The life of the peripatetic ebiker

[Lebowski]

man one extra 'S' in the window of that shop and the police will have a field day

I think this is just my Dutch roots showing

 

[hydro-one]

Nice ! I never seem to be without a plug around here.

 

[melodious]

man one extra 'S' in the window of that shop and the police will have a field day

I think this is just my Dutch roots showing

"The ant and the grass shopper"?

 

[Lock]

Well, picked up a can of this yesterday:


It's JIG-A-LOO "Graphite Extreme" (made in Brome Lake, Quebec, eh?)

Mostly the can is full of 60% acetone (watt evaporates right away), plus some isopropanol (watt also evaporates away), plus propane (maybe up to 10%, watt ALSO evaporates away), leaving just up to 5% graphite powder...

The "problem" I have been having with the trike is the chain and gear in the back are kinda "squeak" eh? (Of course)... At slowest speeds... So needs a bit of "lub", eh?

Although the squeaky chain/gear has been kinda handy, in my current guise as the "half-dead old guy with one broken arm" mosying along on the sidewalks, watt folks can hear behind them or coming, instead of a bell... (funky horn not installed and modified yet)... And ringing any bell or horn on the sidewalk at any pedestrian would sorta rude eh?


Anywhooo... per Wikipedia:

The mineral graphite /ˈɡræfaɪt/ is an allotrope of carbon. It was named by Abraham Gottlob Werner in 1789 from the Ancient Greek γράφω (graphō), "to draw/write", for its use in pencils, where it is commonly called lead (not to be confused with the metallic element lead). Unlike diamond (another carbon allotrope), graphite is an electrical conductor, a semimetal. It is, consequently, useful in such applications as arc lamp electrodes. Graphite is the most stable form of carbon under standard conditions. Therefore, it is used in thermochemistry as the standard state for defining the heat of formation of carbon compounds. Graphite may be considered the highest grade of coal, just above anthracite and alternatively called meta-anthracite, although it is not normally used as fuel because it is difficult to ignite.
There are three principal types of natural graphite, each occurring in different types of ore deposit:
Crystalline flake graphite (or flake graphite for short) occurs as isolated, flat, plate-like particles with hexagonal edges if unbroken and when broken the edges can be irregular or angular;
Amorphous graphite occurs as fine particles and is the result of thermal metamorphism of coal, the last stage of coalification, and is sometimes called meta-anthracite. Very fine flake graphite is sometimes called amorphous in the trade;[4]
Lump graphite (also called vein graphite) occurs in fissure veins or fractures and appears as massive platy intergrowths of fibrous or acicular crystalline aggregates, and is probably hydrothermal in origin.

So yeah, carbon baby! But I will miss the "old guy" sounding option while rolling around...

Hehe

L

 

[arkmundi]

Incidently... The reason I put "peripatetic" in this thread...

Have to confess as a literati that it was a new word for me, so thanks to the wiki gods at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peripatetic_school

...Its teachings derived from its founder, the Greek philosopher, Aristotle, and Peripatetic is a name given to his followers. The school originally derived its name Peripatos from the peripatoi (περίπατοι "colonnades") of the Lyceum in Athens where the members met...

So in so many ways, ESland is the place for peripatetics (not to be confused with pathetics), of philosophical wanders. Given that Aristotle is considered the origin point for ALL of western philosophy, ours is an ancient, grand tradition. I consider myself to be fortunate to be among you!

 

[Lock]

Hehe... Hiya "Worcester" (MA)! Small world, sorta... I guess Worcester MA is named after that city of Worcester in the UK? My dads older Bro was a Canadian kid that got shipped off to the UK late in the 2nd WW... NEVer got to fly any combat missions, but did bring back a UK grrrl from Worcester UK, and made an honest woman out of her... Thing is, she was a daughter of the Perrins family/clan... EVer heard of "Lea & Perrins" Worcestershire Sauce?

