Thanks so much for the good wishes, Ian. I'm currently 100m from the dark waters of the Black Sea here in Constanta, Romania, having made too-good time with some days close on a couple - hundred kilometers. Now I'm done with my planned tour... and left with three weeks before my flight.
Hmm. Maybe time for a little mountain work in the Carpathians, or a visit to Bram's castle?
I'll leave here in the morning. Constanta has been a bit anticlimactic and even disappointing after the largely rural nature of the greater Eurovelo6.
I...did fine on the hills marked as 9%-10% grades, but wouldn't have minded the occasional boost with my full touring load as they topped and occasionally doubled that.
By the way, Austria -- whose government has seen the economic rewards of embracing bicycle tourism on the EV6 and rewarded it with the best infrastructure -- can boast of ebike charging stations. Lots of people were riding ebike there, though the vast majority were locals instead of tourists. Seems to me a community infrastructure of public and work - supported charging stations might go far toward increasing the practical use of pedelecs for journeys beyond local.
On my outward/westward journey, I met a Swiss couple going the other way. He had sold two Rohloff-equipped bikes in favor of a Pinion with belt drive In a custom frame and seemed happy with it. He offered a test ride but tbe bicycle was dangerously too large for me to safely handle. He was a big guy, close to two meters tall. His much smaller wife said she wanted to accompany him but lacked the physical strength, so she was riding a pedelec which she recharged at reach night's lodging. It was the on-demand type which provided assistance only if she was pedaling.
In this way, two physically mismatched riders could enjoy the same ride... together. She carried a spare, pre-charged battery just in case, which seemed a wise move to me. "After all", she told me, "it allows us to double our distance if we wish or if the first lodging has no vacancy". She carried the spare battery in a dry sack atop her rear rack and said she took care to avoid getting the contacts wet on either battery.
She estimated she actually used the pedaling - assist about half the time, depending on factors such as hills or if her husband was setting a fast pace. She said the assist allowed her to keep a fast enough pace to beat some rain clouds on several occasions.
I'm not very familiar with this realm, but her bike appeared to be designed as a pedelec from the beginning, rather than a conversion. It also sported a control for selecting the amount of assist, which seemed useful. She said on flat roads she would often lock it out entirely or dial up just enough assist to take the edge off headwinds, which she found exhausting when using muscle power alone.
In this case, equipping the less accomplished rider with a pedelec opened up a whole world of companionable cycling and adventure for this married couple. Both agreed it had opened a new dimension of shared activities.
I'd surely be interested in details of your conversion, Ian.
All the best,
Dan. (...whose interest in the topic stems in part from a childhood spent racing electric slot cars...and rewinding the motors for greater speed)
