Lubbock on a Bike: National Bike Challenge 2016 Update

The Concho Pearl and my bike earlier this week

Nope, I have not been writing about it much, but it's still going and I am still pedaling - a lot! (Or at least a lot for an out-of-shape middle-ager.)

So far, I have ridden more than 50 miles on the bike this week. And I hope to do five or so more today.

So, let's be very honest here. I can not afford an electric car -  not even one of those really inexpensive used Nissan Leafs. I can't afford a decent non-electric car. Shoot - I can't even afford a decent electric bike. But it's funny, that lack of money has turned out to be a blessing in a lot of ways.

If I could afford an electric car, I fear I'd be quite lazy (and smugly self-righteous to boot!)

For my own personal code of ethics, choosing to burn gasoline is wrong, so I have worked to have a life where I do not have to burn much gasoline. I live in a flat place where it rains and snows very little. I work five miles from home. Most days, I work in the office. I have bought (second-hand but very functional) electric or manual yard implements.

And I ride a bike as much as possible.

So, I am healthier, lighter, stronger, and more at peace. (I like myself and others better when I ride than when I drive.)

And all of that fits right in with the thing that gave me a big push in becoming a bicycle commuter - the National Bike Challenge.

It may shock you, but I am generally not a competitive person. It shows up here and there, but generally it's not what I'm known for. Strangely, that goes out the window when it's National Bike Challenge time.

That's me in first - but it's a tenuous lead!

You see, there's a guy in town named David, and he and I have fought it out all summer. I don't know David, but he has become a bigger part of my life than I'm ready to admit. Every day I log in to see where we are standing, and it's reaching a fever pitch. You see, the challenge ends in SIX DAYS!

My stats for this year

You can see from my stats how much I owe to David. Ten percent of my points for this challenge have come from this week. And it's all his fault. (And I don't even know if he knows that I exist.)

To be honest, my legs are getting tired, but I plan to keep pushing all week! Thank you NBC! Thank you David, Les, Bradley, Spencer, and  Allen for pushing me to ride more. Thank you to my Toni for putting up with all the biking!

David, if I ever meet you I'll buy you a beverage in a non-disposable cup!

May we all find encouragement in the healthy places!

Bonus San Angelo on a Bike pics:

It's a town with culture,

and a river,

and River Beetles,

and one seriously cool trash can. (It would be even cooler if it were a whole recycle train!)

National Drive Electric Week: 2 Skinny Wheels - Thinking Smaller

So, what's National Drive Electric Week all about? Is it to get everyone into an electric car? Or is it to get people out of gas-burning cars? For me, it's the latter. It is an opportunity to make a concerted effort to promote ways to help us all stop extracting, buying, and burning fossil fuels so that we can do less damage to the environment in which we live.

To celebrate National Drive Electric Week, I took Electric Bridget out for a ride on Saturday. And, no, Bridget is not an electric car -  she is an electric bicycle. Electric Bridget came to me as an old Bridgestone mountain bike that sat out in the weather for a while and was generally just neglected over the years. When I decided to build a low-dollar e-bike workhorse, EB got a new lease on life.

To be honest, I have ridden EB very little. Since EB does not (yet) have a pedelec controller, miles ridden on EB do not qualify for the National Bike Challenge. (But there are only 15 more days of that.)

So, I had kind of forgotten what it's like to ride an e-bike. It's awesome! I did a quick 8 miles. It was windy. I went up all of the slight inclines that feel like big hills on a non-electric bike. I still arrived home breathing hard and sweating, but I did eight miles in about the same time (and exertion) as I normally do four. I did not check, but I doubt that I ever exceeded 17 mph.

But it sure keeps me thinking...

One of my favorite blogs to read is Bike 5. The premise of that blog (Go read it already!) is pretty simple, For trips of 5 miles or less, a bicycle is best. (Health, budget, breathing, saving the planet, etc.) (Ironically, my office is 4.9 miles from my home.)

