[SustainableTompkins] Making Way For Bikes

[James Hogg]

Hi Eric,

I am all for more bike trails and bike/ped. only roads. But electric  
bikes will no way go up our hills around here. I really wanted an  
electric bike and researched them a couple of years ago. At one point  
I called the Bike Rack to see if they sold them. The guy I talked to  
said they wouldn't go up Buffalo Street. I wasn't convinced. I found  
an electric bike dealer in Lawrence Kansas and since I had lived  
there before I was familiar with the hill that goes up 14th street to  
KU's campus. I asked if the bike could go up that. The answer was not  
without peddling. 14th street hill is about 1/4 to 1/5 of the size of  
the hills we have around here. There were bikes with the most  
powerful battery packs of 36v or 48v.

I ended up buying a Kymco 50cc moped. It still burns gasoline, and 2  
cycle oil, but I use about a gallon of gas every two weeks going up  
and down East Hill and South Hill, going 30 mph.

But then winter happens.

Jim

On Dec 18, 2007, at 1:34 PM, Eric Banford wrote:

> This youtube channel (Peak Moment) has lots of inspiring videos,  
> this one would be GREAT to apply to Ithaca:
>
>
> http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yVDG4GbU4o8
>
>
> These electric bikes can "flatten Ithaca", in a sense. Though we  
> still have to deal with winter weather, it would go a long way to  
> making us less oil dependent. We've already got trails running in  
> many directions, a few key cross roads downtown in each directions,  
> closed to cars and open to bikes and pedestrians, and off we go. I  
> know this has been kicked around before, the need for this is  
> becoming more and more immediate. Maybe Port  Townshend can be a  
> model for where we can take this.
>
> Thoughts?
> Eric
>
>
>
>
>
>        
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