I realized that when I left your shop last Wednesday, I failed to tell you my name. I'm the high school teacher in Southern California with the 36V LE eBike. I told you I had over 1200 miles on my bike. Well when I returned home, I looked at the odometer on my eBike and it read 1683. My memory is crappy, but I know the odometer is correct. Pretty cool, huh? Have you heard of anyone putting on more miles than me?
I've had my eBike since last September and have ridden it to my workplace every day since then except three. These were days that I knew I would be traveling beyond the eBike's range directly after the school day is finished. On those days I drove my Explorer. But every day other than those three, the Explorer stayed in the garage. I was initially hesitant to sell the Explorer because I thought I'd need it more at some point. But I finally realized that, even if I sold the truck, I could always rent a U-haul for a day for less than $40. Wanting to save the monthly truck payment, gas and insurance, I finally sold the Explorer in April and I haven't really missed it since. I did need to rent a U-haul truck one day at the end of the school year to transport video equipment to the school's graduation ceremony. Other than that, it's been eBiking all the time.
When I stop at traffic lights or outside a store, I get many people asking me what I'm riding. When I tell them it's an electric bicycle, they say "Hey, that's really cool." I usually respond "No... what's really cool is spending about 10 cents for my daily commute to and from my home." By then the light is usually turning green and off they go, but I know that I've planted a seed in their heads about the efficiency and environmental-friendliness of electric bikes. I'm not sure they'll ever really catch on in California where public transportation is a joke and most people drive to and from work ALONE in their gas-guzzling SUVs. But I can only hope.
Since getting my eBike, I've kinda become the electric vehicle advocate amongst my friends and family. One woman I know did purchase an eBike just like mine after I let her ride mine around the parking lot. The only two things that I'd change about the eBike is:
1) swithing to a lighter battery (like NiMH or Lithium)
2) a rear suspension for the bike (not for me, but for the bike... I already snapped a rear fender in two simply from the constant bumpiness of some of the roads on which I travel).
Other than those two things, I love the bike and would love to see more people dump their cars in favor of electric bikes. I know that there are lots of people in California that live well within the range of many electric bikes from their jobs. Once again... good luck with your business. I hope that the United States wakes up sometime.
Regards, Mark Bush