With the electric bike, it seems you could easily go to a bigger radius. (With apologies to Bob, who writes and lives Bike5.) One could easily create a blog for e-bikes called E-Bike15. For trips of 15 miles or less, the e-bike is best. From all of my DIY days, I have learned that having the right tool for the job makes almost everything better. I have lots of days where the bike (with me powering it) is not up to the job, but the 4,000 pound Dodge in my driveway is definitely overkill. At those times, the e-bike is the best tool for the job. It's hyper-efficient, fairly low-cost, and amazingly inexpensive to maintain and operate.

Learn more (and see this larger) here

And then there's that whole commute with a smile idea. Some people refer to it as the "EV Grin". When I ride a bike I smile a lot more than when I drive a car. (E-Bikes are funner than cars, y'all!)

Honestly, not everyone needs an electric car in order to make a positive impact. With that in mind, consider the advantages of an electric bike: they are easier to park - you can even park one in your tiny house. Try that with a Nissan Leaf! You don't have to buy a big fancy charger or have your house rewired. And there are lots of different options for different needs, different budgets, and different physical abilities.

From this...

 

...to this,

there's an e-bike for everyone.

In case you are wondering, this is not a Don't buy an electric car post. I love electric cars and see them as one great tool for cutting our dependence on carbon, but not everyone is in a place to own one. (I'm not.) If you're like me, the e-bike might be the next best thing. You might even come to realize that an e-bike is the best thing for you.

May you find the best thing for you and may it be a better thing for us all!

National Drive Electric Week Begins: 2 Local Used Electric Vehicles for Sale

[Yep, it's a minipost]

Both ends of the spectrum here:

a 2014 Tesla Model S and...

an "as is" electric bike.

The Tesla is on Amarillo Craigslist and there is no price listed. It's the first Tesla I've seen for sale locally. The Ezip bicycle is on Lubbock Craigslist and says "as is". If it just needs batteries, the $100 price is not bad for a very basic entry level e-bike. (If it needs a rear wheel, I just happen to have one for it.)

Be sure and tell 'em the Mesquite Hugger sent you!

So there you go. I will keep looking to see if anything somewhere between these pops up.

May you find green transport that fits your budget and your needs while making the world a little healthier for us all.

Electric Vehicle Sightings in Lubbock and a Super-Fast Electric Beetle!

[Since National Drive Electric Week starts in two days, I thought I'd write about EV's in the LBK this week.]

Yesterday morning, I left the house (in the pickup, snagit all to Midland!) around 6am. I pulled up to the bicycle lane on Flint and noticed a high-powered LED bike light coming toward me. He was moving pretty quickly. I was thinking that he must be pedaling hard, then I noticed he was hardly pedaling. Then I noticed a big honking hub motor in the rear wheel and a battery pack hanging under the rear rack. It's a rare thing, but I saw an electric bike in the wilds of Lubbock traffic. Woohoo!

Most of the EV sightings this week have been (battery only) Nissan Leafs: a silver, two blues, a white, and a black one. I also saw the white BMW i3 humming down Marsha Sharp yesterday - it's such a cool car with all that carbon fiber and such. The two semi oddballs for this post were both PHEVs (plug-in hybrids).

I saw the Ford Fusion Energi yesterday afternoon. I often wonder how many of these I see without noticing since they look just like the standard models and the hybrid models.

And I parked near this last-generation Chevy Volt this morning. I like that the first Volts were a distinctive model that looked different enough to be noticed. The new generation Volt blends in much more.

When talking about EVs and Chevy, I have to mention the Bolt somewhere, so check out the next link. I have seen questions like this about the Volt a few lately: Does the Chevy Bolt EV make the Chevrolet Volt irrelevant? Is that a problem? (EV fans - Read more John Voelcker!)

And here's a link to a Gas2 (by way of Inside EVs) article that tells about EV sales AND has a list of all the EVs that are selling in the States: Electric Car sales Up Strongly in August. Be sure to check out the top 6, and (sadly) the last car on the list. (Toyota, what's up? Still waiting for the perfect storm for hydrogen?)

Saving the good stuff for last: Black Current did it Again: All-Electric Black  Current III sets 1/4 Mile Record 8.28 Seconds (Inside EVs again). Be sure to watch the video! Dang, that thing is fast!

