![\"Head](\"https:\/\/www.cyclox.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/07\/Nick.jpg\")
<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\nLike a great number of regular cyclists, I am also a car user. There are things I need my car for \u2013 such as hauling heavy materials or visiting remote places that are not served by our railways. This means I am likely to be wedded to four wheels for the foreseeable future. On the other hand, the inaccessibility of areas such as city centres to cars makes the bike an ideal mode of local transport<\/a>. So, a hybrid approach to personal transport needs seems to me to be the most sensible one for able-bodied people living in places such as Oxford.<\/p>\n\n\n\n In the four years I have had it, my Cube e-bike has taken most of the burden of transporting me and my belongings around the city (and sometimes to meetings up to 25 miles away). This has helped to bring my annual car mileage down substantially. I live on the edge of Oxford, on Hurst Hill, and the added push of the electric motor makes carrying home a couple of panniers of shopping, or a trip to the pub, an absolute breeze. I no longer have to psych myself up before getting out on the bike.<\/p>\n\n\n\n It is also pretty good exercise. It\u2019s a common belief that you don\u2019t need to pedal<\/a> on an e-bike. You do. The motor will help you (similar to when an adult pushed you along by the back of the saddle when you learned to ride), but above 15.5 mph you are on your own. They are pretty heavy beasts, so manoeuvring them in and out of a bike shed can be a bit of an effort, but once they are on the road they fly along. <\/p>\n\n\n\n The range on my Cube is anywhere between 40 and 80 miles, depending on the terrain and the amount of human energy I am willing to contribute.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\nIt\u2019s still good exercise<\/h2>\n\n\n\n