpg
That looks great! If the included bits don’t work, I will try that for sure.
My goodness, you get all the way to work and then hit the gym? I could never do that, except for my weekly weigh-in on the scale in our gym. I suppose the BionX helps, but when I get to work, I can barely make it to the fridge to grab a grapefruit juice.
The rain almost killed me this year. I generally I love rain, but when it’s less than about six degrees out, the rain just feels like chunks of ice on my face. I can take cold or rain, but I really don’t like both at once.
I am so glad that spring is finally here. This week I’ve been able to put my cycling tights aside and wear shorts to and from work. And now that it’s practically daylight at 5:30 am, I can avoid the traffic if I don’t get caught up doing some online reading before I leave.
By the way, I like your bit about some of the guys you pass looking “like they only started shaving last week.” It does feel good to race past (or even just to be held up by) an obviously younger cyclist, although I’ve had a few leave me standing still as they pass me on their mountain bikes (of all things).
My ABSOLUTE best is when I pass younger guys while I am on a REGULAR bike 🙂 That happens sometimes …
I force myself to hit the gym cos if I don’t do it then, it ain’t happening. Sometimes it’s just 10 minutes, but usually I manage 30. It’s the greatest feeling when it’s 7.30 a.m. and you’ve already done a cardio and a weights workout … you can just kinda coast the rest of the day …
I have also had a terrible time dealing with the rain. I guess cyclists feel it more than non-cyclists … I have got to the point now when I don’t know if it’s better to watch the weather forecasts or not, because the graphics showing an entire week of rain are just too depressing to stand. And I believe it’s STILL not over. I am convinced that the weather is getting worse because of global warming.
Wait a second…you take part of the same route as I do! Hmm, do you work in my office?!? Probably not, as I haven’t seen a BionX bike in our bike cage, but you’re probably at one of our neighbouring businesses! Small world. I ride the trail and pedestrian bridge everyday (& then up Joffre, and through Central Park). I’ve tried going back up Patterson, and boy, that sure is a work out! I can totally see how a BionX would help on that hill. Joffre is pretty steep too, but I can manage that.
Well, maybe I’ll see you en route to or from work one of these days!
And hey, I recognize those Herons across our office!
Hey dcee, we probably work across the road from each other, I’d bet. I’m not going to say where I work or ask you where you do, for privacy reasons … but I suspect we are right across North Fraser Way from each other … I will look out for you, although of course I don’t know what to look out for – you would recognize me by my red bike and green helmet.
I’ll keep an eye out for you! I’m usually on my grey Trek hybrid with a black MEC on top of the rear rack, & grey helment.
Ride safe!
That’s funny, I was thinking you worked near me too. The commute is eerily similar as well except I start in NE Burnaby, so over Cariboo and catch a break going home up the gentle, if long Southridge Drive. I have to say, having a big hill both ways has made me envious of the electric assist. Who knows, maybe one of these days. I really like the Bionx system. The regenerative braking and Canadian technology appeals to me. I kinda need to burn more calories though, if you know what I mean. 😉
Hey Glenn, I encourage you to check out the electric option. I know what you mean about burning more calories – BUT having a BionX can lead to more calorie burn, because one rides more often. For example, I live down a giant hill from a coffee shop. I would NEVER bike up this hill on a regular bike for just a coffee … it just wouldn’t be worth the two litres of sweat for the one cup of coffee! But because I have a BionX, I don’t think twice about biking up for a coffee – and then once I’m out, and if it’s a beautiful sunny day (remember we used to have those?), then I usually end up hitting a trail or something before I come home, just for the fun of it. So basically I don’t use as many calories per km, but I do a LOT more km, so I think mathematically I’m better off …
Great post! I’ve been reading your blog for a few months now because I can relate to a lot of your cycling experiences. And because everyday I cycle under those same cherry trees featured on your blog banner.
I read this post with a smile and plenty of nods. I too have a BionX system on my bike and I LOVE my commute to work. It’s 13 km with some significant hills. I also tote my dog with me every day. Last week I had two migraines and didn’t feel confident riding while medicated so I took the bus. It was a pathetic sight with me staring forlornly at cyclist soaring past. *Sniff*
Glenn – if you come back to read the comments (and I hope you do) I just want to let you know since getting the BionX system on my bike I ride a lot more often, further distances and more varied terrain. I’ve also lost 40lbs since last September because my re-ignited joy for cycling has trickled over into other areas of my life; I’m more active and aware of the fuel I put into my body. The bottom line is you will get a workout using power assist on your bike.
