The Bikes Pages
A bike is a cheap, environmentally friendly way to travel. I use a bike to replace short(ish) journeys by car aiming to have at least a couple of car free days per week. One year I knocked a third of my annual car mileage which saved me around £1000 and prevented a tonne of CO2 being released into the atmosphere!
The wider picture
- organic gardening and bicycles
Organic gardening is about much more than not using chemicals, its about
caring for the environment and being aware of how our individual actions
impact on where we live. That does not mean we have to be 'heavy' or doom
laden, organic gardeners do have fun!
My personal opinion is that we should try to live in a way that causes as little impact on our environment as possible. We also need to be practical. It is no good saying that we should all give up the car, install solar heating and live only on what we can grow. What it does mean is realising what it costs us, and the environment, to live our lives and make adjustments to live as lightly as we can.
Electric Bikes
I use an electric bike because I need the assistance due to a disability.
It is great fun and well worth the expense. The electric assist is provided
by a Heinzmann motor in the front hub with the battery & control gear
on the rear pannier rack. Heinzmann kits are not cheap but they are worth
every penny! Remember, an average secondhand car costs about 26p/km (
and a new car around 52p/km to run.
The bike also has a trailer attached, perfect for carrying garden tools and loads of produce! It's a 'Bykaboose'.
Update November
2005
I first used the electric assist when I was recovering from
a heart attack several years ago. It allowed me to get back on a bike
and provided a healthy eco friendly form of transport. As my health slowly
improved I stopped using the bike as much and when we moved to a very
hilly village in the Derbyshire Peak District in 2003 I am sorry to say
I stopped altogther.
Towards the end of September I suffered another heart attack. It was a complete shock as I thought I was strong, fit and healthy. One result of this 'event' (as the hospital calls them) was the fitting of an implantable cardiac defibrillator - a small device similar to a pace maker which is implanted in top of the left side of my left chest. It's there to save my life but the big downside is that I cannot drive for at least 6 months. So, the bike is back in service! The battery has been kept charged and the first short run today proved that all is working well. I am not sure how the motor/battery will perform up here - we are nearly 330 meters ASL - and every way into and out of the village means negotiating a large hill. Time will tell but at least the bike gives me some mobility.
April 2008 - So, after a couple of years I find I can do very little cycling. There are just too many hills here and my strength and stamina do not allow me to add much in the way of physical effort. Until battery technology advances such that a powerful energy source is available at reasonable cost and in a small lightweight package, I cannot use the bike much at all.
The other change here is that I no longer support the CTC due to their myopic 'political' policies.