The bloke who sold me the Tero reckoned it did 70 miles to a charge. Good to know; about 110km, but of course what does it mean? All day in Eco, switching off, level or hilly? The question every young tyke asks on seeing a flash bike needed answering: ‘What’ll it do, mister?’
Charged to 101%, we set out for a half-day lap of the Purbeck Hills (below), knitting together trails and backroads we’d done before, plus some new links. The geef is light and battery range has not been an issue, even though she tends to use the top two power modes. Her XS Lapierre Over Volt 7.6 is still 25 kilos, but the big, 630Wh battery lasts from ride to ride and 70Nm of torque sees her fly up rough climbs I had to walk on my old Merida. Not anymore!
We take the back way up onto the Ridgeway above Corfe Castle, a strategic gap in the ridge plugged by the photogenic ruins of a medieval castle blown up during the English Civil War. Where possible, I’m switched off or in Eco. Out of Corfe the long, 150-m climb onto Nine Barrows Down begins (below), the continuation of the same ridge which cuts right across the Isle of Purbeck all the way back to Lulworth Cove. The geef zips ahead in a trail of lithium sparks while I plug resolutely up in Eco, with the odd burst of Trail. Gates periodically break the flow but there’s loads of room for other riders and walkers.
From the top you look across the expanse of Poole Harbour to one side, or down to the seaside town of Swanage on the other, where children’s author Enid Blyton took her holidays and inspiration. Then a stony, narrow path shared with walkers drops steeply down to the Studland-Swanage road, where I appreciate the Tero’s twin-piston, single finger braking, if not so much the stiff suspension.
A short blast along a busy road brings us to a gate and a stiff climb leading up onto Ballard Down. We’ve not done this bit before: a great, fence- and gate-free ride up to an obelisk, which gets better and better until you’re riding free across the broad downs with the sea all around (below). In early 90s American author Bill Bryson felt the same way, researching his humorous state-of-the nation travelogue: Notes from a Small Island (1995):
‘It was beautiful beyond words, one of those rare moments when life seems perfect.’
These downs will definitely feature in our day rides from now on.
From the crest of the Downs we roll down across a trackless, daisy-speckled meadow towards the chalk cliffs and stacks of Old Harry Rocks which I’ve packrafted a few times. It’s an amazing feature from above and below. Despite all that climbing the bars on the display still stacked up and the legs were on form.
The mile from Old Harry to Studland village was packed with Sunday walkers, but soon out of the village we take to the sandy trails of the Purbeck Heaths bordering the edge of Poole Harbour. The frequency of gates, often two at a time, shoots up, with barely a kilometre covered before someone has to dismount and do the deed. Especially with lardy e-bikes, this ramps up the fatigue, but it’s nice to be out. We navigate our way from memory along the forested trails back to the Arne road for Wareham.
And the results are in. Based on my watch, the map and the Tero’s Mastermind TCD:
- Distance 48km
- Duration 5.5 hours
- Ascent 750m (descent 630m)
- ‘Running Time’ (motor working) 2.8 hours
- Battery level 69%
- Range left: 103km
Not bad at all. In old money over 2000 feet of climbing, adding up to nearly a 100 miles of range continuing at the same pace. That’s easily a day’s worth of of assist when you need it, and maybe even a camping overnighter with the battery tucked up in the sleeping bag with a cup of warm milk.
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