What? Bikepacking on an e-bike?

On an impulse buy a year or so ago, I bought a specialized CREO gravel e-bike. I was all against riding e-bikes because, well I thought that it wasn't as much of a workout. That can definitely be true, but I have found that I actually ride harder, because I want to go faster and I typically piddle around on a regular gravel bike and not get a great workout in.

We had a primarily gravel bikepacking trip planned for spring break this year called the Heart of Texas Two-Step. I have been riding and working out , but I have been having back and knee issues for a while and thought this would be the perfect adventure to try out the e-bike with a load. This is the perfect route for using an e-bike because there is power at every campground. The daily mileage ranges from 30-78 miles.

The bike had zero issues on this trip, even on the 78 mile day. Now, granted I did take it easy on the long days and even went a good while with no power assist to make sure I made it. I always had plenty of battery left at the end of the day. Most cyclist know that the roughest part of any ride is the last 10-20 miles, so with the extra battery at the end of they day, I got to actually enjoy it and go much faster and easier at the end. For those curious, the bike will go as fast loaded weighing 70-80 lbs as it does empty. We were taking turns pulling going into Blackwell at 28-30 MPH with loaded bikes. In my mind, that is crazy!

My back and knee did bother me still quite a bit and in reality, I'm not sure I would have physically been able to do this without the e-bike assist when I needed it.