Apegrrl's Blog: Random Rants

12/9/04

Can’t Get There from Here

A long, hard month we’ve had. But I’m recovered enough to blog now, and I want to say more about transportation. Transportation issues have been adding to my unhappiness in recent weeks. Perhaps someone out there will be able to learn from my misfortune.

Early this year, I got my Synergy electric bike from Electric Sierra Cycles. I bought this particular model of electric bike for several reasons. It was the most economical option, both in terms of initial purchase price, and I suspected in terms of repair requirements because so much of it is like a standard mountain bike. Additionally, because you could remove the battery, I planned to be able to take the bike on the bus – extending my travel range, while providing me with flexibility and speed getting to and from bus lines when necessary. The Santa Cruz Metro busses mostly have racks, and the bike riders using them are expected to lift their bike onto the rack about 3 feet above the ground. My plan of electric bike-bus has begun to fail me in little ways, but I still think electric bikes are the way to go.

Here’s what happened:

Getting the bike on the bus is incredibly tricky. It’s right about at my lifting weight limit, but I’m struggling so hard to get it off the ground and to the proper height that I don’t have a lot of control left for lining it up to get it in the rack properly. Also, I can’t do this and monitor/manage all the gear I have to remove from the bike – the battery, the side basket, and all my stuff has to sit at the curb and I have to hope nobody thinks to swipe it while I’m wrangling the thing up onto the bus.

I’m not a mechanic, and my bike has developed standard bike problems. The tire was going flat, I got it replaced (at another bike shop) but the replacement didn’t seem to be so good.

I noticed the tire giving me trouble because it decreased my range from around 10 miles on a charge (barely adequate to get me downtown from where I live now) to only about 7 – not enough to get home on from where I was when I figured it out. I believe (I hope) that the range was so low because of the increased roll resistance of a flattening tire. Anyway, when I noticed I was running out of juice, I went to a bus stop. The bus was supposed to be arriving in about 15 minutes, according to the sign at the stop. I waited 45 minutes before giving up and dragging my heavy beast of a bike up the hill to a friends house nearby. When I called the bus system later, I learned that they’ve discontinued most of the service on that route. Given the belt-tightening that local governments have had to do, I shouldn’t be surprised, but I wish they could have posted something at all the stops so you’d know.

So then comes a month of rigmarole trying to get the tire inflated adequately for me to get the bike home. I tried to pump it with my mini-pump at my friends house, and it just lost more air. I thought the pump must be bad, so I threw it out (something I’m always disinclined to do, but this was a needed vent for my anger). I can’t really get the bike into anyone’s car I know, so I just used the quick release and took off the front tire. I was able to get the tire to fill using the big, less portable pump I have at home, so I was pretty sure it’s not the tire/tube. Not wanting to be caught with a deflated tire away from home again, I bought a new portable mini-pump. I tested it, so that I could get the hang of it. The new one doesn’t seem to work right either – I loose more air putting it on and taking it off than I can pump into it with 10 minutes of serious effort. I think it may be my technique, but I haven’t been able to get any further clarification. Of course, when I put the front tire back on, I could barely get the brake back together, and I have not yet been able to get it aligned so the brake doesn’t rub after I use it, so I squeaked and dragged my way home, and haven’t ridden since.

Then there are the little nuisances that had come up. It would have been nice if Electric Sierra had helped me get everything customized. I’m pretty short (5’2”) with very small hands. I’ve noticed that the brakes are not comfortable for my little fingers to reach, and I don’t have the equipment to get them adjusted properly. I’m also wondering if it would help my back if the handlebars were a bit higher, so I wouldn’t have to lean forward so far to reach them. Also, the shocks on the bike squeak horridly on bumpy roads (and everything around my house qualifies). By purchasing through the county electric bikes program, I got headlight and taillight with the bike, but the taillight is mounted to the seatpost and therefore nearly invisible if I use the back rack for anything, which I almost always do. And the fact that to do anything with the bike (especially pumping the tires or lifting it onto the bus) means I will have grime all over my hands adds to the level of inconvenience.

So now I'm trying to learn more about DIY bike maintenence. I've found some good websites for the basics; Ken Kifer's Bike Pages: http://www.kenkifer.com/bikepages/index.htm and Bicycling Life: http://www.bicyclinglife.com/index.html are my favorites so far. There's also some good info at eHow.

It seems to me that most people don’t have to spend near as much time and effort maintaining and adjusting their cars as I do to maintain my bike. Given that the mechanisms of the bike are so much simpler, you’d think it would go the other way round. So once again, I find I am coveting. I wish I had gone for one of the cleaner, slicker, more enclosed electric bikes. I am seriously considering the e-Go electric scooter (about the same price as the high-end e-bikes, and twice the range, but it may require a license of some kind). Of course, since I haven’t been able to get around very effectively, my job search hasn’t gone well yet, and I have absolutely no money to spend. So for now, I’m stuck with very limited commute options: infrequent busses and my own two feet.

But the systemic problem is one in which the bike industry still makes bikes (including electric bikes) more as a hobby item than as an efficient and necessary commute tool.

I read in New Scientist this week about the fastest HPVs (human-powered vehicles), and the prizes associated with them. Imagine what a little serious investment could do to make bikes less of the hassle- and grease-prone mess that they often are. Imagine what a world where bikes were the norm, and cars the exception, would look like. Slimmer people, smaller streets, better air, better urban planning, smaller parking lots… when are we going to realize that vision?

Meanwhile, I’m too damn stubborn to succumb to the easy way of just getting a car, so I’ll have to learn to live with frustration. I remember when, just a few short months ago, having an electric bike was so much fun! It was almost like falling in love. I’m sure I’ll feel that way again someday.

Something to say? check it out on my Xanga blog, or e-mail me at:
apegrrl@
rattlebrain.com

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