Although I am a believer in the theory of "work where you live or live where you work", I have to admit in practice it isn't always possible.
Growing up in St Thomas, I walked or cycled everywhere. I could always get to school on my own steam and even come home for lunch. To the library, movie theatre and band practice, to swimming and tennis lessons, I was independent and active.
In Toronto, thanks to a convenient public transit system and our weather-hardiness, Robin and I were able to get to and from work, shop for groceries, garden in our allotment and generally enjoy the City without a car.
Small communities are a different matter altogether, especially in a country as big as Canada.
Prepping for our move back home and anticipating the dreaded job search, I took a map of St. T and drew a circle with a 6k radius. This was the maximum I felt I could comfortably cycle to and from a job every day - a distance a little less than that which I was at that time cycling daily for work. Gladly, surprisingly, all of St. Thomas proper fell within my pencil line.
What I didn't take into consideration was home ownership; you can't bring home drywall, or a sink, on a bike. And from getting to work on snow or rain days, trips to the hardware store or garden centre, Port Glasgow or Port Bruce and dinner in London to shopping in the Covent Garden market, collecting friends from train station, and checking-in with our doctor in Toronto, there are many places you can't get to by peddling.
Blanche DuBois was onto something when she said I have always relied on the kindness of strangers.
Whether we seem sadly in need or possibly due to an abundance of positive Karmic energy, we are surrounded by amazing friends, neighbours and family who understand our deep commitment to the environment and our decision to work and live within cycling distance to most everything we need on a daily basis.
And for those times when we don't need a car but the journey length seems unmanageable, electric or power-assist bicycles are our best option.
During our research, we investigated a number of variations on the electric bike theme, ranging from a folding mini-bike with a heavy battery pack (very pedestrian) to a moped-type vehicle which manages to qualify as a "bicycle" by the cosmetic addition of pedals thereby avoiding licensing / safety by-laws (fraudulent).
We settled on an amazing product called BionX, purchased at First Cycleworks in London.
The owner was completely jazzed about BionX and quite clear that this system is all about pedaling, albeit with a little help. He had answers to all of our questions and even delivered the bikes to us. (that's right - you can't pick up your new bikes, on a bike). T his Canadian made product consists of a kit designed to retrofit your existing bike by replacing the standard rear wheel with one containing an all-weather, magnetic, brushless motor. This motor, connected to a light-weight rechargeable lithium battery pack mounted on the vertical down-tube, works to support your pedal power rather than replacing it.
With the battery removed, your bike doesn't look like anything special (or worth stealing) and we were able to mount our usual trunk (crate) on the back.
As you pedal, the BionX reads your thrust exertions and can give you your choice of 35%, 75%, 150% or 300% proportional power assistance. It's like having the wind at your back, even uphill. And when you brake, the system automatically cycles into Generating mode, briefly recharging.
On our first big test, we cycled comfortably from St. Thomas to Port Stanley to Sparta and home. This 50k trek was quite a feat for a couple of guys who are more two-wheel commuters than cyclists, and it was manageable and enjoyable. Presently, we charge the battery by the conventional plug-in-outlet means, though you can switch to "G" mode while riding downhill and charge. Eventually, we could recharge using solar power.
I'm still using my old bike to make the 6k commute to and from work each day but it's great to know we can still get to the farm, even the beach, on our own steam.
Big thanks to the folks who keep reminding us why we love living here and who improve the quality of our lives by their generosity.
Now, if only I could convince them to take a ride in my Bionx sidecar ...
Growing up in St Thomas, I walked or cycled everywhere. I could always get to school on my own steam and even come home for lunch. To the library, movie theatre and band practice, to swimming and tennis lessons, I was independent and active.In Toronto, thanks to a convenient public transit system and our weather-hardiness, Robin and I were able to get to and from work, shop for groceries, garden in our allotment and generally enjoy the City without a car.
Small communities are a different matter altogether, especially in a country as big as Canada.
Prepping for our move back home and anticipating the dreaded job search, I took a map of St. T and drew a circle with a 6k radius. This was the maximum I felt I could comfortably cycle to and from a job every day - a distance a little less than that which I was at that time cycling daily for work. Gladly, surprisingly, all of St. Thomas proper fell within my pencil line.
What I didn't take into consideration was home ownership; you can't bring home drywall, or a sink, on a bike. And from getting to work on snow or rain days, trips to the hardware store or garden centre, Port Glasgow or Port Bruce and dinner in London to shopping in the Covent Garden market, collecting friends from train station, and checking-in with our doctor in Toronto, there are many places you can't get to by peddling.
Blanche DuBois was onto something when she said I have always relied on the kindness of strangers.
Whether we seem sadly in need or possibly due to an abundance of positive Karmic energy, we are surrounded by amazing friends, neighbours and family who understand our deep commitment to the environment and our decision to work and live within cycling distance to most everything we need on a daily basis.
And for those times when we don't need a car but the journey length seems unmanageable, electric or power-assist bicycles are our best option.
During our research, we investigated a number of variations on the electric bike theme, ranging from a folding mini-bike with a heavy battery pack (very pedestrian) to a moped-type vehicle which manages to qualify as a "bicycle" by the cosmetic addition of pedals thereby avoiding licensing / safety by-laws (fraudulent).
We settled on an amazing product called BionX, purchased at First Cycleworks in London.The owner was completely jazzed about BionX and quite clear that this system is all about pedaling, albeit with a little help. He had answers to all of our questions and even delivered the bikes to us. (that's right - you can't pick up your new bikes, on a bike). T his Canadian made product consists of a kit designed to retrofit your existing bike by replacing the standard rear wheel with one containing an all-weather, magnetic, brushless motor. This motor, connected to a light-weight rechargeable lithium battery pack mounted on the vertical down-tube, works to support your pedal power rather than replacing it.
With the battery removed, your bike doesn't look like anything special (or worth stealing) and we were able to mount our usual trunk (crate) on the back.As you pedal, the BionX reads your thrust exertions and can give you your choice of 35%, 75%, 150% or 300% proportional power assistance. It's like having the wind at your back, even uphill. And when you brake, the system automatically cycles into Generating mode, briefly recharging.
On our first big test, we cycled comfortably from St. Thomas to Port Stanley to Sparta and home. This 50k trek was quite a feat for a couple of guys who are more two-wheel commuters than cyclists, and it was manageable and enjoyable. Presently, we charge the battery by the conventional plug-in-outlet means, though you can switch to "G" mode while riding downhill and charge. Eventually, we could recharge using solar power.
I'm still using my old bike to make the 6k commute to and from work each day but it's great to know we can still get to the farm, even the beach, on our own steam.
Big thanks to the folks who keep reminding us why we love living here and who improve the quality of our lives by their generosity.
Now, if only I could convince them to take a ride in my Bionx sidecar ...
