It has been a crikey long time since I wrote any posts here, but I haven't been sitting idly doing nothing. We (the Bee Wild Family) have moved our home from South Wales to Northern Italy and we have been busy getting ourselves settled, established and moved in (you can read more about our move and progress on our 'Escaping the Country' blog, found here). I kept them separate as the EtC blog is more about the move and our lives as expats (well, for me and the kids, Sabi is Italian), whereas the BeeWild page and blog is more about our businesses and 'farm'. Of course, some posts will cross-over at times and be posted on both, so no doubt I'll get confused about it all and forget to do something, or do something twice...etc.
For todays blog I wanted to touch on some of the thoughts of sustainability lifestyle goals we've been having. First up is life without a car. In our case, Sabi's parents are lending us their 20 year old Toyota Yaris so we can transport the kids and dog from theirs to the house and, for the time being, for Sabi to get to work.
While Sabi can drive the car to work and shops and wherever, I (as a British citizen) cannot. Due to brexit, my driving license is no longer accepted in Italy (though I have read mixed reviews about Italian foreign residents being able to drive for 1 year on their UK license, after which they have to do the test again, in Italian). Regardless of this, I haven't got a car so couldn't drive around if I wanted to!
I have instead been relying on pedal power once again. I love it. I have a range of bikes to pick from, including Sabi's electric Cube Elly (for towing the children with me) and my own electric gravel bike with cargo trailer for collecting shopping/water from the fontana in the village. It's been a delight, riding wherever I need to go, combining cycle trips to the playground in the neighbouring town with visits to the supermarket (ramming shopping in every gap around the children's legs).
All good fun, but I have found a whole new level of respect for Sabi, who used to take the kids to school every day, pulling them both up the (fairly steep) hill on which we lived. I have been riding her bike, taking the kids regularly 5-6km away from our new house, both up the mountain road and down. But this week I attempted an 'exploratory' trip. Using the app 'Komoot' I planned a route with an interesting view point and statue for us to visit, circling around back to the fountain in the village to top up our water.
Komoot gave me the route details and said it was an easy ride, and low levels of fitness needed. Fantastic, I thought. I am relatively fit and decent on the bike and on an e-bike I figured towing the kids would be just fine.
No. No. No. I almost died going up the hill they had described as light. It was a windy mountain road that I'd likely get up no problem on my own bike with no children. but on Sabi's 40nm torque e-bike with at least 50kg of towing behind me, I struggled. I got about 1/3 of the way up (past two kids who had also given up on their bikes!) and then I had to walk it up the remainder. Pushing the bike was probably just as painful as trying to cycle up the hill. But we eventually made it to the top (see picture) to find out the path that Komoot had planned didn't exist. So we had to go back down the hill, where we quickly discovered the bike's hydraulic rim breaks were NOT sufficient to slow the weight of the bike, trailer kids and my fat ass. "Wheeeeeee"I shouted as we zoomed down the hill (internally was a very different word.... "Sh*************t") to keep the kids excited.
Lesson learnt. Don't trust Komoot. Don't trust e-bikes not designed to haul large weights of cargo and start researching new cargo-bikes and routes better.
After all that, I decide
d to do a bit of research for various routes so I could plan trips and adventures more fully. I also realised that I definitely need to do a test run to their new school to find out what the roads are like to try and determine if it is doable on our current set up (clue: it's not) and what I need to get in order to manage the soon to be 10km mountain commute to school (and back).
What I have learnt is that, although I faced a massive challenge on the stupid hill, living life without a car is 100% possible for anyone who can cycle. My research has found a whole range of (albeit expensive) cargo-e-bikes that offer double the torque of Sabi's bike with up to 400% output (meaning whatever effort you put in, the motor can quadruple it) so that no hill will be a killer. I'll be investing in one soon and will give a full review of life once that is done.
For now, I leave you with the thought that cycling is a delight (no matter the weather) and you feel much more alive after cycling a trip you could have driven, than you ever would by driving it. Cheaper (long-term), healthier for you, healthier for kids and healthier for planet. I am loving exploring on a bike, a slower journey but 100% more fulfilling. Take care.
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