No appointments on the calendar for 30 May 2023, so a spur-of-the-moment decision to do a solo ride from Oaxaca to Benito Juarez, a tiny village at an elevation of 2858 meters (9377 feet) in the Sierra Norte. The first part of the route was no challenge, as there is little altitude gain from Oaxaca to the weaving village of Teotitlan del Valle and the unpaved country roads are great fun. But from there it is a significant climb along a winding dirt road to Benito Juarez – 1180 meters (3871 feet) elevation gain in the space of 20.9 kilometers (13.0 miles). The ride was a test of a new Trek “Rail 5” e-bike – to see how the different power settings worked on a steady climb and to find out how long the battery would last. The bike performed admirably in all four power modes, but the battery drained quickly at the MTB and Turbo settings. The battery was fully charged at the start, showing five bars on the display. Running in the Eco mode from Oaxaca to the presa above Teotitlan – 29.5 kilometers (18.3 miles) – ran the battery down to four bars. On the climb to Benito Juarez, using the Tour mode most of the way, but kicking in the MTB and Turbo settings the last several kilometers, drained another three bars, leaving just one bar on the display for the trip home. That was not a concern, since it was a downhill run most of the way back to Oaxaca. The power was shut off for the screamer of a descent to Teotitlan. The motor was turned back on to the Eco setting in Teotitlan to see how long the charge would last on the final leg of the journey. The battery ran out of power approaching Santa Maria el Tule. So, all in all, a good test run. Total distance traveled: 95.6 kilometers (59.4 miles) / total elevation gain & loss: 1461 meters (4793 feet) / total elapsed time: 8 hours, 15 minutes. By the way, the battery was not the only thing that ran out of energy by the end of the ride . . . .
