First off, using an ebike to commute really changes the game. While it takes us 12 minutes to drive to the grocery store from our house, it takes 15 to ride an ebike. And it’s a lot more fun!

We quickly learned that backpacks weren’t going to cut it for grocery shopping, so we invested in a great set of waterproof pannier bags from Ortlieb. With the ebike, we didn’t feel the weight of these bags even when fully loaded, which was pretty amazing.

Our major challenges came from the weather – not surprising in January/February in the Rocky Mountains. We learned that dressing for a training workout was NOT AT ALL the same as dressing for an ebike ride in 15 degree weather. However, after a few very chilly rides into town, we started wearing approximately double what we thought we would need and found it a lot more comfortable. Also, investing in PEARLiZUMi AMFib “lobster gloves” helped a lot for the frozen fingers.

Once we got these logistics figured out, however, grabbing the bike instead of the car keys became automatic and the pluses outweighed the minuses. While we probably won’t go fully car free any time soon (we travel a lot), we can easily see ourselves doing most of our errands by bike going forward. Since our challenge finished, we’ve settled on a balance where we shop occasionally by car to purchase heavy or bulk items, and do all small errands by bike. Overall, we are very glad we took on this challenge, as we proved to ourselves that we don’t need a car for errands, even during the worst weather of the year. Commuting by ebike in the summer is going to feel like a breeze by comparison.