Help! Coast to Coast Trans Pennine Trail

[Barnsleyrob]

Has anyone successfully planned and travelled the Trans Pennine Trail (TPT) coast to coast on a reasonably priced e-bike ?

A recently retired mate has a bucket list item to do the TPT and as we usually do a weekend ride, makes sense for him to rope me in ! Both in our mid 60s and both have reasonably priced bikes with around 30 miles of range, possibly a bit more in warm weather with minimal climbs. That would give us a reasonable expectation to complete the full distance in about 6 days.

Given the bikes have around a 5 hour recharge time (empty to full) we would need to find places to recharge along the route as well as overnight stays that have secure lockup facilities for the bikes. Our preferred direction of travel would be West to East as matey has a caravan on the east coast.

A support vehicle with charging ability wouldn’t be available but we would manage a friendly RV a couple of times en route and carry reasonable spares to hopefully keep ourselves going.

Any help/routes would be most welcome.

 

[Barnsleyrob]

I should perhaps add that carrying a spare battery isn’t possible due to budget and availability.

 

[AndyBike]

Plan it ale house to ale house(with overnight accommodation). Plenty of time to charge the bike while relaxing at your leisure.

 

[matthewslack]

See if you can find a faster charger. Then your recharge at lunchtime in a cafe or pub will be worth more.

When I went from Shimano's default 1.8A EC8002 to the 4.6A EC8004 life improved a lot!

 

[matthewslack]

If you plan 30 miles a day, you'll probably find you have a lot of time spare in the day. So on the parts of the route where civilisation is close, if you plan for morning coffee, lunch and afternoon tea stops and use them all as potential charging stops, you can be a little more ambitious with the mileage. They don't all need to work out, but most do.

If you have plenty of battery left, you can have an easy life in high assistance levels, and 35 or 40 miles is still straightforward. Dedicate your first day to battery management and building a routine and much of any trepidation will be gone. Never pass up the possibility of a quick charge - keep charger and maybe a short extension lead with a 2 socket block really handy.

Walk in with your battery etc ready to plug in so they know you only need a standard socket, and get your charging agreed and started asap. Queuing and waiting are valuable charging time!

You don't need a big spares or toolkit, just do all the routine jobs before you go. You won't wear out brake pads in a couple of hundred miles unless they needed changing before you started! Oil your chain beforehand and you might not need to take the oil with you. Insulation tape and cable ties are versatile 'spares'. The most awkward problem I've had is a broken gear cable inner. For that I do now carry a spare.

There will always be someone who will help when needed just because a chat about electric bikes, especially on a multiday ride, is still interesting to many.

Kit-wise, waterproofs you can cycle in, waterproof extra layer over your battery even if only a bin bag, spare socks, and look after your seat!

Have a great adventure and tell us how it goes!

 

[Andy-Mat]

See if you can find a faster charger. Then your recharge at lunchtime in a cafe or pub will be worth more.

When I went from Shimano's default 1.8A EC8002 to the 4.6A EC8004 life improved a lot!

Faster chargers, do decrease the life of a battery. This has been well documented for some years, and cannot be recommended.
But even a partial charge over an extended lunch time pause, will possibly get most of the charge replaced, hopefully enough for a few hours biking before pausing overnight.....
Do make sure that the batteries are removed from the mains as soon as the charge light goes green, as leaving them connected has been shown to also reduce the life of a battery.
Furthermore, not being able to take a spare battery, which is of course by far the best option, though not cheap in many cases, means that if any of the batteries suddenly degrade while on the trip, that person will simply have to give up!!! Sad, but it needs to be planned for.....
Best wishes for what will be "the Trip of a lifetime" I am sure.
Regards
Andy

 

[matthewslack]

I would not be worried about the charge rate as even my smallest 11.6Ah battery is seeing less than 0.5C with my faster charger, but a proper quality charger is safer. How to tell though...

 

[Barnsleyrob]

Thanks all. It’s all useful stuff to consider during planning which is most likely some time next year. Hopefully a few pubs will still be open by then.