Mode Shift: Cyclist who lost zest for biking finds it again with ebike

Tuesday, 14 June 2022

Robert Ashe, seen here riding the shared pathway on the Petone Esplanade, has fallen back in love with cycling after getting a second hand ebike. He uses it to commute between Eastbourne and Porirua.

Buying a second-hand ebike for his 60km commute to and from work has helped long-term bike advocate Robert Ashe fall back in love with cycling.

The daily grind of evading trucks on his road bike, as he struggled up Ngāūranga Gorge, and battling through southerlies as he returned to his Eastbourne home from his Porirua workplace was “soul-destroying”. He was finding himself resorting to using his car more and more.

But buying a second hand ebike has been a game changer for Ashe. He has clocked up 5000km since he bought it last year.

“It has been an absolutely brilliant investment, it has kept my fitness up and I am not clogging up the road with my car, spewing out emissions and heating up the climate.”

**READ MORE:

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Robert Ashe (centre) and daughter, Charlotte, 3, with Green MP Julie Anne Genter and her son, Joaquin, 2, on a 2020 ride to promote the proposed Eastbourne shared pathway.

The ebike, which he paid $3500 for, has given him a new lease of life. Instead of being exhausted at the end of the day, the senior Department of Conservation ranger now looks forward to his ride home.

The ride takes about 50 minutes each way and the extra oomph provided from his ebike means he no longer struggles up hills or into the wind.

Previously it was just becoming too difficult even if he staggered the timing of his commute in the car. “In the middle of the day you would hit Petone Esplanade and it would just be bonkers with so many cars.”

Having cycled all his life, he has quickly adapted to the extra power provided by the small battery but still prefers to keep the power at a setting that makes him work.

He is still getting a good work out that helps his fitness.

“I get an incredible sense of freedom every time I jump on the bike.”

And there is another benefit to his ebike.

It was costing him about $7 each way in petrol and when he recently went to fill up and hit the $150 limit on his card, without filling the tank, he was reminded how much he was saving.

Being able to keep moving on the heavily congested Petone Esplanade is another bonus.

His daughter, Charlotte, is a keen cyclist and with his rediscovered enthusiasm, Ashe is also enjoying riding with her.

An experienced cyclist, he believes cycleways planned for the Eastern Bays and between Petone and Ngāūranga, will be a game changer for commuters.

A lot of people who lack the confidence to ride from the Hutt Valley to Wellington will follow his example and jump on an ebike, he says.

“You have an amazing freedom when you are a cyclist, especially with an ebike.”