Should I Get an E-Bike?

"Should I get an e-bike?"

This question has been bopping around my head for several years now. Everyday, I watch a neighbour power up our hill, pedaling slowly on his e-bike. I know it's an e-bike because I've pedaled up this same hill and wheezed and plodded and ground along in first gear. Pedaling up the hill is not as easy as the e-bike makes it look.

I have a regular bike. Which, as of this writing... I still haven't taken down to the bike shop to get its tune-up. By this time of year... I would have done that already. But it always seem a less important task than everything else on my list.

And I wonder... if I had an e-bike... would I take it out more? Would I pedal off to Starbucks in the mornings instead of taking the car? How much would that affect our carbon footprint? Would I ride it enough to justify the costs? What if it got stolen?

All of this soul-searching has been triggered by a radio ad which said that the provincial government was offering up to a $1400 rebate on e-bikes that cost at least $2000. Ooohhh... that is almost too good to pass up. The rebate scales down based on your net income but... still...

In previous years, you could only get an e-bike rebate if you brought in your car through the scrap-it program. That seems to be gone... and now you can just get an e-bike rebate without turfing your car. So it is appealing. 

Pros

I think of all the benefits...

• I could go farther than I can on a regular bike
• The hills won't affect me like they do on a regular bike
• It will get me out and about more (theoretically)
• I could even pop down to the grocery store for odds and ends without feeling guilty about using the car
• I could even ride it in the spring and fall when it's inclement weather (neighbour dude does...)
• Good for my health!

Cons

And the negatives...

• How do you maintain an ebike? I have no idea...
• What if the bike seat is just as uncomfortable as my regular bike?
• Where to park it? The garden shed?
• How to charge it? Run an extension cord from the house to the shed?
• How to protect it? Will it be thievable?

I see that the negatives are mostly a list of questions. With a fair degree of uncertainty. That is what holds me back - all of these unknowns. I could find the answers to these questions fairly easily. Friends of ours on Gabriola Island have e-bikes and love them... They will have answers to a lot of these questions.

Regular Bike?

Or... do I just stick with my regular bike? Just bite the bullet and get it tuned up and get a saddle fitting? Presuming that the bike shop does that. Or just do little mini-bike rides until sore bum bones get used to the bike saddle.

Ack. Sometimes I wonder at my indecision. It's annoying! Just choose! Make a damn decision and go for it!

And just an FYI... e-bikes in the local shops are running at around $5000. Eek!!!

Ok... enough wiffle-waffling... I am going to take my regular bike down to the bike shop this afternoon. They are open until 6 pm... so I can walk it down in 30 min and walk back without it. I don't know if it fits into the back of the car but... whatever. I can walk down.

While I'm there, I'll see about the bike saddle and whether they do saddle fittings and figure out if my saddle works for me or if I should buy a new one. Heck... they might look at my bike which is... ooohhh... 30 years old... and decide it really needs to be replaced. WTH... will handle that when it comes to that moment. 

Do you have an e-bike?? How does it work for you???

Change is Hard

Last week I grumped about Starbucks and how I am so tired of the price increases, the reduction in amenities (comfy chairs gone) and the lousy rewards program that just cut reward star value in half.

After much muttering... I decided to try... McDonald's. It's supposed to open at 5:30 am... although the nearest McDonald's has some low reviews because of the hours not being accurate.

Rather than showing up at 5:30 am and finding the doors locked... I decided to try it one afternoon. I finished running some errands and walked in the door.

It's different than Starbucks... has more of a Tim Horton's feel. Bright... hard... sterile. I mean... it's not that different from Starbucks which also has hard surfaces... hard floors, hard tables... hard seats. But in Starbucks, the lighting is subdued and it gives it a nice moody ambience, warm and inviting. Here at McDonald's it's just a bit too... I don't know... cold.

But... there's always a but... they have a TONNE of electrical outlets, basically one by every table. And they have a lot of tables too. They even have some soft bench seating with tables (and electrical outlets).

I grabbed a table near the window and sat down... I can hear people chatting at the next table but there is a bit of a screen between us, which is nice.

The wifi was easy to connect to and is a solid 173 Mbps which s fast.

There are a lot of older people passing through here... which is fine. McDonald's food is cheap! I didn't order anything though... not a tea, not anything. Which might be a bit of a cheat but... I am trying it out.

Nobody's going to throw me out and... well... we'll see how it goes.

