The $0.03 Commute. . .

As I've mentioned many times, I worked out in the township (note for non-kingstonians -- Kingston is vaguely divided into a few sections, like New York or wherever, and I live on the north side of downtown, which is very old, like downtown; all the new stuff, i.e. the horrible box stores and the like, are out in the new areas of suburbia, a.k.a. the Township), and last winter I just drove the car. This spring, I ruined myself a few times and biked it.

A couple of weeks ago, I finally got my Ebike built. I wanted to have a picture gallery of the process, but the first time I tried, the motor didn't fit, and I got pissed, and the 2nd time I wasn't so hopeful and didn't take any pictures -- so, there are no pictures of the successful transformation.

How it works -- my front wheel has been replaced with an electric hub motor, which looks very much like a wheel, but has a large mental casing (oh, hell, just go to www.ebikes.ca for pictures) around the hub. This motor connects, via a little black box, to a battery mounted on the back. When I turn the throttle (attached to handlebars), it goes. How fast? Well, it's sort of like driving a car stuck in 3rd or 4th gear, the pick-up off the line could be better, but with very little pedaling help, you can average 30 km/h, which is damned quick on a bike without sweating. It tops out (on the flat) at around 40, 45km/h on the flat.

F.A.Q. --
1. how far will it go?
2. isn't that something for old people?
3. how much does it cost?
4. how much does it cost to charge?
5. really, can't you just bike?

F.A.Q.A.
1. It will travel 30 km on a charge. I've been doing my commute, 13.6 km round trip, at full throttle, and it's still got a lot in the tank when I get home.
2. This one pisses me off. I ride my normal non e-bike more than almost anyone I know, and generally, the person asking me has driven a car, possibly an S.U.V, to wherever they're asking me. The mind-set you need is that it's not a replacement for your bike, it's a replacement for your CAR.
3. I spent, with shipping and tax and everything, a little under $700 for all the parts.
4. It costs (depending on utility charges) about $0.10 to charge. That's it. One dime. In 30 km of riding, you'll probably pass one or two dropped dimes.
5. Damn it, yes, I can bike. I do bike! But getting to work sweaty and ruined, not to mention if I get a cold, or am injured, or am late, or it's windy, or whatever other shitty thing drives me to take my car instead of my bike, the structure of this sentence has broken down. I can take the Ebike and get to work refreshed, and happy. It costs me $0.03 to get to work. The bus is $2, my car would be around $5, and a cab would cost $20. The extra food I would have to eat to make up for the calories I burn biking there would cost $4-$5 and likely would've travelled to Kingston 1000 miles using gas transportation.

I really encourage anyone who has a medium distance commute (5-20 km) to consider this option. It's great for the world, it's great for you. If you want a workout, it's still a bike, and you can pedal as hard as you want, and if you're tired, you can just relax and get there. The bike will pay for itself in gas savings very quickly. I estimate I'll need about 100 commutes to break even in gas savings alone.

This blog entry isn't nearly as cohesive as I hoped, but I wanted to post something about ebikes, and if there are questions I haven't answered, please post in the comments and I'll respond. Or, shoot me an email at jayandthebarnflyz@hotmail.com.

The rock will return shortly.