Exploring Finland | The Implausible Bike Challenge

This video features the Himiway Cobra. If you’d like to find out more about this bike, or others in their range, then follow the below links.
US: https://himiwaybike.com/MossyBottom
UK: https://uk.himiwaybike.com/MossyBottom

I’m on a mission to save money and become more self-sufficient. I currently spend €60 per week on fuel driving my daughter to pre-school and back. It’s a one-hour round trip, down ice-covered country roads, with two ferry rides. Could the ultimate off-road e-bike offer a solution?

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Hello everyone and welcome back to Mossy bottom or should that be Mossy bottom meets Top Gear if Top Gear featured electric bikes that is which it never would but still I’m about to set off on a vehicular challenge of sorts uh which I bet you never expected to see on this

Channel I’ve set this challenge for myself for some very important reasons which I will talk more about in a moment first what is the challenge well as you all know I live with Angela my partner and Juno our daughter in a remote region here in the southwest of Finland the

Nearest food shop is a 47 km roundtrip going up and down Hills on country roads which takes me about 50 minutes in the car assuming that is that the road is even drivable which sometimes in the winter it isn’t my daughter also attends pacotti 5 days a week that’s the Finish preschool

On Nursery which is is a 32 km round trip in the opposite direction and that route includes a ferry because we are on an island here so it takes about an hour by car to get there and back if I time the ferry correctly that is and don’t

Miss it I do that drive uh twice a day to drop Juno off and then collect her again five days a week Monday to Friday we have a secondhand SUV a dats a duster and I’m currently spending about € a day on fuel for that Journey petrol ain’t cheap here in

Finland now since November the roads have been covered in snow and ice Thor and then refreezing turning to slush and then ice again one day with 20 cm of fresh snow the next this is not a city so they’re not plowed or gritted regularly in fact I’ve never seen these

Roads gritted all they do is put sand down and that makes Drive driving conditions pretty damn tough both for driver and car in Winter you don’t see many cars around here that aren’t four-wheel drive which got me thinking how would a onewheel drive vehicle fair this is the himay Cobra the

Harleydavidson of electric bikes or so I’ve read and today I’m going to attempt to ride the same route that I normally drive a round trip to my daughters pacotti and back up and down snow and ice covered Country Roads including two Ferry Journeys and negotiating a bucket

Load of steep hills ditches and black ice on the way because it really is the middle of winter right now despite all this beautiful sunshine this really is rural Finland and the temperature right now really is minus 14° C and yes I know it’s much colder in Canada and you folks

Like to sunbath at minus 14 thanks for all the lovely comments but for most people including me these conditions despite the sun are definitely a challenge oh and I’m also going to be pulling a loaded trailer behind the bike more on that to come and to make things

A bit more spicy I’ve never actually ridden this bike before it’s brand new or in fact any electric bike and I’ve somehow got to film all this with one tin camera my GoPro while I’m doing it because I want to show you all just how breathtaking this area of Southwest

Finland really is even in the dead of winter that is the challenge right it’s all down to the GoPro now folks Got My Sunglasses cuz it’s very bright and the snow reflects light too got my winter gloves which have batteries in to make them extra toasty and yes I’ve even got a woolly

Hat 100% wool so I’m going to put the Hat on first to protect my ears uh and then I’m going to put this on top of it which is how I’m going to attempt to film this is a little head attachment which you attach the camera into and

Whether or not it’s going to work I really don’t know but I don’t fancy holding this camera while I ride the bike for the first time ever at least not while I’m trying to figure out the controls so we’re going to make use of this unfortunately I only

Have one GoPro it would have been nice to put one on the bike pointing at me and another one pointing forward but well budgetary limitations I’m afraid folks so I’m just going to have to move this one around as I go let’s see how it looks the gloves will be the last last

Thing I put on first I’m going to strap in my trailer make sure that’s all nice and safe bike trailers are really amazing things and if you get one like this uh for kids then you can also use it for shopping pets anything else really very versatile right turning the gloves on

65° please 64 it’s not warm enough 65 please there we go very nice so first things first turn on the bike now this is a steep hill so we’re going to start by using the throttle oh wow okay now I’m going to start pedaling increase the pedal ass

Setting holy moly that’s got some wow that’s got some power oh that’s nice you definitely still have to Pedal it doesn’t do everything for you but it kind of matches what you put into it I guess that must be kind of what riding a tandem feels like I’ve never