Right now... I don't like it. It's different than Starbucks and... well... I don't like it. I know that change is hard but knowing that doesn't make it any easier. I have gotten very comfortable at Starbucks. And making the move to McDonald's is going to take some doing. Are there things I could love about this place? Maybe... it's a good location. It's walkable from home. It's across the street from the local grocery store where I often come to pick up odds and ends. It has fast wifi. It has lots of electrical outlets. The music isn't super loud.

I mean really... when you look at it... the pros outweigh the cons by a long shot... at least in the number of them. Way more pros than cons. But the con (ambience) is a big one. Or is it?

I am going to have to try this out for a while and see how it goes. Small steps remember... just one small step.

Planning and Preparation is 90% of the Battle

I'm heading over to Vancouver today on the ferry. It'll be about 1 hour and 40 minutes and I try to use that time wisely because... there is NO wifi on the ferries!!

Now, in the past, that has really mucked with my plans for working at one of the business stations on the ferry. They have the electrical outlet. They have the desk space. They just can't get reliable wifi out on the open water. Which sucks.

Although it does give me an opportunity to do some planning and preparation. I make sure that I have some Word documents all synchronized in Dropbox, so I can open them on the laptop and work away on them. I know that they will resynchronize the next time I connect on a wifi network. Or I'll bring a book (real or e-book) to read. Or I'll bring some actual paperwork (real paper) to work through, maybe a chapter that I'm reading and editing.

Planning for a Wifi Dead Zone

Today, I had the bright idea of bringing the DVD on the Camino that I picked up from the local library a few days ago. My older laptop does have a DVD reader, so I could sit and watch the DVD while sailing the open seas. Excellent idea! I'm also bringing a real book just to cover all eventualities. And, of course, I have e-books that are available via my smartphone.

Planned and Prepped!!! It's half the battle! Or is it? Perhaps it's actually 90% of the battle? Because if I have planned and prepped... then I've parked myself downhill on a very steep slope and it's really super easy to get started. And I know what happens when I don't plan and prep... I spin my wheels on the ferry and waste a lot of time and kick myself for not thinking ahead! Soo... I am well-prepped for my NO wifi voyage...

Mobile Hotspot!

And then... it struck me... as I was writing this... that I could actually use my phone as a mobile hotspot! That would allow me to actually stay connected to the internet and get a bunch of other stuff done. Although I think the cell reception might get a bit dodgy about halfway through the crossing... but it's worth trying.

I just checked my mobile hotspot usage from the last billing period... 1.28 GB, which isn't bad considering I probably used it four times for several hours each time. I just ticked over into a new billing period so I have a fresh mobile data meadow to romp in!

Planning for Healthy Eating

The other thing I always chew on... but have yet to figure out is... what to eat on the ferry. I could go to the White Spot cafeteria onboard and order all sorts of things, but it's not cheap. I have wondered for a while if there is a microwave somewhere on board where I could heat some leftovers... I have a sneaking suspicion there is one... but I have not really gone on a hunt for one. I think it might be in the smaller cafe on board... next to the sugar station? I can almost picture it in my minds eye... but don't quote me on this!! So that will be my mission on this journey... do they have a microwave on board! Which still leaves me wondering about food... Maybe just a PB and J (peanut butter and jam) sandwich on gluten-free bread... Will have to give it some consideration... or just cave and order butter chicken on the ferry!

How it Actually Panned out

Well... it actually went really well!! I decided to buy some sandwich meat while I did my grocery shop before the ferry trip. So I made a sandwich, peeled an orange and cut up an apple. I was well set for food on board! (And yes... I have gotten a bit lax in my plant-based eating plan - but salami was just an easy choice and better & cheaper than the onboard options).

And my work session also went well. I was glad that I had some tasks lined up because I can get easily distracted and lose my focus but... that didn't happen this time. And I got some good work completed. I did use my phone as a mobile hotspot and it was pretty solid throughout the whole voyage, so that is something good to know!

I also had a poke around the ferry and... voila... they DO have a microwave onboard!! Very good to know as it give me the option of bringing some leftovers that I can reheat onboard the ferry.

Our Carbon Footprint Could be Better... Needs to be Better!

After calculating our carbon footprint last week... I was pretty satisfied with it. 12 tonnes of CO2 per year per person isn't bad! It's certainly better than folks in Alberta who rely on coal powered electricity power plants. Right? Right.

Global Neighbours

Well... turns out, we're not the only ones on the planet. And our carbon footprint in Canada is not great. In fact, it's worse than pretty much any European country. I know why too... distance. We fly more. We drive more. We don't have super-fast trains that connect cities. Our wide-open skies and huge distances mean we do a LOT of travelling and... that's where we are racking up a lot of our CO2 emissions. Not to mention all of our food has to travel long distances, etc, etc. And let's not mention holidays... if we want to flit off to a Mexican vacation, we are talking thousands of kilometres of flight distance... whereas in Europe... those distances are often smaller... just flit down to Greece or Spain or Italy for a winter vacay.