National Drive Electric Week starts in two days - go test drive an electric car already! See what you're missing!

May you not miss pumping gasoline, or burning gasoline, or smelling like gasoline, or paying for gasoline.

Self Congratulatory Minipost with More Mailbox Pics

Yesterday evening,

there was a mantis on the mailbox,

another gecko behind the mailbox,

and veggies on a Vespa.

I actually finished a project(!!!!!!),

and Mesquite Hugger received its 40,000th pageview.

 

Life is good here in Lubbock!

 

May the same be said of wherever you are.

 

Thank you, and keep hugging those trees, cutting back on the carbon, and pedaling!

A Visit to Lubbock's Maker Space: ULabs

So there we were - a pack of unruly scooter hooligans looking for some trouble to stir up. Or more realistically, there we were - two middle-aged dorks on old scooters heading over to see another middle-aged dork who also rides a scooter, but this is no scooter post.

ULabs Lubbock Website

This is a post about the maker movement in Lubbock and a peek inside their lair. I mean space. I mean ULabs.

 

Wait - you don't know what a maker is? Well, a maker is essentially one who would rather make it than buy it. What's the "it"? Pretty much anything - from a tiny piece of jewelry to a tiny house and pretty much anything in between. If you come to this blog looking for DIY/re-use/upcycle, there's a good chance that you are or want to be a maker. (I consider myself a low-rent maker.)

 

One of the big holdups for most makers is lack of access to tools and space and expertise to build the stuff their dreams are made of - things like welders, 3D printers, laser cutters, etcetera.

 

And that's where a maker space comes in. Imagine a place where you can pay a small monthly fee and have access to all that stuff and to people who know how to use it AND love the idea of learning and experimenting and making cool stuff happen.

 

Oh yeah, they offer classes for all this stuff too!

The rather cool patio area.

 

Besides a patio, there is also a metal shop, a wood shop, a welding shop, a textile shop, an electronics/robotics lab, and there are more in the works. There's even an art gallery/meeting place. 

I love Rule 0!

You have to love anything with a big, red Emergency Stop button!

Lathe, anyone?

Yep, I can barely print in one dimension - this thing can do it in three! 

Really - this a place where you want to pay attention to signs!

4 3P0

The important stuff

The jewelry maker room

It's not fair - we missed the Faire!

A robot and a rubber band-ball walk into a bar...

 

For those of you who want to learn more - check out the grand opening!

 

If you just can't wait - here're all their digits: 

 

May you find a place where you can truly make your dreams come true!

 

PS. A special thanks to Keith and Rusty - scooters dorks who are so much more.

Fossil Free Friday: Random Electric Car Stuff

A day of three faster EV sightings

I keep a count on daily electric car sightings here in Lubbock. So far, I have seen none today, but the day is young and foggy. But last week I had a banner day. In one day I spotted two Teslas (a black Model S and a charcoal Model S) and the white BMW i8. Generally, if I see an electric car, it's a Leaf. Once in a while it's a Volt or one of the PHEV Fords. Yes, I know, it's nothing too exciting, but we take our thrills where we can. (But the EVs are still a vast minority in our gas-powered town. On a more encouraging note, I am seeing a lot more bike riders!)

On the same day and the other hand - 4 white Chevy SUVs outside the little guy's school

Buy this Lectric Leopard photo on Ebay 

One of those things I kind of missed on EBay is another Lectric Leopard, and this one was sad to me. The sad part was how it was marketed. The guy was trying to sell it as a rust-free candidate to be converted back to gasoline power. Oy vey! Such a shame!

Speaking of oddball unconventional EVs on Ebay...

All of these beauties are currently for sale on Ebay.  Guess which five I want!

A great article in prep for National Drive Electric Week:
CleanTechnica: 30 Reasons Your Next Car Should Be Electric - I like 2, 5, 15, 18, and the TMBG video. How about you?

And here's a great article to prep all of you obnoxious Texans for National Drive Electric Week:
Green Car Reports: Why I leased a 2017 Chevy Volt (in Texas) to replace a Volvo

May you experience Reason #2 while helping out with Reason #16, and may you have a great day!