E-road bikes?

I came across an advertisement today in our Sunday paper for a local big shed bicycle dealer who is currently selling over 1000 bikes at much reduced prices. The E-bike section caught my eye. In addition to sensible bikes like second hand Flyers at 55% cheaper than the new price and new Kalkhoff Agattu Impulse for ca 1500 Euros, a saving of 600 Euros, there are also E-mountain bikes and E-road bikes for sale. I can just about understand the concept of E-mountain bike. There was an article in "Panorama", the German Alpine Club's magazine last year about a group of more mature cyclists (65+) who cycled one of the Transalp MTB routes and used the extra power to ascend steeper bits on the way. This is not a bad wheeze, especially at my time of life. However a road bike is a fitness machine and to add electrical power to make life easier is a bit like having an escalator to reach a fitness studio on the first floor.

Road bikes for hire in Berlin

If you are looking for a road bike to hire in Berlin, then check out:

Aspire Cycling (Road bike specialist)
This company delivers your bike to your hotel, B&B, crash pad etc. It offers Canyon Carbon Frame Endurance CF bikes. The company also offers guided tours. The company is not cheap but offers value for money especially when you check out the prices the airlines will charge you to get your bike to Berlin, the quality of their bikes and the service they offer. At the time of writing the first day's hire cost 65€ with serious reductions for longer term hire.
http://aspirecycling.com/
info@aspirecycling.com
T: +49 173 7457479

Bike Sport Hotels in Germany

Regular readers of this blog will have noticed we are fans of the hotels and B&Bs on the  ADFC’s Bett und Bike list. The club has recently added a new category to its lists: Bett und Bike Sport hotels. These are more upmarket hotels offering features in addition to those normally offered by Bett und Bike accommodation:

• Tour suggestions and/or guided tours for mountain bikers, road racing types and even common or garden tourists like us two.
• A very secure bike storage room so you don’t have to sleep with your 10 000 Euros worth of carbon fibre and Campag gears.
• Mountain and road bike hire.
• Good drying and washing facilities for you, your clothing and your bike, but not all the same room.
• A workshop and information about nearby dealers who can help you when need help.
• Maps, printed guides, energy bars etc.
• If you want to cycle on your last day, you can arrange to take a shower in the afternoon before you depart for home, which saves you having to climb mud-encrusted into the BA or Lufthansa machine home.

These hotels are to be found in the southern Black Forest, in the Sauerland a mountain biking and winter sport area SE of Dortmund and in the Hunsrück W of the Rhine around Hahn airport. There is more information including a list of hotels to be found on a flyer obtainable via a link on http://www.bettundbike.de/. Don’t go for the English version, because although there is more information available about the concept, there is no link to the flyer. The flyer, of course, is in German but there are links to the hotel websites and these are more often than not in a sensible language, i.e. English.  A quick survey of the flyer suggests that the hotels are reasonably priced and some offer package deals for a week's or long weekend's holiday.

Cycling in the Italian lakes

We received an eMail from the Province of Varese with a link to its cycling/hiking website in a cheerful mix of English and Italian. It offers information, GPS tracks and links about road biking, mountain biking, cycle paths, pass storming (if it turns you on), bike hotels, campsites and lots of practical information. We have cycled there and in the Swiss canton of Ticino next door and found very enjoyable.