Storage unit finished . . . enough - Time for E-Bikes

View of storage shed from the parking lot.  Tin will become the 'canvas' for a mural.

Storage shed from the 'business' side.

The last view of the storage area before it gets filled up.

On Tuesday, I spent a few hours finishing up the major building on the storage shed for donated bikes.
During the process, many of the students got involved.  Probably the most fun and surprising help came from a couple of the female students who took ownership of getting the corrugated tin walls wired to the cyclone fence.  They insisted that it was their project so I saved the work for them when they had time to help.  They did a great job and the wall looks great.
We are looking at the wall as a palette for a mural.  Another student is a graffiti artist and he is going to bring some design ideas for painting the tin wall.  It's a 8 foot high by almost 30 foot space that will hopefully get painted in a colorful way that promotes the activities of the Green Academy.  Those activities include the garden, the chickens, the bicycle restoration project and other "green" activities.  It will be fun to watch the mural take shape.
As I've been working at the school, I'm slowly getting to know some of the students and learning about their lives.  There are a number of the students who are "high-risk".  They are not very committed to academics, they have had negative encounters with authorities and I can see that if they don't find a productive outlet for some of their energy, there is a real possibility of bad outcomes.  On the other hand, some of these same students are fascinated by bicycles.  I see real potential for positive outcomes driven by engagement with bicycles.  Hopefully, the electric bicycles will add another level of attraction for some of these students and get them involved in building better lives for themselves and bicycles that will get more people out of cars.
Next week, I will start with electric bikes.  I haven't quite figured out how to get the program going since there are significant financial hurdles to building e-bikes.  I've been toying with a few ideas but I think I will see where the interest is first and then figure out how to fund the building of e-bikes.  One model is to pre-sell electric bikes based on allowing the use of one of my existing bikes.  Another model is to cover the cost of building a bike or two and loaning them out as rewards for students who are helpful. Getting students to raise enough money to buy a conversion kit for their own bike is another model.  We'll see what unfolds.

As an aside, brother Michael is committed to building electric cargo bikes for people who need to haul more than just their bodies around.  His skill as a woodworker helped him build a beautiful trailer for one of his bikes that is going to a restaurant over in Oakland.  Before he delivers it, he is testing the trailer by moving his entire household to a new house about 3 miles away.  Lots of trips but he has been having a great time making the move.

Back to School

High Tech structure.  The fence supports the high side "posts" and header while repurposed cement parking lot bumpers support the lower posts and header. School parking lot is in the background.

(Notice the 18 foot header, on the ground next to the posts, fabricated out of 2 - 10' 2X6's and 2 - 8' 2X6's.  I stagger the seams and use 1/2" plywood scraps  in between the two 2X6's.  Lots of glue and lots of nails make for a very strong, straight beam. From a sustainability point of view, using smaller lumber to build larger lumber requires the use of smaller trees and is therefore more sustainable.  Manufactured beams, called 'Glulams' are stronger than the equivalent solid lumber beam.) 

Bicycle shed in the foreground where tools and parts are stored.  There's also a workbench inside for rainy days.  The corrugated tin on the fence will be painted as a mural announcing the garden and bicycle project.  Behind the fence and up the hill is the garden and chickens.  I would love to be a high school student here!!

I spent every afternoon last week at the High School working on the storage structure for donated bikes and parts.  It has been a lot of fun getting to know the students and giving them jobs that help get the project done.  We should be finished by the end of next week and then I can start focusing on building an electric bicycle or two. ( I still haven't figured out the permission needed to post photos of the students. It gets complicated when the school is involved.)

Electric Riders Project (ERP) accelerates and detours

Suddenly, my involvement with Woodside's Green Academy and the Electric Bicycle Project is in full swing.   But not as I had envisioned.
Last Thursday I attended a meeting with some of the interested parties.  One gentleman is excited about creating a Bike Swap once a month on campus.  This would attract bikers interested in a flea market focused on bicycles.  The booth fees would go to the Green Academy's bicycle club.
Another gentleman is a retired teacher and loves to build very nice bikes.  He wants to teach bike mechanics.
A former Woodside student is helping design the bike club by working with the students until he goes back to college in Sonoma next week.
A couple of students showed up because they are interested in bicycles and want to participate.

