Cycling to a park a little far away / 少し遠くの公園まで🚴(English&Japanese)

（日本語は後半にあります）

【English】

Today my sons begged me to go to a green park a little ways from our house. They wanted to play with the roller skates they each got for their birthdays or Christmas last year, but there is no good park in our neighborhood.

To be honest I was not too keen on it. The park is rather far from our house, but I would have to use my husband's bicycle to take our 5-year-old son there. My favorite bike, Vivi L by Panasonic, does not have a child seat.

Although my husband's bicycle, like mine, is electrically assisted, it is somewhat less powerful than mine. My Vivi L's electric power assist is quite powerful, and a little force on the pedals gives it a lot of boost! Perhaps because of this, the assist on my husband's Bridgestone bicycle seems unreliable. Also, the battery life is not very good, so I have to worry that it will run out halfway through the ride.

According to my research on the Internet, the battery life of an electrically power assisted bicycle is generally 3 to 5 years. In terms of the number of times it is recharged, it is about 700 times. However, it seems that the life of the battery varies considerably depending on how the battery is charged and how the bicycle is ridden. For example, they say that it is possible to extend the life of the battery by reducing the number of times it is charged (but it is not good to empty the battery completely) and by making sure to inflate the tires frequently. I don't know exactly why the battery life of my husband's bicycle is so poor, but it may be because of the load put on the bicycle by carrying our second son (who is quite large for a toddler). The air in the rear wheel also goes out quickly… I expect to replace the batteries within a year or two, and I would like to pay a little more attention to these things after that😅

By the way, this bicycle of my husband, to my surprise, he got it for free. In the fall of the year before last, he dropped by a pachinko hall on his way home from work, where a fan appreciation event was being held. As a result of winning a jackpot in a raffle recommended by the clerk, he was able to get this bicycle! He's always been lucky.

Well, it was around noon when we arrived at the park and it was already full of people. Some were eating lunch under the cherry blossoms, some were playing badminton, some were walking their dogs, some were taking pictures of their children with their expensive cameras.... Everyone seemed to be enjoying spring in their own way. My sons played with roller skates at first, but my second son got bored first and started running in circles along the paths in the park. 1 lap is 500 meters, and they must have gotten quite a workout because they ran 4 or 5 laps.

After a while, two of them said they were thirsty, so I cycled again to a nearby convenience store. Then I bought some tea and some bread. The bill was exactly 1,000 yen. I enjoyed eating a sweet bean margarine cobbler.

Even though I was not in the mood to go out at first, it was a good exercise and I could see beautiful cherry blossoms even though they were almost over!

Thanks for reading😊

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【Japanese】

今日は子どもたちにせがまれ、家から少し離れた緑地公園まで行ってきました。去年の誕生日やクリスマスにそれぞれ手に入れたローラースケートで遊びたかったらしいのですが、近所にはちょうど良い公園がないのです。

正直なところ私はあまり気が進まず…　というのも、その公園はやや遠く家からは自転車の距離です。私のお気に入りの自転車、Panasonicのビビ・Lには子ども乗せがつけられないため、次男を連れて行くには夫の自転車で行かなければなりません。

夫の自転車は私のと同じく電動アシスト付自転車ではあるものの、ビビ・Lと比べるとややパワーに欠けます。ビビ・Lの電動アシストはかなりパワフルで、ペダルに少し力を加えただけで「バビューン！」と勢いが出ます。そのせいか、夫のブリヂストン・アシスタのアシストがどうしても控えめに感じられてしまうんですよね。。またバッテリーのもちもあまり良くありません… Panasonicが優秀なのかな。

調べたところ、一般的に電動アシスト付き自転車のバッテリーの寿命は3〜5年だそうです。充電回数でいえば、700回程度。しかし充電の仕方や自転車の乗り方によっても寿命はかなり変わるらしく、例えば充電回数を減らしたり（でも完全に空にはしない）、タイヤの空気をマメに入れるなど、工夫することで寿命を延ばすことができるとのこと。夫の自転車のバッテリーの持ちが悪い理由はハッキリとは分かりませんが、次男（重い）を乗せることで負担が掛かっているのかもしれません。後輪の空気もすぐに抜けてしまうし…。

おそらく1～2年のうちにバッテリーを交換しなくてはならないと思うので、次は最初からこうしたことにももう少し気を遣って乗りたいです😅

ちなみに夫のこの自転車は、彼が何と無料で手に入れたものです。一昨年の秋、仕事帰りにパチンコホールに寄ったところ、ファン感謝祭を開催中で・・・たまたまひいた引いたくじが大当たりしたらしいのです。貰ったカタログギフトから、この自転車を注文しました。買えば10万円以上はするはずなので、ほんとラッキー男で羨ましい（無料のものにあまり文句を言ってはいけないですね😂）

さて、公園に着いたのは昼頃で、すでに人がいっぱいでした。舞い散る桜の下でお弁当を食べる人、バドミントンをする人、犬の散歩をする人、高そうなカメラで子どもの写真を撮る人・・・などなど。皆それぞれ、春を楽しんでいる様子です。息子たちは最初はローラースケートで遊んでいましたが、次男が先に飽き、公園内の道をぐるぐると走り始めました。1周が500m、4〜5周は走っていたので、かなりの運動になったのではないでしょうか。

途中、喉が渇いたというのでコンビニまで再び自転車を走らせ、お茶とパンを買いました。会計はピッタリ1,000円。あんマーガリンのコッペパンを美味しく食べました。当初気乗りがしなかったとはいえ、良い運動になったし、終わりかけとはいえ綺麗な桜も見ることができたので、行ってよかったんだろうな。

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