New Snugg post

My latest post in the practical pedal electric commuter blog.


In the last 24 hours the Snugg has twice saved me from making a bad decision. The first time was last night. I had just gotten back from Bridger Bowl, Bozeman's local ski area. I was telemark skiing all day, and I was tired, and I mean the kind of tired that makes sitting on the couch kind of a chore. Whilst getting some much needed steak and potatoes prepared I get the text, there's a little get together, am I coming? Well of course not, I'm sitting on my butt in front of the T.V. I'm certainly not riding a bike across town. To top it off, there's a fifteen mile headwind the whole way. If I do go, I'm driving my car. Then, it occurs to me, there's an electric bike in my garage, it's not like I actually have to work really hard to get anywhere. So, after arriving at Molly's in fine style by passing a couple Suby's on my 28 mph sprint down Main Street, I promptly had a few beers and feel asleep on her couch instead of my own.

The second time the Snugg kept me from behind the wheel of my car was this morning. I woke up, showered, dressed, went downstairs, and opened the garage door to this.



Hmmm...that doesn't look like a lot of fun, maybe I'd better put on another layer.



Now I consider myself a fairly dedicated cycling commuter, but that much fresh snow is a lot of work to ride through, just laying down enough power to keep the front wheel tracking straight is quite the effort. And remember I've got to do it with the sore quads and hangover that are my reward from the previous days activities. Nonetheless owing nothing to my strength of will, I swung a leg over the Snugg custom Surly Cross Check and headed off through a veritable blizzard. The bike performed flawlessly on my trip to work, the steering was a little squirrely in the packed snow ruts, but the power of the electric assist kept my momentum more or less forward. On a normal bike, I would have simply spun out as I lost forward momentum and the front wheel tracked off to the side. With the Snugg I could simply maintain upright balance and let the motor power through. It required some agile steering, but it was doable. Tragically, my judgment was not so well dialed and I headed out without my usual facemask...cold.