Yeah... except... China has an average carbon footprint of 5 tonnes... and they are a big country too... We are in trouble.

Climate change isn't going to cut us any slack. A recent study confirmed that by 2050, Canadians are going to have to cut their emissions an average of 95%. Eerk... that would mean... an average of 0.6 tonnes of CO2 per year... Ummm... where's my chart??

Basically... we could heat our home, handle garbage and recycling and drive a tiny bit in our gasoline powered car, and eat a vegan diet... Remember... in my previous blog, this carbon footprint didn't include diet at all! 

Yep, it's official... we are in trouble.

2035 and 2050 Targets

Here's what it looks like... There we are at the top of the pack... and there's Brazil and India near the bottom. And we can see our targets as well. The 2035 target is 2.5 tonnes/person/year. But by 2050, we need to get that down to 0.7 tonnes/person/year.

Hot & Cool report on climate change - 1.5-Degree Lifestyles Report | Hot or Cool

Seriously... it seems impossible to go from 12 tonnes/year to 2.5 tonnes/year! And then down to 0.7? HOW???

Reducing Carbon Footprints

The Hot or Cool report offers the most bang for your buck suggestions. And for Canada, a high-income country... we are looking at the following...

Biggest Reduction - 0.5 to 1.5 Tonnes/year per option

• shift from gas-guzzlers to fuel-efficient vehicle
• shift from gasoline car to electric car
• car-free private travel (a vacay with no car??)
• reducing  international flights
• shift from meat-based diet to vegan or vegetarian diet
• shift from fossil fuels to renewable energy

Medium Reduction - 0.25 to 0.5 Tonnes/year per option

• living closer to the workplace
• car-free commuting with electric bikes, ride sharing
• smaller living space
• hybrid car
• car-free commuting with public transportation
• closer weekend leisure
• efficiency improvement of home appliances

Small Reduction - less than 0.25 tonnes/year per option

• food production efficiency improvement
• alternative dairy products
• renting a guest room
• telework
• efficiency improvement of buildings, heat pump or air conditioner for temperature control
• reduction of sweets and alcohol
• reduction of domestic flights
• household food loss reduction
• saving hot water
• lowering temperature at home
• supply side food loss reduction,

The Bottom Line

My sense is that a lot of us are focused on the Small Reduction section. We are trying to save hot water by showering less. We are lowering the thermostat and wearing sweaters. We are composting and trying to reduce food waste. We are installing a heat pump. But while all of these things are good... they aren't making a big difference.

For the biggest difference... we are going to have to address things like our car-culture... gasoline cars in particular. And our preference for individual transport over communal transport.

We are going to have to address our fixation with fossil fuels... whether it's natural gas for heating homes or coal-powered electrical generating plants. Those don't work anymore.

We are going to have to look at our addiction to air travel. In France and Austria, they have banned short-haul domestic flights under 2 hours. You'll need to take a train instead. And that works for them because they have the rail system to support that. Here... our rail system is pathetic. And we like our warm-weather winter vacations too... and flitting off to Arizona for the entire winter. Those things might be a relic of the past in a few years.

Carbon Budget

I wonder what would happen if we had a carbon budget for the year. And no... you can't borrow or trade carbon like you would money. This is a budget that can't be altered. You only have so much carbon money to spend. Once it's gone... that's it.

Of course we'd buy our heating and electricity first... and then want?

Things like garbage and recycling... but then travel? Transport? Diet?

We made the switch to a primarily vegan/vegetarian diet three years ago. Beans... tofu... tempeh... and a bit of salmon here and there for the Omega-3s. It works. It's actually quite yummy. Do we miss milk? Nope. Do we miss cheese? Sometimes. We do dabble in yogurt and butter but minimally. But if we had a carbon budget... and had to cut something... yogurt and butter would be the first to go. But what about eating local? What if we ate some local bison? Makes no difference. Meat whether it is next door, or across the country still has a high carbon footprint.

I'd probably be cutting my daily drives to Starbucks. In favour of walking or biking to another coffee shop. I'd make sure that all of my errands are tied together like a daisy chain. They generally are... but sometimes we make that run to the grocery store for a packet of basil because we need it for the recipe we are cooking. Maybe that's a place to start... track our annual kilometres and make an effort to reduce our daily car use.

