Today's episode of Talk of the Nation Science Friday offers an excellent discussion of electric bicycles. A caller from Decorah even makes it on the show! Thanks to a Decorah Newspapers reader for the tip!

Carleton Reid of commutebybike.com gets Gary Fisher talking about bikes as transport and the future of cargo bikes. Find the podcast link here (Gary begins at the three minute mark).

I preferred Gary Fisher's podcast, but a related video (mentioned in the podcast) is John Burke, President of Trek Bicycles, giving a presentation to the Bike Industry:

An online survey of student response to Luther's Bike Share Program was administered May 7-12, 2008. 91 students responded. Bicycles at the time consisted of five Sun Atlas cruisers (three Specialized Globe Elite IG8s were added following the 2007/08 school year) .

Related/Background Links:
http://publicinformation.luther.edu/200809/may/misc/bikeshare.html
http://chips.luther.edu/2008/04/17/bike-share-program-launches.html

Students were asked:

One goal of this program is to reduce student driving. Do you have any other ideas of how to reduce student driving, through a bike program or any other program?

My electric-assist xtracycle had already proven that it was good for commuting, grocery shopping and running errands around town, but I was a little hesitant to use it for long distance travel. The motor and battery add an extra 30 lbs (14kg) - a lot of dead weight when your battery runs out at the base of a hill. When I set out to ride the 70 miles from Davis to Vallejo, I knew I would have to pace myself and use the throttle wisely.

• Riding time: 5 hours, 15 minutes
• Average Speed: 13.2 mph (21.4 km/h)
• Electricity usage: 12.32 Ah or 456.94 Wh
• Distance: 70 mi (113 km)
• "Fuel Economy": 6.5 Wh/mi (4 Wh/km)
• Cost of electricity: $0.07 @ California's rate of $0.15/kWh

As much as I'd like to see airline travelers riding bikes to and from distant airports, I have to admit: for now it's a foolish idea. Here's why:

A new folding bike that you'd actually feel safe riding is going to cost roughly $700 to $2000+. If you are going to purchase the bike bag/case along with it, add another $250-400.

For the flight, you'll have a one-way baggage fee ranging from

• free (perhaps on an intl. flight), to
• $15-$25 (a folding bike that can squeeze down to 62 linear inches (i.e., length + width + height) - and you'd better hope they don't know it's a bike), to
• $175 for a full-size bike box on Northwest Airlines

If you plan on riding off into the sunset upon landing, your adventure has just begun. For starters, you'll be needing lights.

Time-lapse video of me packing a Surly Traveler's Check (a full-size, S & S coupled cyclocross bike) into the backpack that with a little luck, will meet the standard baggage requirements at the airport and save me $160 one-way (rates for bike luggage just went up) on my domestic flight with Northwest Airlines. I did also manage to fit front and rear racks and fenders in the backpack.

The city of Madison, Wisconsin, has found a way to use solar power to make bicycle commuting a little bit safer and easier: 37 photovoltaic lampposts line a stretch of bike path near the University of Wisconsin. Although the initial expense is likely high, the lights could provide an educational resource and an option where electricity is not easily accessible. Video report here.

Madison Bike Path

Another electric bicycle showed up to the Iowa Renewable Energy Expo this past weekend, and it turns out the owner is from Decorah: Dale Kittleson. I am unsure of specifics and would like to talk with Dale more, but from our brief encounter, my guess is that he is running the BD36 Ebike Kit from Wilderness Energy on a Specialized Expedition (circa 2003). He mentioned battery power comes from a series of three 12V 12ah sealed Lead Acid batteries and the controller is immediate start (rather than pedal first. Read more for an additional photo.

Specialized Expedition E-Bike

The electric-assist Xtracycle is working great. After four months, the kinks have been worked out, and the bike is now a very practical method of transportation. Modification from the original include: a rear fender (to keep the bottom of the snap deck clean, the top part of a hurdle zip-tied to the freeradical (to keep the battery from bouncing and the fender eyelets from putting holes in the battery),

The Xtracycle now has a bicycle rack mounted on it to carry a second bicycle. A Rocky Mounts Lariat, it mounted onto the wideloader with no modification to the rack or bicycle - just a few shims (old tubes). Bracing is necessary to stabilize the passenger bicycle, but can easily be constructed. Check out the pictures, including a couple of close ups, in the Xtracycle section of the photo gallery.
Two Fewer Cars

I now have a bike which breaks in half, travels in suitcase, takes a beating from airport personnel, and gets me where I want to go in far away places. It's called the Surly Traveler's Check. 

Update: A current collection of photos is available under the Traveler's Check category of the Photo Gallery.
Surly Traveler's Check

An electric Xtracycle is a unique form of utility bicycle, which surprisingly, is often mistaken for what it is not -- a typical bike.

Here you will find a quick overview of the bike, and elsewhere on the site you will find a photo gallery, technical ride data, a list of riders, and project updates.

To create my version of the electric Xtracycle, I began with my existing mountain bike. I replaced the rear wheel and hub with an electric one and extended the bicycle frame's length using the ingenious invention called the Xtracycle. Those two simple modifications resulted is a cargo bike that it is able to stealthily carry 200lbs of groceries, camping gear, bikes, bike parts, electricity generation equipment, and passengers up hills and into headwinds.

Riders since May 9th, 2008: