Urban Streets vs. Country Roads: Riding an E-Trike in Different Settings

Hi, I'm Diane. I am 64 years old, and I've been test-riding bikes since Sixthreezero. They're located in San Clemente, and this is the Simple Glide E-Trike, and it has a fat tire on it. So what I'm taking a look at now is the difference between riding in urban versus rural situations. So right now we're kind of in an urban situation. We're in a strip mall parking lot. And so the way that I approach riding in an urban situation is completely different from the way that I approach riding in a rural situation. So I'm going to talk a little bit about the precautions that I use so that it's always a safe ride. So just really quickly on this particular trike, we have five levels of pedal assist, and pedal assist is a tool that I use to help make my ride easier. So really, concerning different types of terrain, different situations, maybe my own personal level of how I'm feeling that day. We also have seven different gears.

If you're familiar with bike riding in general, you know how gears are used. And then we have a throttle on this bike. And the throttle is what I use when I just need to get going someplace quickly. This particular trike also has a great safety feature, which is called a parking brake. And when it's enforced, it completely locks the bike altogether so that it doesn't move. And I love that feature. Easy to release just by depressing the different brakes. So starting, you know, again, you're in a parking lot, and I kind of think of it the same way that I do when I'm driving in my car. I mean, you're doing defensive riding rather than defensive driving. So I want to be aware of all my situations with cars that are potentially backing out. What I would recommend doing is, before you come out into a parking lot yourself, when you're maybe just at home on an isolated street, test the trike out.

So that you know what it feels like to start and stop quickly. Because you certainly don't want to learn that lesson if a car all of a sudden jets out behind you, right? Like, you want to know what that feels like. The brakes are very easy to use. You don't have to use a lot of pressure on them when you're depressing them to stop. The e-trike stops on a dime. But again, practice that before you come out into a parking lot like this. Right now, I'm in Pedal Assist 3. I'm going to bring that down to Pedal Assist 1. Here's my display. We have our energy bar that tells me how much battery I have. Very important to know when you're out on any kind of ride because you need to be aware of your terrain and know what you're going to face, like how long of a ride I'm planning and what I'm going to face on the way back. Am I going to be going up hills where I'm going to need a lot of the battery power, or am I going to be OK?

Also, I have my current trip odometer and my speed pedal assist one. I'm in seventh gear. This particular bike has a turn throttle. So as soon as I turn that, I'm going to get going. And let's take her for a ride. Let's do some defensive riding. So off we go. I'm starting to use the throttle just to get going. Again, I'm in pedal assist one. Essentially, what that means is I'm getting a little bit of pedal assist when I pedal. I'm not just doing a manual ride right now. So fun. So I'm going to abide by all the same rules and regulations that you would if you were riding in your car. Safe biking. So I think everybody here has a stop. Thank you. So I'm going to go ahead. I'm using my throttle to get me across this street.

So when you're riding in an urban situation, there's going to be more traffic. There's going to be quicker cars coming out. So my head's always going to be turning. Again, the same as you would if you were riding in your car or anything else. Rules of the road, super important. And that's the difference between riding in an urban situation and riding in a rural situation. So you can see... Right now, because we're in a parking lot, I've got my fingers up here. I'm ready to depress the brakes if I need to. The beauty of the throttle is that if I need to get out of a situation really quickly, once I turn the throttle, the bike just takes off. Very helpful. Safety first. Which way should we go, Lisa? Okay. So I'm going to look to see where this car is going. Again, I'm going to use the throttle to get me quickly across. But I'm always going to have my hands ready to brake in case I have to.

An urban situation doesn't have to be stressful. And because I've got a basket in the front, I can stop in any of these stores. I can do some banking. I can stop at the grocery store. I can do whatever I want without being in my car and still feel really safe. So I'm looking out to see when people are crossing because, oops, go ahead. Like that woman, she wasn't aware. These bikes are pretty quiet. She wasn't aware of the fact that I was behind her. So always use your eyes. So I'm going to be very aware of any cars that might be backing out, the same way that you would if you were riding in your car, or walking, for that matter.

You could use hand signals too. So for a left-hand turn, I'm going to use my left hand signal. Some of the e-trikes actually have turn signals on them, so you could use that if you wanted to. This particular one doesn't. Here, put the parking brakes on. As you can see, super easy to do. This bike, this trike rather, also has the arm rails that go up. It has a low step-through. So see how easy it is? Like, you don't have to be trepidatious about riding. Your e-trike in an urban area. You just have to exercise a little bit more caution, but honestly, if you were in your car, you'd probably be doing that anyway. What I would recommend doing is coming to sixthreezero, they're in San Clemente. Test ride a couple of e-trikes for yourself. Think about where you're gonna be riding them mostly on your journey, and just make sure that you take the proper precautions, helmet, anything safety related to make your ride as safe as possible.

Thanks so much for joining me on my urban ride. And I hope you have a fabulous afternoon. Thank you.