I bought my ebike with one goal in mind: being able to ride to my favorite beach, el Saltito. After about five months of ownership and thinking about trying it out, I finally got to it.
My Keteles K8 took me to the beach and back to my home without completely draining the battery. Unfortunately, it took me longer, and I was more tired afterward than I had hoped.
Looking back, I didn’t give this first attempt my best effort, and there are things I can do to make it more successful. Keep reading to hear how it went and how I will improve it next time.
Why Playa El Saltito?
El Saltito is about a half hour from centro La Paz, but you have to get there by a pretty knarly sand road. My little honda makes it there, and plenty of other little pos’s do, but it doesn’t like it and I always feel like I’m going to break my car when returning.
I love this beach because it has deep water for swimming, an island and sea rock to look at, extensive coral, and an awesome choose your height cliff jump! It gets surprisingly crowded for the rustic road, but it’s a fantastic beach and super close to the city.
Also, the paved part of the road to get there is one of the best in the world. With stunning views, and impeccable condition, until it abruptly ends and turns into soft, steep sand two KM from the beach.
Can You Ride An Ebike To Playa El Saltito?
Yes! It’s an amazing ebike ride, but the hills are pretty huge and you need to help your ebike to not overheat or use all it’s juice.
I have a 20 amp-hour battery, and I used most of my capacity with a lot of pedalling that made me tired when I got home. For future rides, I’m going to find the best route to make the playa more accessible.
Which Route Did I Choose?
This ride started on a whim, I wasn’t sure I wanted to make it to El Saltito becuase I left late in the day, around three in the afternoon. It was super hot(duh), so I went on the carretera escenaria so I could have a swim before tackling the big hills.
Also, I stopped at the repsol and bought a six-pack of beer, because I thought I was just going to a close by beach to chill. Well, you know, I swam off the ciclovia, and then decided I should just go to Saltito, por que no?
Oh yeah, I didn’t have too much water either. So I rode up the steep hill by the stupid golf course, then up the hill of the trucker highway and turned past the Mordor electrical generation plant on the beautiful highway to the beaches. On the way back I went through the sandy road neighborhoods and around to 5 de Mayo, which is certainly nicer becuase there is no traffic.
How Was The Ride There?
Except for the advantage of being able to swim at the start of the route, it’s not so good. You have to go over the big hill by the golf course, and then the big hill with semi-remolques from the ferry, not too fun.
The highlight of this section was finding an oxxo floppy cooler on the side of the road! Total score, it was in good shape. Once off that highway it is pretty nice because there is no traffic and it’s beautiful.
There are lots of side roads I want to explore. You have to ride two more big, paved hills but they are awesome looking and not too difficult, especially with help from the motor but you have to pedal or it could overheat I imagine and you need to save battery for the way back.
The Sandy Section
Wuuujuuuu this was super fun riding down! You go super fast and the K8, with beefy tires and suspension makes it comfy. My brakes were good enough and the road is wide.
Coming back up wasn’t bad at all. I let a Toyota Tacoma type awesome beach adventure truck pass me, but they ended up taking it super easy and I had to slow down not to pass them. I felt pretty cool about that.
I made it to the pavement again without a problem, but I think somewhere near the top it overheated and shut down, but I was able to continue pedalling and restart the system after a few minutes to get the power back.
Returning In The Night
This trip started too late and I rode home in the dark. Yes, it’s probably dangerous because for sure people drive home from the beach drunk.
But I was pretty comfy with the nice lights on the K8 and it was not too hot! After the highway to the playas I went through the sandy roads through some of the most rustic neighborhoods of the city.
It was pretty damn dark for a long while with one or two ranchos and a straight rode that I was doing 30 km on, feeling tired and ready to be home and drink water. Soon enough I came to the lights of the city and I only worried a little that my battery was running low.
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