Jon on the ‘Driving Road’ above
Dentdale during our Pennine Bridleway
ride, with Middleton Fell behind and
the Coniston Fells on the skyline
gasping, but I’d have been considerably slower
on a motorless bike. The real question was, how
would the e-bike tackle the descents? The trail
from the Cockpit stone circle down to Howtown
off ers 4km of almost uninterrupted downhill, rocky
enough to be interesting but never really technical.
It’s a Lakeland gem, a thing of beauty on any half-
decent bike, and the Cube was no exception, its
extra weight making little discernible diff erence.
The price for such pleasure is the 6km road ride
back to Pooley Bridge. Mountain bikes on tarmac
are a grind, especially if you’re used to a road bike,
but the e-assist made relatively light work of it.
>>>> UPPING THE ANTE
So far, so good, but I’d accepted two contrasting
commissions that were about to raise the stakes.
First up, Totally Active. Editor Nik Cook wanted,
‘a big ride in the mountains that you’re familiar
with and have ridden on a conventional bike...
compare and contrast the experience riding an
e-bike.’ My partner Bernie and I settled on a route
based around the Pennine Bridleway (PBW) linking
the stations at Horton-in-Ribblesdale and Kirkby
Stephen.
The PBW, in these parts, isn’t about gnarly
technicalities. It has its moments, but mostly it’s
a story of long gradual climbs, high-level cruising,
and long gradual descents. On the fi rst major
climb, to a 570m high point on Cam High Road, I
drew steadily ahead of Bernie. Well, she was still
on her regular MTB! Later, a couple of steeper
climbs tempted me to experiment with the higher
power settings (the Cube has four levels of assist).
It still was far from easy, but I could manage
climbs that would have been a struggle even at full
fi tness. Some call this ‘cheating’ but it didn’t quite
feel like it. The bike was assisting my own eff ort,
not replacing me.
Elsewhere I generally rode on the second of the
four settings; with around 50km to cover, I didn’t
fancy the battery expiring before the fi nish. After
the descent into Mallerstang, we followed valley
byways rather than the offi cial PBW route over the >
>>>> THE RULES
In the UK, there are clear rules
around e-bikes, (offi cially ‘electrically
assisted pedal cycles’). The motor
must not deliver more than 250 watts and
can only assist the rider, not provide sole
propulsion. Power-assist must cut out above
15.5mph (25kph). A legitimate e-bike can be
ridden wherever and whenever you can ride
a normal bike, including bridleways and
byways. Any non-compliant bike is legally
a moped; to ride on road both bike and
rider must be licensed accordingly.
Such bikes are not permitted on
bridleways or restricted
byways.
spring 2019 | Outdoor focus 5