EVLN(Ebike breeze keeps you cool, Toronto use is skyrocketing)

[Bruce EVangel Parmenter <brucedp@yahoo.com>]

EVLN(Ebike breeze keeps you cool, Toronto use is skyrocketing)
[The Internet Electric Vehicle List News. For Public EV informational
 purposes. Contact publication for reprint rights.]
 --- {EVangel}
National Report Electric bikes are the other better way  Cameron Smith
08/18/2001 The Toronto Star Ontario K05 Copyright (c) 2001 The Toronto
Star

I sweat easily, so the day began with choosing the right shirt, one
that would highlight sweat the way neon highlights Honest Ed's store. 
The Sweat Test had to be objective. Measurable. It had to track the
progress of perspiration.

The test was to see if it's possible to pedal one of the new electric
bicycles to work without arriving in a shirt that looked as if it had
been thrown into a slough and then trampled by a herd of bison.

I chose one that was light green, the colour of a Granny Smith apple,
perfect for the task since a drop of moisture would turn the offending
spot bottle green.

The test had to have a standard for comparison, so, first, I walked
from City Hall to Richmond St. and Spadina Ave. It was Wednesday, Aug.
9, 1 p.m. The temperature was 36.9 C, the hottest in history for that
day. The walk took 25 minutes and the shirt looked as if it had been
thrown into a slough and then trampled by bison.

There were dark patches around the armpits, down the middle of the
back, and on the chest - so much dark that the Granny Smith parts
stood out like stains.

The next day it was 35.2 C, and I rode several different electric
bikes from City Hall to Queen and Bathurst Sts. and back. Starting
time: 1 p.m. Round-trip time: 20 minutes. Results: not a sweat blotch
to be seen.

The only times I began to perspire were when I stopped for red lights.
Otherwise the breeze generated by bicycling kept me cool.

Hence, my highly scientific conclusion: Electric bikes offer a
terrific way to get to work for people who:

(a) dislike looking half drowned and trampled by bison;
(b) want exercise, not torment;
(c) want to leave their car in the garage to help curb global
    warming.

The two provisos are that:
(a) nobody steals their flashy looking electric bicycles;
(b) they don't have to push the bikes up a set of stairs because, at
    about 34 kilograms, they're heavy.

The bikes are being evaluated by the Toronto Electric Bicycle Project
under a grant from the Toronto Atmospheric Fund.

There are two types. One has power on demand. A button kicks in the
electric motor when you press it, giving you a boost or letting you
clip along at about 30 kilometres an hour without pedalling. The other
has power assist; you always have to pedal but the power kicks in
automatically when pressure on the pedal reaches a certain point. Like
conventional bikes, all have gears - usually seven.

The cost ranges from about $1,500 to $3,000. There is a good variety
of makes and models and batteries are good for about 40 kilometres.
Try McBride Cycle at 2797 Dundas St. W. for more information.

The biggest surprise had nothing to do with sweating. I discovered
that bicycle use in Toronto is skyrocketing.  A group at the
University of Toronto keeps tabs on how people travel.

It found that in the city's core - from High Park in the west across
almost to the Beach in the east and north to Eglinton Ave. - the
number of bicycle trips per day increased 3.5 times in 10 years, from
3,900 trips per day in 1986 to 13,900 in 1996. (The surveys are done
every five years and the one for 2001 isn't finished yet.) By
comparison, the number of people walking to work in the same area
changed very little - from 243,000 in 1986 to 286,000 in 1996.

I'm sure the increase in bicycling is largely owing to the increase in
bicycle lanes in the city. I'm also convinced that there isn't a more
pleasant way to reduce global warming.

In fact, I wonder why city council doesn't make more out of a good
thing. Why not designate whole networks of streets just for bicycles,
restricting motor traffic to the cars of residents and delivery
trucks?  Bicyclists would be safer. Motorists would be less
distracted. And I'll bet bicycle use would multiply fantastically.
---
Cameron Smith is an author and environmentalist living in Lansdowne,
Ont. Cameron Smith is an author and environmentalist living in
Lansdowne, Ont.
 ...
 http://www.thestar.com/  webmaster@thestar.com
Toronto Star
 ---
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 BruceDP@yahoo.com           Electric Vehicle (EV) List Editor

=====
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