July 14 - ride to work (gasoline $2.60/gal)

Well, tonight is the first night back to work after 16 days of vacation. We did a couple of interesting things, we house sat for my sister-in-law in Bangor Maine (Maine is Vacation Land!) and visited some touristy sites, we ate a lot of lobster meat, saw two movies (movies are a lot cheaper in Maine than they are here near New York City - I paid $4.50 for Adult tickets!), we kayaked, swam, and on the way home we went to the antique fair in Brimfield MA.

While in Maine, one day the Bangor Daily News had an article on this guy who is eBike commuting on a converted mountain bike and using NiMH batteries - way cool.

Last night I charged up my battery pack, and today had a very pleasant 30 minute ride to work. Seeing I haven't eBike commuted since June 23rd there were a few creeks and growns from the bottom bracket that I haven't heard before. It looks like I might need to replace some bearings - I'll lube them first, but I don't have a good feeling about this.

I am still thinking that a new purpose-built eBike is better than a conversion because I now have to deal with all the little anoyances you have with a 10-year old bike in addition to making the conversion and keeping that running too.

Gasoline is $2.60 per gallon. I bet we will see $3.00 per gallon by the end of the year. As long as I keep riding the bike, I can go 2 months without filling up the truck, 1 month without filling the minivan, and 2 weeks without topping off the VW. Basically, my gasoline expenses remain the same but my miles drivin drops. If gasoline goes above $3.00 per gallon, I will convert my delta trike to be an eTrike.