But yah, per Wikipedia, re Worcester MA, in part:

As political tensions rose in the months before the Revolution, Worcester served as a center of revolutionary activity.

Ummmm... Yah, no "revolutionaries" hanging around here (on ES)... Nothing to see here folks--- move along...

Hehe...

L

 

[arkmundi]

Well, yea Worcester, UK-->USA, as was true of much of New England. It was all Algonquin before the invasion. What Worcester should be known for is the first true Registry of Deeds, the implant of sovereign land rights, and thence everywhere as the basis for the theft of first nation lands. I once suggested we change the City's name from Worcester to Tataesset, the original Algonquin name for the region, as a way of respecting our bloody history and reforming our thieving ways. As you might expect, it was a bit too revolutionary for the descendents of revolutionaries and was met with casual laughter.

For the peripatetic, Ma-achu-sette: the people, living near, the great sacred mountain (interpretive translation). Tat-aes-set: At, the great sacred mountain. So Massachusetts is the larger area surrounding the great sacred mountain and the area around Worcester is really "at" the great sacred mountain. We believe Wachusett is that sacred mountain, the climbing of which for any taking the trek, and at the peak, will confirm the original, native view.

Henry David Thoreau A Walk to Wachusett at Walden.org.

We rested during the heat of the day, reading Virgil and enjoying the scenery. It was such a place as one feels to on the outside of the earth; for from it we could, in some measure, see the form and structure of the globe. There lay Wachusett, the object of our journey, lowering upon us with unchanged proportions, though with a less ethereal aspect than had greeted our morning gaze, while further north, in successive order, slumbered its sister mountions along the horizon.

... and yet we read Virgil mainly to be reminded of the identiy of human nature in all ages, and by the poet's own account, we are both the children of late age, and live equally under the reign of Jupiter.

"He shook honey from the leaves and removed fire,
and stayed the wine, everywhere flowering in rivers;
That experience, by meditating, might invent various arts...

 

[Lock]

Dang... Now we need a "sacred mountain" for north american ebikers?

My vote, "Pikes Peak"...

Epic year for electric bikes this year... "Historic Wins for Electric Vehicles at the 2013 Pikes Peak"... seen here:
http://www.plugincars.com/historic-wins-electric-vehicles-2013-pikes-peak-hill-climb-127651.html

There's probably a thread about it on ES somewhere... My only problem with that race? It's not about "ebikes for the masses"... In Canada the legal term in most provinces is the "power-assisted bicycle" (pedal bikes that have an electric "kick"...)

A distant 2nd place I guess, but we ran our first race earlier this year in the "colonies" (aka Ontario/Canada), and not up a real *peak*, but a tiny "bluff"... sorta "Canadian style", eh?

Hehe
L

 

[Lock]

Well... *Another* "visit to the hospital" day... First parked in the empty parking lot across the street... Then the darned thing filled up with screaming kiddles/guys... Turned out that whole "field" is watt passes for a "playground" in urban Canada...But per Wikipedia:

Tarmac (short for tarmacadam, or tar-penetration macadam) is a type of road surfacing material patented by Edgar Purnell Hooley in 1901. The term is also used, with varying degrees of correctness, for a variety of other materials, including tar-grouted macadam, bituminous surface treatments, and even modern asphalt concrete.

So for part of the time I guess (the school "year") the car parking lot has to do " double duty"... And the poor kiddles get to run and play (and fall down) on that darned tarry stuff... Anyway, one teach had "security concerns"... Hey teach! But the sign re "No Parking" clearly notes the bylaw (in fine print) as no parking FOR CARS"? I was kinda out-of-the-way... the ebike (trike) "parked" in one corner, near the entrance/exit gate watt was closed... but anyway...
View attachment 1

So moved the trike to my usual "fall back" positiion... where I could plug in anyway... Take that, teach!