One of the shortcomings of the infrastructure is that there is no storage for donated bikes.  The poor beasts have been sitting out in the nasty weather getting less and less attractive.  I volunteered to build a storage unit and now I find that my interest in electric bikes has me building a shed!  (It brings me back to my happy days of theater set building on my college campuses. University of Oregon, UC Santa Cruz and Dominican College in San Rafael.)

So yesterday, I rode my bike to Home Depot and loaded up the materials needed for the shed.  Mac, the college student, helped me and as we finished, Josh Rubin showed up with the school van and a couple of students to drive the materials back to Woodside.  He left a little bit before I did and I got to campus with about 2 minutes of his arrival time.  They had only unloaded 1 board when I arrived!  Point being that the electric bike, for relatively short trips in town is just as fast as driving. (But not as good at hauling a ton of building materials.)  I was very happy to be able to demonstrate the speed and efficiency of electric bike travel.

What the heck?  Denver, CO -  June 2010

I apologize for not posting pictures.  I am working out issues around permission for the students pictures to be posted on this blog.  It shouldn't be a problem but I do need to respect their privacy.

Woodside High School Electric Rider Project (ERP) - Day 1

The cold snap ended the first day I rode down to Woodside High to start working with the students. Unfortunately, the roads were still wet and my bike got very messy.  On the bright side, I was able to test the water resistance of my electrical system.  I also added an inexpensive (about $30.00) gauge that tells me how much electricity I'm using real time and keeps track of the amp hours that I use over the distance of my trip.  The $120 Cycle Analyst that we had on our cross country bikes gives a lot more information but it is more information than I understand and too expensive for the population that I am trying to get onto electric bikes.
I arrived on campus and saw a group of students hovering around the bicycle shed.  Only one female student was there and she was labeling and organizing tools.  The "guys" were more random and were delighted with my offer to try out my bike.  Even though they couldn't reach the pedals since my frame is so big, they got a great thrill getting pulled around by the front wheel hub motor.  It's not difficult getting them to appreciate the fun factor.  (The woman student didn't want to ride the bike.  She doesn't like bicycles after she had an accident as a child that split her chin open.  She likes to work with her hands and that's why she's involved with the bicycle club.)

After a while, we all headed to teacher Marin Aldrich's classroom.  Different groups of students were working on different components related to making the bicycle club work.  The idea is to build bikes out of  old bikes and sell them.  So students were talking about everything from getting old bikes donated, to soliciting bike shop support for parts, to researching Craigslist as a marketing tool, etc.
I spoke for about ten minutes about my vision for adding electric bikes to the program.  What I remember about my words was that I kept switching back and forth between talking about the micro details of putting together electric bicycles and the big picture of global sustainability.  The point being that repurposing existing bikes with or without motors is a very good way to reduce our carbon intensive impact on the planet.
Minimal new materials. (Maybe new tires, brake pads and seats.)
If the bicycle replaces a car trip, the impact becomes measurable.
Taking advantage of resources in the community fosters local engagement which is vital to building healthier communities.
Learning to build a bike encourages self sufficiency which is an important part of growing up as well as a  necessity in the carbon constrained world that awaits our children.

I finished off my visit with a conversation with one of the students about building storage for donated bikes and an outdoor work bench attached to the shed.  Vital and simple projects that need to be done soon.

The following day, I met my sister Catherine at Oracle headquarters which was about a 25 mile round trip bike ride.  With my new gauge, I observed that I used less than 7 amp hours to cover the distance.  When I compared that to a car that gets about 25 miles per gallon, my electricity cost was under 10 cents whereas the cost of gas for the trip would have been over $3.00.  Another fun feature was that I got to my destination in the same or slightly less time than it would have taken in a car.  I rode during rush hours and by using back roads and riding alongside cars at intersections, I was able to keep a good average speed that got me to Oracle quite fast.
The bad news was that on the way home, Catherine was cut off by a car driver who turned right in front of her. She crashed into the car, fell off her bike and the driver didn't even stop.
It's dangerous out there so be careful!!!

Electric vehicles are here and there's a lot in the pipeline.

