Television journalist, adventurer, environmentalist and national treasure, Ómar Ragnarsson, will set off tomorrow (Tuesday) trying to break the Icelandic record for the longest trip made on an electric bicycle on a single charge. He plans to make it all the way from Akureyri to Reykjavík.
Ómar, 74, has been speaking about his latest adventure on Facebook. He says the adventure has been named Operation Energy Shift and has been in preparation for six months.
“I will cycle on the electric bike Sörla, which the electrical engineer Gísli Sigurgeirsson owns and equipped, but until now, the bike called Náttfari has been used most in practices,” Ómar says.
RÚV reports that the trip could actually break five Icelandic records: the longest distance traveled by an electric bike on a single charge, using electrical power only and not changing batteries; the longest distance traveled by an electric bike on a single charge, using electrical power only, not changing batteries and doing so non-stop; the longest distance traveled by an electric bike in a single day, on one charge and without changing batteries; the first trip by an electric bike using electric power only between Akureyri and Reykjavík; and the cheapest ever energy consumption by a powered vehicle in a single trip between Akureyri and Reykjavík.
Ómar made a test run last month from Akureyri, but he did not make it far, as the motor overheated and died on a steep incline towards the Öxnadalsheiði mountain pass. However, the motor was not ruined and lessons were learnt.
We wish Ómar the best of luck!