 

[Lock]

So... A couple of days ago I went "up north"... At least, in Toronto, up to Yonge at Sheppard... For some here that maybe don't know Toronto, seen elsewhere:

Despite its deep ravines, Toronto is not remarkably hilly, but does increase in elevation steadily away from the lake. Elevation differences range from 75 metres (246 ft) above-sea-level at the Lake Ontario shore to 209 m (686 ft) ASL near the York University grounds in the city's north end at the intersection of Keele Street and Steeles Avenue.

So our "town hall" aka Toronto City Hall sits about 90 meters (294ft.approx.) above sea level... Our major east-west street (Bloor in the west, changing to "the Danforth" in the east) sits about 113m (370ft.)

Yonge and Sheppard (just north of the east-west cross-town "401" highway) is up about 176m (578 ft) above sea level...

So it is "a bit of a climb" (but less than 20km/12.4m), and I basically "ran outta juice" once I had reached Sheppard, a few blocks east of Yonge... Actually had hoped to "catch up" to a lady I haven't seen since last year... (No, I'm NOT "chasing skirts"... Just wanted to "catch up" with a "barkeep" that used to feed me on trips back home after a day of work at a client or two...)

Anywhooo... Yes, I had to pedal the last few blocks (Oh, woe is me... Hehe...), and here's a pic of my trike "parked" on the sidewalk, outside the doors of the establishment (aka "restaurant")...
View attachment 1

Any ebikers here notice anything missing? Watt? Nowhere for an old ebiker to plug in to recharge their "mobility device"??? Well, that will nEVer do... Hehe...

(BTW, recently, 6 of Toronto’s worst intersections were "voted" as being on Sheppard), seen here
http://www.citynews.ca/2013/05/09/6-of-torontos-worst-intersections-on-sheppard/

Fortunately, the "Sheppard Center" just down the street let me plug in, for a bit of a "drink"... Enough to get me "home" (most of it downhill)... Odd, that sign that says "No Bicycles"... Thank goodness my rusty steed is actually a tricycle...


Anyway... Thanks RioCan!

L

 

[Lock]

OK... I "recovered" another pic from PeeBucket... This goes back a few weeks, but here's a quiz... One of these things is not like the other... One the original, supplied with the trike, is very light weight, but had a sorta noisy cooling fan, and failed soon after it was new (possibly didn't much like bumping around in the pocket of the laptop bag much, lying "sunny side up" on the bottom of the back basket... Funnily enough, the laptop came out all right...). Both output 48V nominal, though one was labeled as 3.5A, the other is labeled as only 2A... And the 2A one is a "brick"... a little heavier, runs a little warmer to the touch, but has NO cooling fan... It's "solid state", and basically silent in operation... I mean, I like to hear the wind whistling in the rigging as much as the next guy... but really...

L



PS... Note to self: Tried that new "Graphite Extreme" lub today... So, carbon comes out black eh? Who knew!... Hehe... Fortunately, sorta matches the paint job on the trike frame... Phew...

 

[Lock]

So, yet *another* trip to the "Ontario Health Care System" today... Funnily enough the institution still uses the name "hospital" in it's name... Anywhooo... So the place next door was kinda hard to miss eh? With this banner strung across part of it's front fence, alongside the sidewalk:


And this sign simply announces "Mackenzie House", with the description "Home of Toronto's first Major ...and most notorious rebel"... Wikipedia has a little "blurb" about the guy here:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mackenzie_House

Anyway... Just struck an old ebiker as funny... `Cause AFAIK Toronto is now "lousy" with rebels (ebikers), and we are *all* "notorious"...
Hehe...
L

 

[Lock]

Well... Slow day today, and sorta dry outside, to went and visited our very own "Toronto Mini Maker Faire"... Their web pages here:
http://makerfairetoronto.com/

Basically a two day show for the "kiddies" (and not so young)... To my undying regret, I nEVer tried to interest my two daughters in all "things electrical"... (`Cause they were "just" grrrls, eh?). Well, thank the gawds at least, they both used to enjoy jumping off waves, and toodling around Toronto harbour at 2-3 times the harbour speed limit, on an (watt was then) Olympic-class Tornado catamaran (20-foot two-hulled relatively "high speed" sailboat)...