On Thursday I attended a conference at Stanford University hosted by the University, The German American Business Council and BMW.
The conversation was not about when or if electric cars are coming.  The conversation was about what is coming, and who the leaders will be (BMW, of course, is planning on a leadership role.)
The other part of the conversation was about charging stations and how the grid will provide power.
Overall, an amazing shift in the conversation from merely a year ago.
Many of the challenges are technological, legislative and behavioral.  All of them are able to be solved but I had to mention that there are other great electric vehicles out there (electric bicycles) that can help get people off of their addiction to fossil fuels, reduce congestion, increase health and save a lot of cash!
I also met a former BMW executive who is now teaching at Stanford and expressed interest in my helping with an electric bicycle course that he will be teaching in the Spring.
Could be a lot of fun!!!

I got to drive the electric Mini Cooper.  That was a lot of fun.  What a rocket!!

Woodside High School Electric Rider Project (ERP)

Deciding how to best leverage the Green Riders' cross country adventure has been an exercise in patience.
Planning for the trip and being on the road involved lots of quick decisions that didn't require much collaboration.
Getting this new project going has been the opposite.  I am working within a school system which is amazingly flexible and open but still moves at a much slower pace than I am used to.
Yesterday, I met with two of the teachers who are part of the Green Academy.  The Green Academy is a school within a school on the Woodside High campus and its focus is sustainability and technical skill building for students who are motivated but not inspired by the more traditional academic offerings in high school.
I have been talking with Josh Rubin and Marin Aldrich since the beginning of the school year and yesterday they presented a plan that integrates some of their goals (bicycle recycling project) with my goal of introducing electric bicycles into the high school community.

Sunday Cruise with Liza (Note front wheel hub motor on my recumbent- Sweet and simple)

Below is an outline for moving forward that Marin Aldrich put together after yesterday's meeting.  It exceeds my expectations . . . by a lot!  I am completely thrilled with how much work has already been done by these two remarkable teachers and I can't wait to get going.


ELECTRIC RIDERS PROJECT OUTLINE:

Goals:  - to refurbish and resell/donate used bikes 
            - to market, build, and sell electric bikes
            - to involve students at every level of this project possible

Steps:
1.  All interested students will have their schedule moved (switch with Ann's class) so that they are in Josh's 7th period class.  This will allow us to work with that team of students on A-days from 1:35-3:10.  
2.  Those not directly involved in the bike component of this project will work to accomplish other support activities for the bike repair team: building a shed to protect bikes, working on marketing and sales strategies for both electric and refurbished bikes, capacity-building and networking in the community to find old bikes and sell refurbished ones.  
3.  We will start in January with some of the initial work: training the students on basic bike repair (Marin and Oliver), pulling in former students as repair trainers (Mac, Ricky, Sean), building the shed (Josh and a team of students). 


And yes, that is the same Sean who was part of our cross country team!


So my first job is to get fingerprinted so that I can volunteer with the students.

Another Presentation - Redwood City Nov. 17

Just in case you may be in the area, I have another presentation set up for Wednesday the 17th in Redwood City.  The focus of the talk will be half about the trip and the other half about how electric bikes can fit into the palette of choices people can look at for transportation in this area.  Selling sustainability as a motivator for behavior change is not easy.  Many people understand and agree that sustainable behavior is important but when it comes around to changing behavior (getting out of the car and onto an electric bike), sustainability does not have enough immediate appeal to get people to change their behavior.  So my talk will emphasis the fun and convenience  of electric bikes.  Since being home, I am using my electric bike to run errands and to visit people within a 15 mile radius and I find that I have fun, get exercise and spend maybe an extra 10 or 15 minutes traveling on the longer trips. Not having to deal with parking, long traffic lines waiting for lights to change and 2,000 pounds of car to navigate is a delight!

Event Details

Series

            Redwood City Verde Talks - A Green Education & Mixer Series

Date

Wednesday, November 17, 2010

Time

6:30-8 PM

Location

Redwood City City Hall, 1017 Middlefield Rd, Redwood City, CA 94063

Format

6:30-7PM: Mixer

7-8PM: Intro, Talk (30 mins), Q&A (20 mins), Close

Hope to see you there,

Oliver

Front hub motor on sister Catherine's Cannondale Recumbent