It’s Electric!

No, not the song but the bike. The spring Bike Expo is over. What first caught our attention was the electric bike by the Swiss company Legacy E-Ride. Priced at $2,850 it has a rechargeable battery with a three year life span. Replacement batteries are $450. Not priced to compete with a used motorcycle or a scouter, but you get a new bike and you don’t have to worry about licensing beyond your basic bike license, it has plenty of range for commuting (20 miles at 20mph? without peddling) and it is far more versatile as to where it can travel; good clearance and it’s a bicycle. If you run out of juice, peddle it home. This is a real development for commuting by bike as you can avoid working up a sweat on the way to work. But the weather is still the big issue. The sales person said I could use their photos.

Then you have the electric bike trailer patent pending. Available for rent from the Rollout Trailers  out of Green Bay, Wisconsin. Get your money back by keeping a travel log. It is designed to accommodate any roof rack accessory.

Touring trails were well represented at the Expo. Bike the Blast claimed a 90% trail route from La Cross to Milwaukee. And the Ozaukee Interurban Trail also had a booth. A great enhancement of the trail is that it now extends four miles into Sheboygan County where you can catch much more bike friendly roadways than were available at the county line. Copper Harbor had a booth. The remote UP (Michigan Upper Peninsula for our foreign and California readers) haven is becoming a popular adventure destination for mountain bikers among others.

This fitness guru also had a prominent booth. But Metro Mountain Bikers was tucked away in the corner of Milwaukee County’s booth. We actually couldn’t find them but found out where they were at last nights meeting. Way to go Metro! The Metro social ride is April 28th.

Being right off the Hank Aaron Trail I will make it a project to ride all the recommended connections to the Ozaukee Interurban and perhaps find an acceptable more direct route through Milwaukee, going north rather than east to the lake first. When I went by bike to Sheboygan some years ago I planned a direct route through some rough neighborhoods. It wasn’t a problem as it was very early in the morning. I just got a new wheel for my mountain bike from Emery’s. Also had my beech bike wheels straightened. Time to get in some serious riding. Will see if I can get my mountain bike into prime shape on my own.

The mountain bikes did not seem to sell the best at the Bike Expo. My model of Trek is now very high end compared to what I bought ten years or so ago. Disk breaks are now standard for any off road bike. There were a few small items I thought of buying but we didn’t make a purchase. I was looking for some new models of Giro Helmets to try out but they were not available. We were on the way to the Expo when my wife bummed me out, reminding me we went to the Expo some years ago the day after Ship-po our dog died of poisoning. She started going off into the corner staring at us right before she became visibly ill.

Stocks appeared to be a sensitive issue and not just at the Expo. The shops claim they have tens of thousands available I get the definite feeling production is far below years past. The best sellers at the Expo looked to be the upright highbred bikes. Didn’t see a lot of baskets being sold though the stores have a selection of small baskets and racks. I believe people are still buying more for fitness concerns than as an alternative for daily tasking.

This weekend is the Earth Day River Cleanup. Never sure of my schedule or if I will volunteer. They say just go to any urban river and you’ll find an organized group you can work with to clean up your local rivers.

I will be getting my road and beech bikes cleaned and lubed and put together right in short order now.