So thanks to the folks at Wychwood Barns, for letting some old ebiker park in their lovely garden, and plug in for a battery recharge for the trip back home!


Hehe...

L

 

[Lock]

Well, it's been a couple of "roller coaster" ebiker days...

Yesterday, the usual trip to the hospital downtown, and plugging in my "mobility device" outside their door... Just a "top up" really, charge-wise... But when I escaped the Doctor (again) the trike motor was "DOA"... Completely lifeless... CA blank... Checked connections, but there is only so much one can do without a VOM or any tools... So had to pedal that heavy-ish trike all the way back "up" to the Danforth/Bloor, then a "straight shoot" mostly flat headed east, then down Coxwell (it's mostly a down hill from the Danforth), to my current "home".

On the way stopped at our fav coffee shop (read, has Wifi/internet access) to email (beg) our TERA (Toronto Electric Riders Assn) Prez for assistance...(He had hooked up my CA, and maybe I hadn't paid enough attention to the install/wiring etc).

Anyway, got home and plugged in the charger again awaiting (hopefully) a visit from our Prez.

Turned out, after a few hours of 48V (?) and 2A, the charger LED went from red to green! So I emailed our Prez back again to report "False Alarm" (maybe)... He had already written back to express regrets, but he and his lady (wife) had tickets for an evening out anyway...

My *problem* was, I had *another* appt at *another* hospital in the morning, today... to maybe (hopefully) get my cast off my right arm...

Anyway... Left the charger plugged in all night (re BMS "balancing") and in the morning (early, before the sun rise) the CA was still a "go"! Do after a brief stop at the local home for the coffee-addicted, I headed off to that other hospital (some sorta uphills, if ya know Toronto... destination Leslie at Sheppard...

But got as far as York Mills, and had to figure out why the trike was heeling over, mostly to starboard (for a landlubber, read "leaning" to the right)... And I discovered this:


Oh, wow is me... Not one, but TWO areas where the high quality (?) Chinese welds had been "eaten away"... I mean, it was a newish etrike, and I already knew about the Chinese penchant for patina, and I knew I had to deal with some surface rust... But the welded areas had been covered with paint?

Had to walk the trike on the sidewalk the rest of the way, but fortunately had left more than enough time for any eventuality, to make my appt on time... And soon the Hosp was in sight...

So at least I got to the hospital, and now have my right arm cast removed... Of course, the hospital were desperate to "hook" me into their "health care SYSTEM", and wanted my arm to be x-rayed *again* (I suspect they are starting a collection of those pics), but I had had enough of their game of musical chairs (where waiting rooms are crowded with chairs full of the unfortunate), and fled that hospital too...

So, a LOT of sidewalk walking to get back home, but mostly down hills, and for any small up hills, I resorted to that little ebiker trick. `Cause it's a trike, so sorta sits and rolls just fine standing on its own three feet (so to speak), I could walk along beside the trike, and gently twist the handlebar accelerator... So the trike rolled along up any hills, and I just had to walk alongside...

Sorta got tired of that scenario, and happened by a local "Canadian Tire" store, where I bought a short piece of polyprop (rope) to sorta lash the trike together...

And while there a "CT" guy happened by, riding a Schwin ebike! ... Sadly, electricity stored in a lead-acid battery pack...

But he turned me on to the "Iron Man"! Who had his shop sorta on my way home anyway... This gentleman:
http://www.wroughtironman.com/

And here he is re-welding my trike back together:


Well... An Ebike Doctor that actually knows watt he is doing! Repaired my trike "on the spot", on the street outside his shop. I'm not sure he even wanted any of my money, but I pushed a $20 into his hands, and told him I had taken a pic of him "in action", that I would post (which I have done). Anyway like I told the Iron Man, he was a life saver for me... And I continued merrily on my way. (This email written at the same coffee shop I met our TERA Prez at yesterday, so I am still not "back home" quite yet, but nearly)

So this story sorta has a happy ending after all. I am just so pleased to have my "basic transportation" back in order!

