| Bike |
November 21, 2017
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| The day after he retired from his job, he sat at his desk at home, he was surfing on the internet thinking what he should do from now on. He was 60 years old. He wanted to do something fun, good for his health and related to nature. If he could communicate with others, while doing this, it would be better. As it would take a certain time until he could receive his pension, he didn't want to use a lot of money. Even so, he could afford something if he needed to buy something for his new activities. At first, he thought about climbing mountains. His city was surrounded by mountains. He heard that nowadays young girls climbed mountains. "But could I climb mountains every day?" Maybe it seemed enough for him to climb mountains once a month or so. Next he thought about cycling. He heard that nowadays young girls go cycling. If it's cycling, you can go somewhere every day. It doesn't cost anything to ride. Healthy and eco-friendly. You can enjoy the beautiful countryside and the natural surroundings. "But ...," he thought. Actually, he had a bicycle. It was not so old. 21 gears, thin  tires, rather light, a sports type of bicycle. But he didn't use the bicycle often. He knew it was good for one's health and eco-friendly. But somehow he didn't feel like using his bike. Maybe he felt tired when he pedaled every time. It reminded him of the time when he had a chance to talk with a Danish person, who said that the number of cyclists per population in Denmark was the most in the world. And he, the Danish guy, asked him, "Can you guess why?" He replied, "Maybe you are eco-friendly people." The Danish guy replied, "The biggest reason is that Denmark's land is very flat. Denmark's altitude is the lowest in Europe. The highest place, a hill, is 173 meters high!" He said, "Oh, it's not so different from here, where we're standing now." It was the downtown area. He lived in this city which was located on basin land. He thought that in this mountainous country, to use a bicycle seemed harder than in other counties. He had heard that in Europe many people use bicycles. 'Tour de France' is also held in France. He checked on the Internet about bicycles. He soon came to know that there were many 'electric-bicycles' that were sold in Europe and they were popular. Electric-bicycles can be categorized into two kinds. One: The machine can be driven in two ways: By pedaling or by motor. If you drive by motor, it's not so different from a motorbike. Because of this, in this country, this type was categorized as a motor bike. It means that you need a license, a helmet, insurance, a number plate, and the worst part (for him) was one needs to use a blinker to turn. This is not a bicycle anymore. He wasn't interested in this type. Two: The machine can be move by the rider's pedaling only. Electric power assists the rider's pedaling. If you turn off the electric power system, the machine will become just a normal bicycle. He surfed watching various electric bicycle's sites and studied a lot of things: 1. Electric bicycles tend to be heavier than normal bicycles. If its battery is worn out, a lighter bicycle has an advantage to ride. 2. Traffic rules for electric bicycles differ from each country. There is an assist speed limit, which is 25 km/h in Europe. 3. Assist powers are also decided with wattage. It doesn't mean that you can't drive over 25 km/h, because if you pedal more, the machine got more speed accordingly. It just means that no assistance of electric power is used after 25 km/h. 4. There is also various electric power ratios that decides how much power is used while the rider is pedaling. 5. Electric bicycles use a battery. Keeping distance for a battery differs from 10 kilometers to 100 kilometers. You can charge it at home. (In some places, there are electric charging stands for electric bicycles.) 6. Electric bicycle's price is about two or three times of the normal bikes. One website that he read stated, "In 2016 there were 210 million electric bikes worldwide used daily. It is estimated that there were roughly 120 million e-bikes in China in early 2010, and sales are expanding rapidly in India, the United States of America, Germany, the Netherlands, and Switzerland. A total of 700,000 e-bikes were sold in Europe in 2010 ... Today, China is the world's leading producer of e-bikes." He could understand that because Switzerland has many slopes, they prefer to use e-bikes. But why in this country, did he rarely see electric bicycles, especially a sports type? If he bought one, he could go to the mountain side every day and it would be fun. He also could use it instead of his car for the town. This is eco-friendly and also money friendly. There were many shopping sites that introduced electrical bicycles. He had a strong urge to click on the 'BUY' button of one of the bicycles now he was looking at. But he didn't buy. He needed time to search more about this new technology. He needed time to search other countries' websites. He had time to check about this country's law of e-bikes. He had time before the leaves started to change in the mountains in this area. |
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*afford :€]Tͺ ι
*altitude :W
*basin :~n
*mountainous :RͺΏΜ