What is cycling anyway?

Since motorizing an old Gary Fisher mountain bicycle with a GEBE kit I have come to some conclusions over 1600 plus miles of commuting on this "bicycle".
Number one on the list is the fact that in the beginning of this project I looked at a motor on a bike as a joke as far as training goes. In fact that is so very far from the truth its to be incomprehensible!
Is this cycling? Yes and in a big time way. Can one obtain a workout on a bike with a motor on it? I can say yes if one wants to power assist the motor as much as possible to get the best possible fuel economy!
This kit is a matter of man mixed with machine to pedal a bicycle. Its that simple. Its a great way to get around and its cheap to.
I went out riding with some of my cycling buddies on my Orbea high end road bike with no miles in on an actual pedal bicycle only motored bicycle miles and to my amazement I was incredibly fit after 5 weeks of motored biking and zero "real" pedaling miles!
I mean on the climbs where fitness matters I was killing my pals and dropping them! This is a huge deal as far as I am concerned. Its changed all of my training plans for ultra cycling for 2011!
Motored cycling is going to be in the mix for my training for my upcoming ultra events for 2011!
Many in the small cloistered ultra cycling community view mileage to be the holy grail. I view things differently! Fitness for cycling is the holy grail and how one comes to this is open to debate.
I personally believe that commuting with a power assist bicycle is a great asset in saving money and getting to work cheap along with getting some training value for any type of competitive cycling endeavors.
In the news about the professional cycling world there have been a number of athletes and teams that have been proven to have used performance enhancing drugs to get there victories in this difficult sport.
If you have never participated in any competitive cycling event you just do not understand just how hard this sport is at the tip of the spear and the fact that athletes will look to anything to gain just a slight advantage over there competitors and the willingness to risk all to win. This is the bottom line in all professional sports.
I am not making any judgement here on professional athletes just stating what I think are obvious facts of life in pro sports. And to my motorized biking activities and any ultra racing that I might do is that cheating to train on a power assisted bicycle? My ultra cycling pals would most assuredly say that this is a questionable activity at best and at worst cheating. You start the GEBE motor and you just motor down the road and if you pedal you get a workout if you don't you just go down the road without a sweat. It really is that simple as far as I am concerned.
I look at motored biking now as a legitimate workout regimen for an ultra cyclist.
This is all just personal observation and personal opinion about what sport is and what ultra cycling is as a sport and who decides what is training and what is not training. In my mind its what one does on race day that proves the efficacy of ones training regimen.

Kevin

There are two pictures of this GEBE strap mount. I had to put a large steel washer on to the frame to prevent the strap from hitting the derailleur. With out the washer the strap would not fit properly and hit the derailleur. I put one on each side of the strap. I hope that this will be a good solution. I saw little options with this frame set. I got 1600 miles out of an even worse set up!
The strap went on with little bending or flexing. The strap fits perfectly on to the axial. That steel washer is a little smaller than a half dollar coin equal on both sides. Well, I am open to any better mounts of this GEBE strap system!
The way I had the strap mounted before was only one side with a washer. It failed but I got near 1600 miles out of it. This looks balanced and mounted well but who knows for sure I don't...

Kevin

Motored biking and cycling are two different sports

Awhile ago my personal finances seemed to be at a stand still and maybe even going a bit backwards each year. I was maxed out on my career and simply gave up on that avenue for advancement. Instead I decided to live a simpler life. A cheaper life. And the simple automobile is an expensive proposition. Its estimated that it costs 50 cents per mile or more to operate a personal auto with insurance, fuel, maintenance, and loan payments.
So, I looked at my bicycle and a 67 mile commute. That was problematic for me not that I could not pedal that distance but the time for the ride and where to clean up when at work were problems. So I looked into a power assist system to get me to work. I looked over all the electrics and ruled them out. So I started to look at the simple internal combustion engine for my power assist needs and to my amazement discovered a rather interesting cycling culture. Can you call this cycling? Yes and no. These folks motorize traditional bicycles and some like them to look like little motorcycles. Some of these folks like me just want a power assist for there bike to ease a commute. Others want to pedal little to get where they are going.
So are these folks "cyclists" in the traditional sense? No! But in an American sense yes!
Power assisting a modern bicycle with a modern internal combustion engine that gets huge fuel economy just makes a lot of sense. The more one is willing to "assist" the better that fuel economy will be.
In this culture there is huge diversity of opinion on how best to do this!
I am a Ultra Cyclist on traditional bicycles. I mean the ones that you pedal. Very hard core folks that I hang with but at the end of the day 200 miles per galleon spikes just about anybodies interest! So in my most humble opinion these two activities are separate sports. To have a motor on a "real" bike is cheating but for utilitarian uses who cares if there is a power assist motor on that bicycle? I am heavily involved in ultra cycling yet plan on getting to work on a motored bicycle. I see no problem at all with this solution to my transportation needs. Many cyclists come to group rides in huge trucks pull out there bikes for a ride then head home in there huge trucks. I have no problem with this behavior its simply a thing that I can not afford nor care to afford anymore. Hey ride and drive what ya want. I am for whatever choice you want to make in this world.
After all getting to work and making money are all some of the most personal choices any of us will make in life.

Kevin