Commuter Challenge

However, James's efforts aren't be simply along the lines of 'bus, bike and car' - oh no... James is trying some more unusual methods of getting from A to B.

His list includes: cycling, walking, electric car, heelies (trainers with wheels), segway (a kind of electric scooter) and powerisers (stilts with springs)!

You can follow James's progress each weekday on BBC Radio Derby - listen to Andy Whittaker's Breakfast Show for regular updates (use the link on the right) and see more on BBC East Midlands Today each evening from 6.30 pm.

Day Six: Electric Bike

Journey Time – 13 minutes

Journey Cost – Electric Bikes cost from £400 new. Batteries need charging overnight every 20 miles.

The chain had come off. Managed to put it back, and in the process of washing my hands, left oily finger prints around the kitchen, much to my wife’s annoyance!

Back on the bike, it became apparent that this was a heavy item! The centre of gravity was quite high, so it wasn’t as manoeuvrable as my normal bike.

The bike I was using was four years old and still on its original battery. The very latest models have much smaller batteries, located lower in the frame, so this problem is not one that will afflict all electric bikes!

Once started though, using a twist grip, the motor kicked in and gave me a nice turn of acceleration.

The bike was probably too heavy to ride everywhere without the motor, but with the motor, was proving a very easy, lazy mode of transport on the flat.

The weight was a bit of an issue, when passing over the speed ramps on Haslams Lane – it was a bit uncomfortable, but not unbearable – suspension would have been nice!

The big test was the hill. I made it up to Mile Ash Lane without pedalling! Excellent!

Then I tried to ascend Darley Abbey Drive in the same way, but the bike started to run out of steam two thirds of the way up the hill.

I helped it by pedalling a few times, and this was enough to give it help and take me rapidly to the top of the hill.

It was fantastic to reach the top of the hill, in the fresh air, without even breaking into a sweat! I was able to use all the same shortcuts I did on a normal bike…

Once into Allestree, on the gentle downhill towards the University, I tried to get some speed out of the bike!

However, at a certain speed the motor decides not to help any more – I suspect a speed limiter – any extra speed needed to come from the pedals.

This meant that I was not likely to be able to go over 20mph on the handle bar mounted speedo! – probably a very good thing, given the weight of this bike!

As I took a short cut through the housing estate, I caught the pedal on a bollard (took a curve too sharply) and needed to put my feet down to prevent myself falling off!

It wouldn’t have happened on the normal bike, and just shows that more consideration is needed on this one!

In conclusion, I thought the electric bike was great. It has all the advantages of a bike, without the main disadvantage (up hill struggles!)

But perhaps this won’t be for me – simply because I like to use my trip to work to keep fit, and I would be very lazy indeed on an electric bike!

I do think that if you bought an up-to-date, lighter weight electric bike (and a set of waterproofs), it would be a superb alternative to driving – you do not need any fitness whatsoever to take on huge hills, there are no emissions, no tax, no insurance and parking is not an issue – you can put it anywhere you could put a normal bike!

You could also pedal if you felt like a bit of exercise!

James Brown