Tried but it feels like there’s an extra person and for every turn of the pedal you do they do one too so it’s half the effort have to remind myself as well right now that I’m pulling not just my own body weight what’s that 80 kilos or something but

Another 40 kilos nearly of of ballast on the back uh all my clothes and everything too So how did this idea come about well as you folks know by now my Mantra and mission in life is to be as self-sufficient as I can I no longer have a regular 9 to-5 job but I did for over a decade and was pretty miserable

Doing it so I decided about 7 years ago to prioritize time as a resource over money money is a tool time is a gift and one which we can’t earn more of or get back when it’s gone so I wanted to spend it doing the things which I personally

Found most fulfilling and that meant taking control of the essential processes of Life Food Water Shelter fuel heat and even transportation by becoming more self-sufficient in these processes I could greatly reduce the need for money and create my own little world at the same time which I dreamt of

Doing for decades and succeeded at in Ireland over the course of 7 years I got to about 60% self-sufficient meaning broadly I needed 60% less money to thrive and there are so many videos about my life there growing food keeping animals harvesting firewood renovating buildings you name it if anyone wants to

Delve into them in Finland where we live now I want to match or even increase that percentage and believe it or not this bike is part of that strategy now I’m very aware that most people buy electric bikes purely as Leisure vehicles to pole about on in

Parks and along promenades in the middle of summer or stick on the back of their camper van and there’s nothing wrong with that I certainly plan to use this bike to explore the many Forest tracks and Coastal paths in the archipelago where I now live but and it’s a big but

Leisure is not why I wanted an electric bike I wanted an electric bike for two main reasons firstly as a backup to my one car should it break down for a short period or if there are supply issues with fuel so I can still get to that

Food shop and back secondly I wanted a way to reduce my weekly fuel cost for the car which is currently around the €60 Mark per week I figured if I could transport my daughter to pacotti preschool and back by electric bike just two days a week

Two days out of five that would be almost €1 a month saved on petrol and let’s face it if that journey is achievable today in the coldest month of the year when it’s -4 with black ice and snow drifts on the road then there is no excuse for not doing it any other

Month I do plan to get solar panels very soon for the house meaning for a large part of the year the electricity which this bike uses which is very little by the way will be free hence the saving but why not just buy an electric car I hear you cry well this lifestyle

And location me means we need a car that can pull a trailer and while there are electric vehicles which are rated to toe they are just way out of our price range right now the older electric cars though more affordable tend to be City cars the Nissan Leaf generation which are not

Rated to toe meaning if you do fit a toe bar which you can and pull anything then you void your insurance and we didn’t want to do that so we’re stuck with a petrol car right now because it can tow and is relatively cheap secondhand until the newer electric SUVs significantly drop in

Price so I hatched a plan I wanted an electric bike I did my research and contacted the marketing team at himay who are known for making bikes with Incredible range they’ve been around a long time uh in the electric bike Market at least and that’s kind of their Niche

Long range bikes I proposed a sponsored video which this is and there’ll be a segment shortly in which I talk about the techy features of this bike and where you can get one yourself should you wish to but I also told them where I live and that’s when things got

Interesting it’s the middle of winter I said and I need a bike that can handle snow and ice on very steep dirt and gravel roads and off-road too when riding through the forest oh and it needs to be a a Workhorse because I also want to pull a trailer full of weight

And it needs to do at least 50 km in those conditions pulling weight on a single charge even if the temperature is 10 or 20° below freezing and a few weeks later the himay Cobra arrived on my doorstep as I said I’ve never owned or even ridden an electric bike before but

I am an experienced cyclist I’ve been riding bikes all my life including commuting on one to work for over a decade two years of which was through the streets of central Paris and if you can survive that then you can definitely survive ryal Finland there’s just no traffic here at

All I’ve also pulled a bike trailer extensively behind my regular road bikes so I do consider myself a pretty confident and experienced rider which begs the question why not just do this journey on a good old push bike and anyone who does a 30 km plus commu

To work up and down hilly roads pulling 30 kg of extra weight will already know the answer to that question unless they happen to have legs like Chris Hoy that is basically I don’t want to be bedridden the next day while my poor quadriceps recover because a ride like

That is just so hard on the leg muscles and that’s where I’m hoping the ebikes electric motor becomes a lifesaver at least a leg saver okay to GoPro battery number two this time I’m going to attach it to a different location on the bike so you can enjoy my facial