As for travel... when my mother immigrated to Canada in the mid-1950s... there were no international flights. Heck there weren't even domestic flights. She took a passenger ship from Bremen to Quebec City. She then boarded a train that travelled all the way across Canada. Took days and days. She remembers a time when there were no cheap and easy flights. They are a luxury. And one that we can ill afford the way it stands.

It's enough to make one's head ache. And yet... it's all pretty obvious.

• Buy local - farmer's markets
• Buy seasonal - don't buy raspberries in January
• Eat more vegetables - including dried legumes... best bang for your buck
• Eat less meat - beef is bad... fish is better
• Walk or Bike more - time for an e-bike?
• Drive less - plan your errands... vacation locally

Right now... we still have some free will and choice in all of this. We can choose to do better. There may come a day when we don't get that choice. When it's gotten so desperate that we have carbon rationing... or a ban on international flights or... who knows. I can't see the future but it doesn't take a rocket scientist to see the writing on the wall. 

Breaking up with Starbucks

 

Readers of this blog will know that I have a bit of a love affair with Starbucks. We've been together now for... oh... 13 years I guess. Through thick and thin, through hot chocolates and brownies and chai teas... I've attended faithfully, day after day.

One of the reasons why I love Starbucks is the ambience. It's comfortable, it's cozy, it's convenient. I also love the electrical outlets and the free wifi! I also love that they are open early! I am an early bird and like to hit the ground running at 5:00 a.m. The only thing open at that time is... Starbucks. A match made in heaven!

But a few years back, before Covid, all of my favourite Starbucks started getting rid of their comfy chairs... slowly but surely, they all disappeared. All of the locations got remodelled as well, and added extra storage space for refrigerators and the like. So the overall seating declined as well, making it harder to get a spot to sit.

Back in mid-February, 2023, Starbucks also adjusted their rewards program. You get "stars" for every dollar you spend. With 50 stars, I could get a free tea or a free brownie. Yay! Except... they decided to join the inflation band-wagon and doubled the number of stars I would need. So instead of 50 stars, it was 100 stars. Well... that sucks. And... that same day, I walked in there and found that my tea had also jumped in price, another 20 cents.

It used to be that I could get a tea there for $2 but now... it's $3. And that just seems a bit too steep for me.

If that wasn't enough... their wifi has gone to the dogs. At my regular location, I usually have to piggy back on the Subway fast food place, two doors over. It has faster and better wifi than the Starbucks that I'm sitting in! At some of the other Starbucks, I have to use my smartphone as a wifi hotspot in order to get anything done. Not cool.

And sooo... after the stars doubled... and my tea went up... I thought... I need another hang-out place. I scrolled through Google Maps searching for coffee shops in my area. I would love to be able to support an independent, locally owned business, but they all open at 8 am. That is too late for me. And soooo... I was left with one option. One that I hate to even mention in this hallowed space. Ewwww... it's... ready for it... yep... McDonald's. I know, I know... ugh!!!!

But here me out... and look at my checklist...

• Open early - check - they open at 5 am
• Free wifi - check - I will have to test it out though and see how good it is
  
• Electrical outlets - check - I scoped out the nearest McD and they had outlets at every single table (better than Starbucks where you have to jockey for tables near outlets)
  
• Tea - check - different flavours and... it's $1.50 (half the price of Starbucks)
• Walkability - check - this isn't even an option with Starbucks which is a good hour away, but the nearest McD is only a 30 minute walk. Perfect
• Ambience - meh - not the greatest... although they do have padded bench seats (which Starbucks eliminated pre-pandemic)
• Convenience - check - it's actually in an area of shops that I often stop at for small things (like cat treats)... so I could kill a few birds with one stone here.

Sooo... as I write this... tomorrow is my Starbucks day... and... as long as it's not bucketing rain, I will be walking to McD... (or driving if it is bucketing rain). And... I'll report back on my experience.

Sometimes change happens gradually... and sometimes... the pressure builds up over time until... it's a big change. Wish me luck.

Small Choices --> Big Results

Every morning when I leave the house to go to Starbucks for my morning session... I drop my pack at the front door and face a choice.

Am I going to wear my Blundstone boots for a chic, woman-about-town look... or am I going to tie on my Merrell light hiking boots?

The Blundstones are super easy to pull on and normally, for a trip to Starbucks, those are the shoes I would wear. But... if I wear them, then it's a guarantee that I will not be able to do a quick little walk around the local bird sanctuary after leaving Starbucks. The option or possibility of a walk is a closed door.

The Merrell's take longer to put on, with all those laces but... if I'm wearing them, then I am prepped to do a little hike or walk if I choose to do it. The option or possibility is still an open door.