L

 

[arkmundi]

Amazing, a welder with a portable rig that'll come to you, kinda like those auto glass guys.

 

[Lock]

Yah man... I guess (no windshield on my vehicles, glass or otherwise)... But that "Iron Man" guy is a "maestro" in iron and steel stuff... Had his truck "ready to roll" for on-site residential work (mostly iron railings, I guess) plus his shop. Anyway, I guess this is his first etrike (or bike etc of any sort). I actually want to see him again, about "re-inventing" my etrike, same design (maybe) and out of steel (the motor and batt pack make it heavier than "usual" anyway), but something I sorta don't have to worry about, strength-wise... Normal anti-rust paint a "given", I guess...
L

PS... As I understand it, a tinted or dirty glass windshield makes it more convenient to ignore road kill, etc. Wouldn't want to interrupt that phone call!

 

[Lock]

Bought today, watt EVery good ebiker should have in their "toolbox":


EVerybuddy here has a piece of natural chamois in their "kit", right? Basically got tired of chucking trees (paper napkins, usually leftovers from homes for the coffee-addicted) in the garbage/recycling...

Not, back to the hunt for battens for the sail/ebike cover... You know, foam/plastic if I can't find any bamboo... Well, sailors at least will know watt I am tapping about.

L

PS... I am reliably informed no sheep were harmed in the making of my chamois...

 

[Lock]

Maybe file this under "Sneaky ways to promote the electric bicycle"... This short article and picture/photo just submitted to a local newspaper/web site.

Your story has been successfully submitted.
Once it's been reviewed and approved by CityNews moderators, we'll include it in the list of user Stories and may also include it as news elsewhere on the site.

And my piece:

Electric Vehicle parked outside - Toronto police yawn

Attached picture taken last night outside Toronto police station on Coxwell Avenue...


I had occassion to visit our police on an unrelated matter, and parked my electric vehicle on the front walk, right outside the front doors. To my knowledge, this is perhaps the first time in over 100 years that an electric vehicle has parked outside a police station, anywhere in Toronto...

Our police were too busy, unfortunately, to come outside and look at the vehicle (or maybe too large to get up from their comfy chairs).

BTW, technically, my vehicle is what is termed legally (under Canadian law, and most provinces, including Ontario) a "power-assisted bicycle" (tricycles included), and in many European countries a electric pedal-assisted cycle (or "EPAC", for short).

101 Coxwell Avenue
Coxwell Ave, south of Gerrard Street East
Toronto
Ontario
Laughlin ("Lock") Hughes[/quote]

Ermmm... Wish me luck, I guess...

L

 

[Lock]

Well, well, well... I wonder watt the record is for fastest time for a new weld to break...


Now gotta stop the hunt temporarily (for a nice piece of ash, or two or three - see above re battens) and look for a piece of metal I can attach to the trike basket frame to get me a three-legged seat...

TBA
L

 

[docnjoj]

Meybe a bolt and nut with some washers through it first? That thinwall tubing is difficult to weld.
otherDoc

 

[Lock]

Ya Sir! Good point, thank you! I actually have an appointment at 8 tomorrow am to ride the sorta broken trike (hey! sorta like watt I am! Hehe...) gingerly/gently over to a close-by "auto" frame, etc. repair shop where I explained today about my idea to "mod" the frame... So yah, nuts and bolts I am more familiar with (plus ropework/knots).