Expressions as I ride lucky people my hands are toasty warm in these gloves genuinely let’s go you start with the throttle itself P having ridden bike bikes all my life I’m just so not used to that feeling have a motor kicking in and shoving you along as you get going it’s

It’s unreal you really notice it most when you’re setting out gosh this road is terrible so much ice so the sponsored bit a huge thank you to him away for sending me this ebike I am very aware what a lucky bugger I am because I would never have been able to afford this

Myself this video is not however a review of the Cobra you’ll find many of those out there on YouTube by professional and amateur cyclists alike but I am going to talk about the features which really make this bike stand out to me this is definitely not your run-of-the-mill electric bike it has 4.8

In wide mountain bike tires giving it unparalleled stability on loose ground like mud gravel and of course snow with ice underneath it it has front and rear air suspension making it a very comfortable ride it has a 750 W Motor with power to spare and a 960w Samsung battery boasting an 80 M

Range that’s 128 km in theory and that phenomenal range really is what himay are best known for it’s even in their tagline it has a top pedal assist speed of about 25 mph that’s 40 km hour though you could technically ride FAS if you are brave enough it also boasts a

400b payload capacity that means it can carry up to 181 kg in weight which is probably why himay described the Cobra as the ultimate off-road Beast or on-road cruiser as do a great many of those reviews which I’d encourage you to have a look at independently if you are

On the market for an electric bike this bike was sent to me from from him’s Warehouse in Germany but they also have websites and distribute from the UK uh the US Canada France the Netherlands uh and loads of other countries so unless you live in Antarctica there’s a

Pretty good chance you could get your hands on one of these at least if they have them in stock I know there has been a lot of demand especially for this particular model if you would like to find out more about the himay Cobra or purchase one

Yourself then you will find a link at the top of the description of this video in which you can do just that go take a look now we’re pulling up to the ferry try and get the shot off for You So back to the challenge even though I’m riding to my daughter’s preschool and back I’m not taking her in the trailer today because well it’s a Sunday for one and because I’m not crazy enough to do this without first having a trial run so instead of

Juno I’ve added 15 kilg of ballast to the trailer in the form of bags full of stuff mostly camera gear which which would be Juno plus some bucks or shopping and the trailer of course which we bought here secondhand a few months ago weighs 19 kg so in total I’m pulling

34 kg in addition to my own body weight and I should add at this point that I’m recording this narrative prior to setting out on the journey I genuinely have no idea as I stand here recording this outside my house how the bike or I will fare on this journey

So what you’re seeing and what you’re hearing may tell two very different stories I hope not cross the ferry and we’re off now to the picotti let’s see how long and how hard this takes to the highest pedal assist mode who there we go high yeah this is all uphill this part

Who you really feel the motor most in the highest gear in the highest pedal assist mode in 27 up this hill pulling this trailer I am having to work a bit though I wouldn’t say it’s quadricep destroying but it’s harder work than the rest of the journey was

Definitely no loss of traction at all though which is great and Incredibly I’m still at full battery that’s unreal full battery and if folks you doubt what I’m saying about these roads being black ice just take a look at this that is just slick slick ice all the way down the

Road some of you might be wondering why Angela and I send our daughter to preschool at all she’s obviously not school age yet and even if she was homeschooling is legal here in Finland so why not save the entire weekly fuel cost and educate her at home and the

Answer simply is it having just moved to a new country in which a different language is spoken I think it’s incredibly important that Juno has the opportunity to learn that language from native speakers while she’s still incredibly young and to socialize and make friends at the same time she only

Attends for 4 hours a day so for her it’s an adventure right now and although I’m an introvert I don’t want to deny my daughter and partner who’s an extrovert the opportunity to find the same fulfillment in living here that I do and that means making compromises and

Concessions that’s not to say by the way that I think homeschooling is wrong I don’t and in my year of volunteering in Canada I stayed with families that homeschooled in which I thought they did a phenomenal job I just think whether it works or doesn’t is very much dependent

On your situation the personality of your child too their social needs and wants and how much you’re able to provide at home we’ve already made friends with some of the other parents at the pacotti here from which we’ve arranged play dates and trips to the swimming pool which would have otherwise been

Difficult without that connection because being new here we don’t have a social network in Finland yet so yes keeping my daughter at home might save Me 2 hours driving a day and a wad of cash every year but some things are worth the time and money and I think a