And so, every morning lately, I've been pulling on my Merrell's... leaving the door of a hike or a walk open for me. It seems like a pretty small decision but... it's these sorts of things that have let me get more walks in.

Reducing Friction

There's a part of me that says... well... I could just wear the Blundstone's and bring the hiking boots in the car. That way, I can have the best of both worlds. True... except the idea of changing boots in the parking lot of the local trail is just that little bit of extra friction that... when my motivation is already not the greatest, could blow the door of a hike shut.

And in this business... every little bit of friction counts! Even this morning... I really had to talk myself into taking 4 or 5 minutes to get some frozen berries, thaw them in the microwave, dole out some yogurt on top of them, add some walnuts... so that I could bring an impromptu breakfast with me. The friction would be way less if I just prepped the yogurt breakfast the night before and put it in the fridge. That way... in the morning... when I'm groggy and just wanting to get out the door... the friction of taking a healthy breakfast is minimal. Because... if I end up at Starbucks without something to eat... my level of resistance to the whispers of the chocolate brownie is like... zero.

It's all part of the parking downhill idea... or removing the friction that slows down our desire to do the right thing, make the right choices... or make choices that we know are right/best/healthiest for us.

I've tried to think of different ways to reduce the friction of various habits. For my daily journal practice, for example, I bring extra pens in my backpack so that when I'm sitting at Starbucks and my fountain pen runs out of ink... I just reach into the pack and pull out a back-up pen and continue writing. No friction. 

When I want to edit documents on my laptop, using the laptop mouse pad is just an annoyance. One that I put up with for years... but that also hampered me from doing projects because... it's too hard to do with just a mouse pad. Until... late last year, I decided to bring an extra corded mouse that came with my new desktop computer. OMG... having a mouse plugged into the laptop makes life sooooo much easier!!! And then... my partner offered me the wireless mouse... even better!! I also dug out an old mouse pad so that my little mouse doesn't have to skitter across the naked table top at Starbucks.

I have back-up reusable coffee tumblers in the car, just in case I forget mine at home. But on the odd occasion lately, where I've forgotten my regular tumbler... I've also not taken one from the car. Why? Well, it's too much trouble. You see, I have one in the door cup holder of the passenger door. It's too far for me to reach and grab it from the driver's seat. Too much friction. But now, I've placed one in the rear door cup holder on the driver side, so when I grab my backpack from the back seat... the cup is right there, ready to grab. Fingers crossed that works.

All of these small friction-reducing actions do help me to make better choices and ultimately lead to big results. And lasting habits... because once the habit is ingrained... sometimes you can handle a bit of friction. The habit is so self-perpetuating, that it just blows through little friction speed bumps. Doesn't mean I can totally neglect friction-reduction but... it's nice to know that there is a bit of leeway!

Update on the Virtual Camino

As regular readers of this blog might recall... I started a Virtual Camino (one of The Conqueror challenges) in late January. As I write this, it is late May... so 4 months since I started the virtual 800 km trek to Santiago de Compostela. I'd like to be able to say that I am further along than I am... but I am not!

I got derailed from my virtual Camino in late March. Came down with a cold which completely knocked me out. And then we went on a road trip and... and... and... I've only been doing one walk a day and that might net me 3 km or so... at this rate... I'll be inching my way along the Camino 4 months from now!

As it stands though... I am 45% of the way to Santiago, which isn't bad.

And, so far, I'm not going to run out of time either, although I could definitely speed it up a bit.

When I passed the 40% mark, a tree was planted by Eden Reforestation Projects on my behalf!! Which is kind of cool... I think I get another tree at the 60% mark. I also received some virtual postcards as I inched along...

Atapuerca is sight of some ancient neolithic remains (1,000,000 years old), which is kind of cool.

And then I received one from the city of Burgos. It sounds like a beautiful city and all I really know about it is the role it played in the Peninsular War in the early 1800s! Thank you Bernard Cornwell and the Sharpe book series!

I had this idea that I would be clicking off 10 km a day here at home and that I could do the virtual Camino handily in 3 months but... that's obviously not the case. Life has gotten in the way. Or I've gotten distracted by life.

I could definitely add in an early morning walk, especially as it is now almost the height of summer and the days are long and start early! Perhaps I'll get myself in gear. Even walking to a nearby coffee shop (30 min walk) and back would work. Although... I did try the nearest "coffee shop" that opens early (McDonald's... ick) and although it says that it opens at 5 am... nope. It was not open at 5 am! So I need to rethink that... 

Anyhow... one step at a time. Every step counts and that's really all that matters. I'm moving forward slowly and that's OK too. It's the journey that matters... not how fast one gets there.