Stress Testing the Ocean Drive Street E-Scooter

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Yesterday I had to drive from Nyon to Founex to do a favour for someone. Normally I would have used the car but it was in for a tire change. I was switching from winter to summer tires at last.

On the way to Founex I took farm roads as much as possible because they’re less likely to have cars, and I’m less likely to be in the way of those cars. The ride was easy. I used just one or two bars of power on the way out so I still had plenty of battery left. I then walked around, and then picked up a book about technical writing before riding home.

For the route home I went down to the lakeside and used the cycle lanes between Founex and Nyon. There was no traffic, but the cycling lane is still out of commission because of the Caribana so I was forced onto the road for a few hundred meters before going back onto the cycling lane and then through the Parking de Colovray, by the swimming poopl where people were waiting for the swimming pool to open.

In Nyon I stopped to film the waves breaking on the Jetée before heading up a very steep hill and that’s where the scooter battery really suffered. I went from three bars down to one, and the scooter that usually goes at 20km/h got down to 12 and I think even 8km/h before finally getting to the top of the hill. From here I saw that I was down to one bar and I got to the entrance to the village where I live before the battery finally died.

I had to walk the last four or five hundred metres, which is nothing.

## The Workout

Although people who ride e-scooters look like spring Asparagus as they ride from point A to Point B, despite the impression that they are being lazy, I found that the Apple watch counted that scooter ride as a workout. It wanted to count it as cycling but I refused. The increase in heart rate from that scooter ride still counted as being almost my day’s calorie burn requirement. If you use a scooter, rathre than a car, even an electric one, you will get a workout.

## Walk Up Steep Inclines

The moral of the story is simple. If you’re playing with an e-scooter and you come to a steep hill, and you feel it struggling, get off, and walk the rest of the way up that hill. You will save the battery, and will avoid having to walk the scooter on flat bits.

At the same time I now know how to discharge the battery with ease, if I want to power cycle it, for any reason. It’s rational that what takes a lot of energy for a cyclist to climb will take a lot of energy for an e-scooter to climb.

## Useful Bike Lanes

I appreciate having bike lanes when I’m on the e-scooter because I know that when I am in the bike lane I am where I am expected to be. On the road, with no lines I feel at risk, from cars that drive too close and too fast, but also from objects on the road. Drains, rocks, stones, dirt and more. I am always as aware as possible of the surroundings, not to be surprised by a car or other vehicle.

## And Finally

If not for the very steep climb from the Consérvatoire roundabout towards the Unia building the scooter would have comfortably covered the distance I wanted to cover. In fact, it did, even with the steep climb.

Ideally I would have a scooter that I can sit on, rather than stand on, but the difference in price is 3000 CHF or more. I like that the e-scooter is light enough to lift, and versatile. If I go to Geneva or another town I can carry it with me into the shops or trains, and then deploy and ride it once I’m done.