The last few days have been such a joy , interesting scenic mostly backroad routes and the body and bike in perfect harmony . Cyclists will know what I’m talking about here , the joy of riding is encapsulated in this French cycling word “Souplesse“ . It’s not French onion soup , NO … It’s a hard to define term relating to the feeling of a smooth spinning pedal stroke where the bike just glides and the legs spin joyfully and effortlessly.

This trip is using my old giant road E-bike , significantly modified with MTB wheels and front shocks not to mention my old carbon time trial bars . The fit is perfect , so comfortable and the rides smooth.

So why go to an E.bike you may ask . The answer is twofold . If your love of cycling is about the joy of going fast , feeling that Souplesse , then it’s a no brainer that an ebike will tick this box . It’s super fast , delivering power input all the way up to 46 km per hour .

The second reason is about the hills . You still have to work to climb the hills but mostly the hurt is gone . It’s a relative cruise till the gradients go above say 12% .. rare roads .

Some folk resist going to E bikes feeling it might be too easy , but this is a fallacy . It’s simply a lot faster and you are able to get the cardiovascular workout to any level you might want .

The graph above illustrates the point that any ebike ride is about what you make it. This HR trace shows the effort I was exerting for the duration of this ride , rolling into Masterton just after midday . A fast ride mostly into the early 30’s .

Random pics from the last few days . Now in Carterton and taking time out to replenish my essential meat supplies . My good friend Mike Allanson is taking me hunting today with a mission to get me some meat !