Andrea spoke to pressedienst-fahrrad about her first impressions and experiences on the European leg of her journey. Part 1 of a planned three-part series of short interviews.
pd-f: Hello Andrea, you've completed the European leg of your journey. Time for a first short summary. What experiences have you had so far? How have people reacted to you?
Andrea Freiermuth: "The e-bike is a simple door opener. You arrive at a place sweaty and dusty and immediately get involved in a conversation. That's nice. Many people on the street don't even notice at first glance that I'm travelling on an electric bike. When they realise, they really marvel at my bike and I have to answer various questions about range and technology. It's fun and shows me the growing importance of e-bikes in the mobility chain. I myself am very fond of riding an e-bike. From Zurich to Istanbul, I had a passenger who was travelling on a conventional trekking bike, but who is more well-trained and much fitter than me. Thanks to my electric assistance, I was able to keep up with him without any problems. On average, we cycled around 80 kilometres a day. Our crowning stage in the Italian Alps covered 102 kilometres and 2,686 metres in altitude. Less mountainous but further was a stage of around 200 kilometres in Bulgaria. I would never have managed that on a touring bike. I wouldn't even want to increase the travelling speed, although it would certainly be possible thanks to the motor. But then the experiences with nature and people fall by the wayside. I particularly enjoy meeting other cyclists. In jest, I am sometimes called a cheat by the cycle travellers. A young cyclist from Bern said to me: 'E-bikes are only for older people. It looks ridiculous for younger people'. I'm not sure now: am I old or ridiculous? In any case, I crossed the Alps on beautiful mountain pass routes, while the youngster opted for the easy option through the valley."
pd-f: How is the material performing so far? What are you excited about, what are you disappointed with?
Freiermuth: "So far I've been spared any breakdowns or defects. The electric drive doesn't cause any problems and this is the first time I've travelled with a belt drive, which works perfectly. The rubber squeaks sometimes, but I've learnt that I don't need to lubricate the belt (laughs). However, I am a little nervous about travelling on. I can only change brake pads and repair tyres. I received a crash course from Flyer for other repairs. I filmed it all and can refer to it on my laptop in an emergency. Because bike shops that are familiar with e-bikes will be hard to find further down the line. In the event of major defects, I have to hope that spare parts will be sent to me. So far, nothing about my high-tech pony has really disappointed me. But what I would personally optimise would be the navigation: the Flyer can be linked to Komoot. It's actually great, but unfortunately the display then only shows information such as: 'Arrow right, 200 metres'. However, I like to orientate myself visually and prefer map navigation. That's why I also put a navigation device on the handlebars."
pd-f: Did you have any problems getting power for the battery?
Freiermuth: "I had my doubts at the beginning of the trip, especially because we have our own plug standard in Switzerland. But both my chargers are two-pin, so I'm sure I won't even need an adapter until I get to Iran. Only my computer has a three-pin plug and needs a corresponding attachment everywhere. However, I missed the blue CEE plug for charging at campsites. I either left my batteries with a neighbour or at the campsite reception. When planning the day's route, the range doesn't really matter. I have two batteries with me, each with 600 kilowatt hours. That's enough for more than 100 kilometres and 2,000 metres in altitude. But I always keep an eye on the battery level and select the support mode accordingly. Mostly out of ambition, because I don't want to change the battery during the day, so I make sure I get by with one. Incidentally, I only had to recharge once during the day, on our 200-kilometre stage.
But that was easy to combine with a kebab break. And once we camped in the wild and therefore had no power socket nearby. Incidentally, this is the main problem why the e-bike has not yet caught on when travelling the world: Many long-term travellers are on a tight budget, can't regularly afford an overnight stay with a power connection and therefore don't see the e-bike as the ideal travel companion. I also considered taking a solar system with me for charging, but a well-known e-bike traveller advised me against it. I'm curious to see how the journey continues and what the infrastructure will be like in the countries to come."
Outlook
Andrea is currently embarking on her second major leg of the journey via Turkey, Armenia, Iran and Turkmenistan to Tajikistan. A journey on which she expects to encounter dangers and obstacles. In Iran, religious forces are working on a ban on women cycling. In Tajikistan, four cyclists fell victim to an alleged IS terrorist attack on a mountain pass in July. pressedienst-fahrrad plans to conduct the second short interview during Andrea's longer winter stopover in Tajikistan in about four months' time.