Anyway... stay tuned...
L

 

[Lock]

Well... Did show up (at 5min after to appointed time) for the fellow to have a look again, and maybe to fix (hopefully) my trike (frame)... I though it might be an easy/quick fix (weld, etc) job, and I disassembled the trike for him (unbolted and removed the back basket) and this is watt we found/saw:


Basically looks like the "fore and aft" front part of the frame has mostly separated from the port/starboard (left-right) back square metal tubing frame thingee... So the weld has maybe mostly failed, or that last bit of front metal (steel?) frame has split, or both... I guess the weld separated/broke first. I EVen heard "something" below me snap, a day or two ago, while I was negotiating the (slight) bump between the slope in the sidewalk, from the tarmac driveway to the street at the house/home where I am staying currently, moving at close to zero kmh.

The welding fellow (see above) had already commented after that first quicky weld (elsewhere on my trike frame) that the metal seemed "thin" to him (some might have thought he meant "flimsy")...

So anyway... I have already written (emailed) the folks in Windsor (that delivered this pretty (looking?) trike to me), telling them I wasn't interested in their warranty (I can fix stuff myself), nEVer imagining their "product" might "fall apart" (?) so fast. I mean, I know most of the roads around our city are sorta "bumpy" (watt some might call a "patch", or a "repair"), but I kinda though those rubber tires and air tubes should absorb that bouncing, as seen on bicycles riding all around town... But again, riding a three wheeler is kinda a new experience for me... Sure, I knew about that funky bouncing lid on the back basket, but that was kinda a "heads up" sound to warn other travellers, I thought...

So next step, I'll write (email) the folks (Cemoto Ltd., in JinHua, in ZheJiang, China) and ask them if they want to get involved somehow. Send them a link to this thread (grin)... Stay tuned...

L

 

[LockH]

Epic shot/pic of the Admiral (President of the Toronto Electric Riders Assoc.) arriving this morning to plugin to Toronto's first EVer downtown ebike recharging station. (Unfortunately, he's already riding LiFePO4, so didn't bring/really didn't need his 48V recharger, and I forgot my 48V charger was inside (with the fully recharged Li batt pack). So this was just a "photo op"... Well, the cord was "live" at least... (Hehe) I bought that outdoor electrical extension cord specifically so I would not have to disassemble my trike to bring the batt inside (hasn't been THAT cold at nights, yet...) Next up, got my "feelers out" for a canopy (just an old, "baft" maybe jib sail from a Hobie cat/etc sailboat, to provide some cover for parked/recharging ebikes, plus the back wooden picnic table, sitting beside the row of garbage containers... Well, wouldn't want to take over TOO much parking space from those darned horseless carriages. I expect at some point the new landlord will squawk that garbage cans and "cars" - not sure he won't be mixing up the two - are more important than electric vehicles). Also gotta visit a local PV installer, see if they want to "break into" a new industry for their product. EVen just loan us a couple of panels to mount on top of the canopy, where we can promote their product as a "new application" for their product. But yeah, maybe their PV panels, PLUS a solar concentrator... Anywhooo sneaky ebiker still finding things to amuse himself if this "provincial backwater"...

L

 

[LockH]

Ohhh... look watt I found. Not from my first little "mix up", but the more recent "learning how to ride an electric tricycle" thingee. At first, I had thought it was just a small broken bone in my right hand (the only bone in my own body I had EVer broken before in my life was `cause I had dropped a wooden log on my right foot, on a beach in British Columbia. I had walked around complaining about my slightly swollen foot for about a week, before my parents finally took "that damn kids" to the doc... I suspect just to shut him up.) But turns out that this time I do have a souvenir pic from my "visit" to the "Ontario Health Care System" (watt used to be called a "hospital"). I suppose most on ES are trying to "escape the system"... Technically, I guess I am a "multiple escapee" (not counting that one marriage thingee). But I bet many on ES have survived a "near death experience" (and lived to tell about it. - On our roads, I mean...)