Thanks very much for this blog and I think you’re anything but “average”! Happy trails.
Hi Monique. Great to hear from someone new! And great to hear your feedback on the banner – that’s the first time I’ve ever had any feedback on it.
I think you make a great point – a BionX makes the commute so fun that you just gotta love it. And options like toting a dog aren’t a big deal. I also lost a lot of weight since I got my BionX – coincidentally, also about 40 pounds. (Although it took me longer.) I think the thing about BionX is that I ride my bike on occasions when I just would not ride a regular bike. Research shows that generally BionX users get fitter than people who invest in regular bikes, simply because they use their bikes more often. I know that I could NOT do those two huge hills every day on a regular bike – at my age, that would exhaust me and I would have to take recovery days …
Finally, thanks for your kind words about being anything but average 🙂 Happy trails to you too.
Hey Joe,
Great post – I really enjoyed it and passed it on to a few folks. Yes, other than the odd really heinous wind-and-pelting-rain-in-face days I much prefer commuting by bike to either driving or transit. The other day I had to drive as I was injured, and because of construction Broadway and Clark was absolutely gridlocked. It took me 90 minutes to drive to work instead of the 35-45 it takes me to bike it. I was bitter, bitter, bitter.
And I laughed when I read about the singing – I’m always surprised at how many people I pass singing away, and I have been known to hum from time to time.
On days like Monday, when it is a perfect temperature sunny day, all I can think is how lucky I am to be able to bike commute! 🙂
Thanks Janine … it’s so great to hear so many people talking about how they share my joy in bike commuting. I often think that if cars would just magically disappear – happy, happy thought – and almost everyone could safely get on bikes and head for work, most devoted motorists would be utterly amazed at how fun, joyful, liberating and fast bike commuting is. For us cyclists, it takes the occasional horrific experience in a car to remind us how lucky we are!
And I too feel lucky to be able to bike commute. I keep in mind that one day – one sad, sad day – I will become too old to do this, and so I try to be thankful for every single time I get to do it. Just as we only have so many sun rises in our lives, we also have only so many bike rides. And one of the fun things about bike commuting is that you get to see more of the sun rises!
I will listen out for a cyclist humming past me 🙂
One small quibble-swine don’t sweat-like dogs they can only pant.
Never thought of that … in that case, I think I’ll compare myself to a race horse …
Hi Joe – do you know your average speed on your commute to work? I think I’ll get a Bionx in the near future, and I’m wondering whether it will take me the same time or less than my current bike-transit-bike method.
Hi Ann, nice to hear from you. I think I average around 30 km per hour. It’s definitely way faster than a regular bike.
Of course, there are a lot of variables. I weigh around 180 pounds. I am sure that someone who weighed, say, 120 pounds would go faster. One of the reasons I want to lose some weight is to see how fast I could go!
Even without an electric assist, I find little difference timewise between biking all the way to work and using SkyTrain for half (or more) of the trip. Depending on how far you’re travelling and how many transfers you have to make, it might even be faster by bike.
My daily commute to work is about 18.5 km, Burnaby to Surrey. Elapsed times for my five methods of transportation:
1) Bike all the way: 55-66 minutes
2) Bike to Columbia, train to King George, bike to work: 55-62 minutes
3) Bike to nearest SkyTrain, switch trains at Columbia, bike from King George: 48-53 minutes
4) Walk/Bus/SkyTrain/SkyTrain/Bus: ~60 minutes
5) Drive my car: 30-90 minutes, depending on traffic
I can only imagine how much closer the three “cycling” times would be if I had help. Considering my average speed without is only about 23 km/h, it might even be faster with a BionX to bike all the way than to ever use SkyTrain.
Hi AJ: you ended your post with these comments: “And I too feel lucky to be able to bike commute. I keep in mind that one day – one sad, sad day – I will become too old to do this, and so I try to be thankful for every single time I get to do it. Just as we only have so many sun rises in our lives, we also have only so many bike rides.”…..
…but don’t forget, we will be able to transfer to those bike-trikes and some of them have electrical assist as well! I want a shiny red one! I do think that for many of us, we will be able to bike or trike longer than we imagine, only because we are biking and trike-ing!
I have a steel part in one knee and worry about it when I do hills, hence I walk some of them. I don’t mind walking up hills, but your post is registering in my mind – I’m keeping your post in mind, I have a feeling it will come in handy one day.
