Getting stabilised

With multiple sclerosis I treasure time I can spend doing things with my whole family, and my disability not being centre stage and dictating what is possible. Sadly, some 6 months ago I reluctantly concluded I was no longer safe on my lightly adapted, but otherwise standard, two wheel e-bike. I was fine when I was moving, but stopping and starting was becoming a lottery. I had the energy for only a few starts per ride and unexpected stops were becoming a danger. So, I needed more wheels, but how many? And where? And how? ​

This is very much my account of what I have done to my bike to make it a cycle I can use. What works for me may not work for everyone, but hopefully I can layout the logic of why I chose what I did and why it works for me.
 
First of all, me. I have multiple sclerosis. I’m now in the hinterland between the relapse-remitting and secondary progressive forms of the condition. I tire easily and my walking range has shrunk alarmingly. It is pretty much non existent now without sticks, and a few hundred metres on a good day with. A few too many falls when walking and a cracked rib or two have damaged my hitherto gung-ho confidence. Cycling has been a massive escape from this. I was never a committed cyclist before, just a regular utility cyclist – it is the quickest way to get around where I live. Disability has changed that. It is now the only way I can get around independently. Shifting to an e-bike early has enabled me to keep cycling and try some really amazing challenges.
 
Second, the bike. Well over 5 years ago, after much debate, I saved up and bought a front wheel motor gazelle e-bike as my primary commuting vehicle from my local bike shop, Cycle Heaven. Then, after its motor broke and gazelle stepped up, I was able to replace it, at cost, with a more advanced bike: a Chamonix t10 with a Bosch bottom bracket motor. With a bit of extra tinkering – ergo pedals, butterfly bars, new gearing and, most importantly so I could get my feet on the floor, an air pressure drop saddle. Cycle heaven have been amazing in providing the support for me to make these changes and adjust the bike as my condition has changed.
 
So, the choices. Extra wheels come in all manner of ways on a new bike. I could go delta trike, upright or recumbent, I could go tadpole, upright or recumbent, or something more exotic. The recumbent trikes I am familiar with, and they are superb machines, either as deltas (I had a go on a Hase) or as tadpoles (I had a go on an ICE trike). They were great, but with MS, gravity is really important to help you and you use subtly different muscle groups on a recumbent; I found it hard going. So, uprights. The problem with uprights is moving them around. They are big beasts. I have done many of my trips involving moving the bike both by train or by car. Moving an upright trike with a car either means a trailer, or one that folds, which would likely take up all the boot and I would be able to use independently. No more ferry trips unless I was to invest more money in a trailer. And I think we can quietly forget about trains. The more exotic options (such as quads) are even worse in this regard. 
 
I wanted to investigate stabilisers. I am rather attached to my bike and some of the price tags for a trike upgrade were a bit wince worthy. Initial investigations were not hopeful – the consensus on social media was clear: “Why have a rubbish trike?” and the first adult stabilisers I found were rigid and a bit industrial. I really was going to end up with no better than a crap trike, but with worse handling and no improvement on transport. 
 
But a bit more digging turned up some more recent stabilisers on the market. Firstly the model from EZ trainer, a Canadian company, looked great: sprung to ease the handling and removable, but alas, not compatible with a rack mounted rear battery. Then I came across some by a small company called Roodog; they had recently started fitting stabilisers to their own e-bikes. A large plate would be mounted on each side of the rear wheel and onto that a shocked, hinged arm would be added. This immediately appealed. By undoing a couple of bolts the arm could swing up so the bike could go on a standard e-bike rack. A couple more and they could be removed entirely. Better still they are not too far away, out near Hornsea. Holidays with the kids were back on!
 
A few phone calls later and I was on my way to Hornsea. Scott helpful fitted them to my bike while I waited and then it was time to give them a go. Frankly, I was awful. Obviously the MS contributed to my shaking like a leaf, jumping at every slight bump in the road and the unexplained lack of power in my legs, but other than that all was fine. I brought them back homewards and then started building my confidence on them. 

I’ll write more on my experiences later, but for now, it is enough to say they have been a roaring success. Coronavirus time they have been a marvel. I can do my daily exercise during lockdown without wondering what happen if I need to stop for a rest.
 
This blog is just to say stabilisers can work. They may not be the thing for you, but they have been for me.