This pic (x-ray) was actually taken a week after that darned trike had "done the nasty deed" (keeled over to starboard on a small grassy lawn/slope, while I was attempting to reach the paved road)... Having just recently escaped from our Ont. "health care sys" I was loath to re-enter their clutches. Uuuuh... and for the "medically-inclined", the pic came with this brief report:

WRIST RIGHT
Comparison: None.
Comminuted, impacted intricate the distal radial fracture. In the position imaged, 2 mm ulnar positive variance. There is dorsal displacement and slight dorsal angulation of the distal radial articular surface. Surrounding soft tissue swelling.
Osteopenia. Mild osteophyte formation first CMC and ST-T joints consistent with osteoarthrosis.
Impacted, displaced, angulated intra-articular distal radial fracture as described.

So did finally "cave" to my daughters urging (the two daughters that I know of... hehe) and rode back to ANOTHER (different) local "hospital" (on the same dastardly trike) to finally get my forearm in a cast.

Anyway, I am reliably informed by some "health care professionals" I probably will nEVer be a brick layer. (Not TOO sad, for an accountant/writer, now trying to break "out" into the ebike promo biz.)

Oh, woe is me (hehe).
L

PS... Gawds bless the French, without whom we would not have souvenirs, I guess...

 

[LockH]

Announcing!

In conjunction with the 2nd Annual International Ebike Uphill Race Challenge, the Carbeerian Krew (Scarborough, Ontario chapter of the Toronto Electric Riders Assoc.) will host later that same day our first annual Dress Ball (aka a costume party) just down Kingston Road, approx. 3.6 km west of Brimley Road (the road used to race up the Scarborough Bluffs).

The Ball will be in a back yard, with access by driveway off a side street (Birchcliff Ave.), and will celebrate the opening of an old wooden carriage house (aka a detached, one story garage), to become available as a stop-off or temp. parking space for ebikers in our Toronto east end. (The beach/north shore of Lake Ontario is at the bottom of this last short block of Birchcliff.)

Additionally, the "back driveway" (watt right now serves 3 detached garages, none of them currently in car use) may be renamed as "Petticoat Lane". (There is currently a "Petticoat Lane" in Pickering, otherwise none - according to Google - in the whole "GTA". Well, not yet anyway <grin>. There are in fact a number of "petticoat lanes" in a few towns and cities around the world, and many are perhaps named after THE Petticoat Lane, in London, England, which for over 200 years has served as a sort-of "market", for misc "stuff". Perhaps Scarborough could support yet another Sunday/weekend "market". There are already a few others in the "Greater Toronto Area".)

And at some future point the garage/back yard may also serve for classes in eg bicycle conversion to electric assist, care and feeding, upgrades, etc.

Additional thoughts for future improvements include a solar concentrator, solar panels, etc. (The garage enjoys a mostly clear southern exposure, currently and for the forseeable future, but has no "hydro"/electrical connection from the main house at this time.)

At this point, the annual Ball will be open to all ebikers and wannabes (those still ebike-deprived/less fortunate, and all races - EVen the Scottish! ..hehe), at no charge, however any cash donations will go to support the Toronto Electric Rider Association ("TERA", a Canadian federal not-for-profit corporation), and generally its objects, which in turn support the electric bicycle (and tricycle) as a preferred means for urban transportation, a far superior option to the waaay more expensive (and much more deadly) gasoline or diseasal-powered vehicle (or "V-hickle", as some might call it) from the 20th-century.

Date: Saturday, July 12, 2014 (Please Mark your calendar!)
Time: All day, kicking off orificially upon the arrival of the winner of the uphill race (maybe that sneaky Chuck guy AGAIN, that won the inaugural race earlier this year).
Location: 1667 Kingston Road, around back. A small pic of the garage (sorta "run down" and needing some minor repairs, plus full of "junk"), as it appeared recently:


Folks maybe interested in following developments over the months ahead may check in online, on the Carbeerian Chaps/Lassie Yeehaw group website, here:
http://ca.groups.yahoo.com/neo/groups/TERAScarb/info

The website for TERA (aka the Mother Ship), here:
http://www.meetup.com/Electric-Bicycles/

Cheers
L