E-bikes, E-trikes and a Slightly New Idea for Going Places

  Darn it, it snuck up on me.  If it’d been a snake, the concept would have bitten me.  I’ve belatedly realized that the “e-bike” mini-revolution has resulted in more than just a pastime or exercise for some people,  E-bikes have given some seniors and others of limited financial means another fair option to get around.

 I’m noticing of lot of the same people day by day using e-bikes or in some cases, e-trikes.  You can get an e-bike from $400 – 800, and an e-trike for $500 – 1000.  (Of COURSE I priced stuff at Amazon.  Doesn’t everyone???)

 West Virginia and the Ohio Valley are good places in terms of terrain for those machines.  The natural pathways follow watercourses, so the pathways are obvious, though with some limitations.

  Now, with that being said, it is still perilous to operate any sort of two wheeled vehicle on the streets.  We usually lack sufficient street/sidewalk space to operate an e-bike (or conventional bike) safely.  We lack means to safely crack intersections.  There is an unfortunate under-appreciation for headgear.  Yes, they look ridiculous and cute in a bad way, but a head injury is . . . well, it’s darned inconvenient.  And the motoring public (i.e., about 80% of us) lacks a whole lot of awareness of vulnerable people while they are sitting in their nice steel cocoon.

 E-trikes are even trickier.  They generally have the 2-wheel-axle on the rear, which gives an operator a lot of stability problems, compared to fixing the 2-wheel axle on the front.  But the front axle presents a lot more cost due to the need for the turning axle to adjust in the rolling axis.

 The chances of a well-developed bike system a lá Florida or Southern California is not likely to happen here.   I well remember being on the floor of the West Virginia Senate (as an assistant or some such) in the early 70’s when the first “bicycle path” bill was argued.  It called for some limited, almost experimental, money, to be spent on bike trails/paths just to see if the concept was worthwhile.  The late Sen. James Davis from Marion County rose.  The senator I was sitting beside started laughing, telling me to “Watch this.”  Sen. Davis was recognized by the President of the Senate, Sen. (and later Justice) Bill Brotherton.  Sen. Davis “loved the  bill to death” by  proposing an amendment to add something like “, effective as soon as the Division of Highways certified to the governor that all roads have been repaired in West Virginia.”  The amendment passed on a voice vote and that was that for a loooong time.  Later, the only really successful bike paths have been situated on abandoned railroad rights-of-way, often with only county funding.   (See Note 1 – This medium doesn’t give me access to real footnotes.)  Those bike paths do not solve any real access to transportation problems.   Railroad rights-of-way go nowhere special, such as for grocery shopping or, heck, to Grandma’s House.  They are wonderful recreation – and fun - but not designed for efficient transportation.

  And that’s where bike paths stand, and now advances in technology changesthe apparent needs.  What else is new?  We always prepare to fight the last crisis, not the next one.  However, this is a time of budget schizophrenia in every government on this continent, so it will probably have to wait for a resolution.  (I know a good many people who are or have in the Legislature.  Folks, You and I know that the budget is seriously schizophrenic, so let’s not fool each other.)

  Oh, I later ran against Sen. Davis.  One of the best favors the public did me was to not vote for me.  Thereafter, I was involved in politics a lot (for both major parties and for numerous special interests, always with a certain twinkle in my eye and a tease in my voice) until laste until a few years ago.  But I NEVER, NEVER, NEVER again filed as a candidate.  (I did once get appointed to an elective office to fill a vacancy in what was billed as the Shortest Political Career in WV History.  Like the 13^th floor in a London Hotel, that is another story.)

Mizpah!

Hmm – the story of “Mizpah!”  Gotta tell that sometime.  Let me make a note to add it to other notes that I’ll probably never see again.  Random and Unpredictable Efficiency is my middle name.

Note 1 – “Rights-of-way” is meant in the general terms.  Don’t get me caught in the beloved mysteries of easements where I can drone on and on about the intimate details of property law.  I learned those from Londo Brown’s notes as interpreted by John Fisher, and those guys REALLY knew property law.

Meditation on a Rainbow: Stave the First - Red; Or, When Roger's Mind Wanders, Who Knows What Bushwah He Will Write

 The “rainbow,” a progression of colors in the order of the frequency of visible light, is a common representative theme.  Currently, one of its homes is the “Pride movement,” where it no doubt means differences despite unity.  Or something like that.  The motif is handy for describing different things that nevertheless have something in common.  We have a Rainbow (Army) Division, a “Rainbow bridge” for our fur babies, a trout, a symbol on several national flags, and corporate logos for NBC, Apple, the United Way, Skittles, Dickhouse, Care Bears, and lots of others.  Beyond doubt, all of those things will eventually pass but we can count on the rainbow as a symbol living on as long as we have color vision.

 Today, I am thinking of the color red.

 Today is Pentecost, a Christian celebration of the coming of the “Holy Spirit” the “spiritu sancti.”  Christians are supposed to wear red on this occasion.   The color is pictured as a representation of the “tongues of fire” brought by the Holy Spirit and sometimes the blood spilled by martyrs.  I do not know if wearing red on Pentecost gets you any favored position in the pantheon of eternal possibilities.    Red is also the color of shirts/tunics/whatever that the Spartan warriors wore.  If they bled, their enemies could not tell that they were hurt.

 The "tongues of fire" thing is confusing.  All the time, I’ve thought that fire was orange, yellow and occasionally blue, although different things can give off other colors when heated.  Red is considered an “active” color, even though something painted red just sits there unless some external force, such as a human, causes it to move.  It’s not that the color IS more active, the magic comes only from our association.

 If there is a message hidden in the message of this ink-stained wretch, it is that the symbol does not equal in any place outside the human mind with what is represented.  We just associate it – in our minds.  Simple example:  Few people have a neutral reaction to the Confederate battle flag (red flag, white stars within the large “X”) or the “Stars and Bars,” the lesser known official flag of the briefly existing Confederate national government.  Those represent things - disunion; the Lost Cause; slavery.  But other than the connections in our minds, those symbols are meaningless.  How about having a nice blue flag with a large white star in the middle?  Does that either offend or thrill many people?  Why not?  Because it means the same as the battle flag & the Stars and Bars.

 For those into meditation, thinking in color or of colors is a nice device.  There are several videos made to guide a rainbow meditation.  It was the memory of that application that put me into the mood to write this modest screed.

 I cannot describe that mediation feeling.  I suppose you have to experience it.  If you try it and it works you have useful knowledge.  If you try it and it doesn’t work, now you know one thing that will not lead you into that zone of mediation.  If you don’t try, no problem.  This is still a free country.  (If that causes you to want to comment with some version of your political beliefs, please sit on your hands and don’t bother.  This has nothing to do with Trump, Biden, or any of their loyal/dangerous co-conspirators/patriots.  Jeez, does ever f.ing thing need to be political?)

 By the way, the part in the title “Stave the First” implies that there will  be further chapters (staves).  Not necessarily true!  I am a creature of both predictability and whim; and of both seriousness and smoke.  It beats me if there will be future chapters.

 Mizpah!