Contented family is definitely one of them so I made it to the pyoc cotti folks this would normally be a 30-minute Drive including the ferry which is about 10 minutes and uh this ride took me 43 minutes on the bike now admittedly that’s partly because there’s no highways around here it’s all country

Roads which you can’t drive on quickly anyway but I am really pleased for that and I’m no worse for it apart from a running nose uh yeah I feel great tiny bit of a cardio workout on the uphill par uh but compared to riding a non-electric

Bike I just don’t feel tired at all it’s not the same anyone who wondered what all that snow on my beard was in the uh coldest winter video well when it’s this cold even though it’s not snowing the moisture in the air literally freezes onto your hair um Angela my partner’s got black

Hair and uh when she’s out in these conditions her hair basically turns white and it makes her look about 20 years older which she loves for me it’s the beard that gets it so time to ride back made it to the PIP cuty in really

Good time 43 minutes if I can do 45 back then that would mean what is normally a 1 hour journey by car has only taken me 50% more about 90 minutes by bike which is unbelievable considering the weight that I’m pulling with this thing let’s see how we

Go I’ve noticed to get the most out of the motor you really have to match your gear to the conditions you can’t have a a poor Cadence you have to keep your Cadence or the turn speed of the pedals quite High to keep the the motor really working hard if you

Drop the Cadence cuz you’re in too high of gear then the motor doesn’t give you as much I don’t know if that’s true of all electric bikes cuz I’ve never ridden an electric bike before today but I’m learning as I go okay folks I’ve stopped halfway between the ferry on the

Way back and my house I just wanted to take a moment to enjoy the view and show you quite how magical this placees cuz I’m not sure if the GoPro is really catching that as I ride around it’s just absolutely breathtaking this place even in the dead of winter it

Feels bright and alive and crisp full of magic someone gave me a great tip and that’s when driving on ice and snow always try and position your tires on the white part part that doesn’t look shiny or black because of course you got a better grip there and I think that’s just as

True on a bike as it is in a car it’s tempting to to ride or drive on the tire marks left by other vehicles but those tend to be the Slick Parts which are most dangerous so I’m trying to stick to the white [Applause] bits it’s working W Almost Home Folks So what have I learned today well I’ve learned that electric bikes are bloody brilliant and I honestly wish I’d had one a lot sooner I’ve been riding all my life and I love nothing more than getting out in nature in the fresh air but this it just takes all the

Unpleasantness out of cycling I’m not sweating at all my legs aren’t burnt out despite getting a bit of a workout and that was Towing 34 kg of weight which would easily for us have been a week’s shopping if it wasn’t for the fact that it’s getting dark now I could honestly

Do that whole ride again uh because there is something about that surge of power that is really quite addictive and unexpected I have to say the battery Co flawlessly with the minus 14° uh conditions I was kind of expecting to have problems with that um but there’s

No evidence of it it’s on 80% charge right now which is incredible uh that’s after about 35 km of riding and if that is accurate I am a bit skeptical then it means I could go there and back again twice in a day on a single charge

Incredible uh the tires didn’t lose grip once on the road despite they being real black ice in places though I have to admit I slowed down in those areas and stuck to the snow and I was very careful with the steering I kind of have experience of that from uh regular push

Bikes um I don’t want to pretend that it’s not dangerous because it certainly can be even on a bike with tires like this uh the motor had power to spare there’s no doubt about it though you do of course have to keep pedaling and the harder you pedal the harder it works

It’s kind of like walking an excitable puppy which matches your pace uh so it’s definitely not just an electric motorbike uh what this bike definitely is is a cruiser it’s so stable the suspension and padded seat make it feel like you’re riding around on an armchair at times but personally I wouldn’t use

It for for downhill mountain biking it’s just that bit too heavy I think it really is the Harley-Davidson of electric bikes designed for safely commuting long distances or just cruising uphill and down Dale wherever you happen to live will I be using this ebike to take my daughter to

Preschool absolutely I think saving €1 a month on fuel is now a realistic Target for us uh I might even save that money up and buy another one of these for Angela so we can get out uh on the forest tracks together and that is just about it for

This video folks thank you again to himay for sending me this amazing bike and thank you to you for watching this video if you would like to support this channel then consider joining us on patreon uh for extra content and monthly blogs posted by Angela my partner

Revealing all the things which I dare not speaking of which in the next video get ready to meet the newest four-legged member of our family I can’t wait to make that one right now though time to go buy some helmets I can see the comments already what was I Thinking Oh Oh Go