In praise of my electric cargo trike

Elizabeth has been off school sick this week and not wanting to make her walk to school each day when we go with Daniel, I’ve been taking them in Hoss instead. It has been over a year since I stopped cycling the kids to and from school in Busby – now we walk. It’s good exercise for them to walk but it’s not as much fun and I was reminded of this today.

When I get back from cycling 150kg+ of cargo I feel like super woman. It’s exhilarating and lifts my spirits. Walking doesn’t do that. Maybe I’ll have to start doing it again more regularly.

I’ve had Hoss for well over 6 months now and I love it more and more everyday. It took me a little while to get used to cycling on three wheels as opposed to two. Turning is quite different and I felt unstable at times although I realise now this was unwarranted. Hoss is incredibly stable. Today we cycled out in high winds and I felt much safer than I would have done had we been on two wheels. The wind is especially tricky on a cargo bike with a rain tent up front because it acts like a sail. But with three wheels and the electric assist it wasn’t a problem.

Going uphill is no problem either with the electric assist and I really need it with my heavy load. There are some hills near me that I would not have attempted on Busby and a full load, instead opting for a different – longer – route. With Hoss I can go anywhere.

The electric assist has five settings so I can keep it as low or as high as I like. I still try to push myself and get the exercise but at the same time I can maintain my speed on the uphills which is particularly nice. I can also turn it off completely and use pedal only power. I hardly ever have to charge the battery. I’m beginning to wonder whether it charges on downhills and when it’s off because it uses so little power. The bike also has a throttle to help me get started from stationary or if I’m mid-way up a hill. It even works when I’m not pedalling!

One day soon I think we’ll venture further afield and see whether we can go for one of our Sunday castle trips by bike instead of by car. That would be wonderful.