By: Catherine Kelly, Rad Power Bikes enthusiast + sustainability lecturer

After years of commuting by car to London to lecture at the University of Greenwich, I suddenly felt very hypocritical about my choice of transportation when I got a new job as a Senior Lecturer teaching sustainability at the University of Brighton in September of 2021. 

How could I ask my students to question their sustainable behaviors at the same time I was using one of the biggest contributors of greenhouse gas emissions to travel to university? The short answer: I couldn’t. 

I thought back to when my sister visited me in East Sussex from London with her RadRunner Plus ebike. I had a ride on it and thought it was so much fun, and I couldn’t believe how fast and easy it was. When I got my job in Brighton I thought: This is the way to travel now! So I sold my car and bought myself a RadRunner utility ebike. And I’m never looking back!

While I mainly use my ebike to commute to work, I also take my 10-year old son to school and back every day using the passenger seat as a fun, clean, green way to bond. It’s so much better, faster, cleaner and easier than driving! We get to enjoy time together on “Zippy,” chatting all along the way, and we both love whizzing past everyone fighting over parking spaces.

I also love biking to the beach to go swimming or cycling to work along the Brighton seafront. It’s so beautiful, I often find myself stopping to take photos and can’t believe my luck that I’ve found such a great way to get around. When I was driving my car, I never noticed the view – I was too busy trying to beat the next red light. Now with the ebike, I’m in the fresh air and show up at my destination feeling serene. 

My favourite feature of the RadRunner is the Twist Power Assist (often mistaken for a throttle)! It lets me get away from the traffic at lights faster and safely make a crossing because I know I can time it properly. And unlike dealing with ever-changing traffic and unpredictable trains, I know exactly how long my commutes will take, down to the minute. 

While I’m not a material person in the slightest, I can honestly say that my RadRunner is my favourite possession. It has changed my relationship with the space I live in on a daily basis. My RadRunner symbolises freedom, fun and also certainty. And I have no stress over parking. The ebike also brings me back into my body – the air, looking at the sea as I cycle to work; feeling part of it, not just an observer. What else can I say? I just really love it. 

Teaching sustainability, it’s important for me to live my values and practice what I preach to others. My Rad Power Bike allows me to do that and enhances my life in so many ways. If you’re toying with the idea of getting an ebike yourself…do it immediately and you won’t look back.