The E-Century Challenge
I just created a new Facebook Group. It is called The E-Century Challenge. This year we saw e-bikes completing RAGBRAI on single daily charges. To me, this is a major break through in making e-bikes and trikes viable for touring and as car replacements. Let me know here is you were one of The RAGBRAI e-bike riders with this accomplishment under your belt.
A century ride is quite common for traditional cyclists. It is almost a rite of passage, cementing your status as a serious cyclist (yes, I know, lots of serious cyclists never ride a century). It remains a daunting challenge for e-cyclists suffering from range anxiety. It doesn’t help that mfg’s dramatically inflate the range one can expect from their products. As more of us accomplish this challenge, we’ll know what works and how we all can do better.
At some point I would like to add certificates, badges and/or stickers for those who complete it. It would be nice to have something special for firsts, like trikes, paracycles, gravel bikes, fat bikes etc. Please suggest others, if you think of any.
I would like to accomplish it without back tracking or utilizing motorways. I”mhoping to do most of it on the miles of segregated paths in Bettendorf and Davenport, Iowa. The Hennepin Canal would be another fun one. How many 100 mile continuous rail trails exist?
Feel free to choose your own route. Just upload your map to the page. There are all sorts of means, but some of which I am aware, are Charity Miles, Endomondo, Strava, Map My Ride and Relive. Please share any other apps you may know.
Sharing your attempts, failures, lessons learned and especially successes, teaches and encourages us all. The spec’s on your vehicle of choice is helpful as well (as you know, I am disappointed at the quality of components used on most factory e-bikes). Of course, it is probably silly to think they’ll notice, but perhaps some mfg’s will want to see more of their bikes included in the results. I have no problem compiling those stats and promoting them (locally, I’d like to see more of my conversions, like the one in the photo, attempt the challenge). Is there anything else that should be added?