Hi Paddyanne. Great point about the trikes! Reminds me of this couple on trikes we met while cycling on the island … check it out! I will absolutely consider switching to a trike if that’s what it takes to keep going. Plus, I recently was made aware of the potential of recumbents, for when the back and the knees start to go …
I hope that my post does come in handy one day … far better to bike with an assist than to give up the joy altogether 🙂
Nice post AvgJoe. Great to see you using the benefits of a little electric boost to make cycling work for your lifestyle and stay out of the car as much as possible. I think we’re going to see a lot more e-assist bikes in the coming years—people seeing the benefits and making the same switch you have.
If I may make a shameless plug. I’m part of a new Metro Vancouver-based company in the electric assist bicycle biz—Elite Electric Bikes. We cater specifically to corporate clients establishing e-bike fleets, Emergency Services, Police Bike Squads, etc.. But we also sell bikes to the public. We’ve developed a couple of great bikes with quality components at very reasonable prices. Check us out at http://www.eliteelectricbikes.com
I hope you don’t think I’m spamming your blog. I’ve been following it since you started and am a fan. I share your passion for cycling and want to see more people on bikes. Electric assist bikes are a great way to make cycling accessible to more people for more daily trips. Cheers.
Hi Jeremy. I’m all for any company making e-biking available! Maybe you could do a guest post one day, telling us what your company offers to corporate and other clients? I get a lot of hits on my e-bike posts … they are right up there in the top 10. So I know there is growing interest out there. As I often say, if I had money to invest, I’d invest in electric bikes, because with the rising cost of gas, I really think they are going to be HUGE in the future. THey make cycling as transport accessible for almost everyone.
Suckers – wait after 15,000km you will get a $1,000 bill for a new battery. That’s almost 7 cents per kilometer. Honda Civic costs that in fuel costs, it takes 5 passengers (plus cargo), it has a range of more than 20km and it does not require 6 hours to fuel up.
PS – I am using bionx on one of my bikes and it is junk – range is 10-15 km, hills drain it in a blink of an eye and after the honeymoon is over reality sets in – should have saved my hard-earned money.
Sorry you have had such bad luck with your batteries and riding. Are you perhaps over 300 pounds? That might put that kind of strain on the battery …personally I am under 200 pounds, and my battery has lasted 7 years so far. I cycle up the steepest hill in Burnaby every day, and the battery stays snappy all the way home. I can easily get 30-40 km on it too … Not to mention that my wife’s car costs $500 every few months to service, $2,000 for a new clutch, thousands of dollars a year in insurance … Every time she gets hit with another huge repair cost, I have to bite my tongue not to say “I could have bought a whole bike for that!” I do want to stay married, after all 🙂
I love this review as its similar to the cycle route I do to get to work… So I know those hills! And those hills were ruining any pleasure I get from cycling to work. Wind… Rain… Don’t bother me. Hills – I hate them. Have all my life.
So I am now getting my Devinci Caribou fitted with the Bionx 250…. I am not getting any younger – and the hills were certainly not getting any easier despite a year battling my way up and down. Worse, I was getting so tired I couldn’t cycle every day. And that meant catching the Skytrain. Gack!!!
So I tried out one of the Bionx bike with the 250 system (didn’t really see the need for a 350 – I really just want a little boost going up hills as that is the only thing I passionately loathe about my commute) at JV Bikes in Vancouver at lunchtime. I think the was totally sold the first time I pressed the throttle and I felt the spring come back to my knee joints and I pedaled my way up the ‘hill’ to Cambie Bridge as if it was completely flat…
So I pootled around trying the various thrust options and found that despite being advised commuters like 3-4 ‘thrust’ and tour bikers like 2-3, I liked 2. I just wanted that little boost going uphill… I loved how my knee joints became instantly springy everytime I pressed that throttle lever going uphill!
So I returned to JV Bikes, pointed to my Devinci Caribou outside, asked if it was possible to retrofit with Bionx and they said yep, no problem… And my bike is now being retrofitted.
I definitely look forward to cycling EVERY DAY to work now – no more skytrain on odd days. I love cycling and the hills were destroying my love of cycling so I am really glad it just takes this to get me cycling all the time!
Love the reviews on this website – especially as I can relate to them being in the ‘hood!
Hi Sally. I am so sorry I missed this lovely comment you posted almost a year ago. I was out of action for a while … but so happy to hear about your happiness with BionX. I really hope it has worked out well for you, and that you are enjoying cycling in this current wonderful weather 🙂