Wow, I guess I intuited this info from being a cargo bike rider for the past 5 years, but I never verified it. Well the Guardian has: Cargo bikes deliver faster and cleaner than vans in a study done in London.
I’ve measured my commute times from Park Ridge to Kirkwood while working at IU, and I always matched or reduced the time required on the few days I had to drive.
I was able to ride my e-cargo bike year round, ~95% of the days: I ride when there is water in the air, but not when it was pouring. With the right attitude, riding while it snows is really exhilarating and calming at the same time!
Add the time and expense to find a spot and park a car, and bikes are definately faster door to door, and cheaper to use than any gas powered vehicle.
Some interesting points from the study:
E-Cargo bikes have a higher average speed and dropped off 10 parcels an hour, compared with six for vans
E-Cargo bikes also cut carbon emissions by 90% compared with diesel vans
Air pollution was significantly reduced
E-Cargo bikes bypass traffic jams, take shortcuts through streets closed to through traffic and ride to the customers door.
Today Mike Leonard stopped by to pick up his newly assembled Aventon Level Commuter Ebike. As you might suspect, Mike is a great researcher, and there are a lot of brands out there, so he sifted through them all, and came up with the Aventon Level as the best value proposition for him.
It is really solid, well designed, with plenty of power and pickup, perfect for navigating Bloomington in style. It has a 48V/500W motor, and a big 14 Ah battery, meaning it can go up to 40 miles on a charge. It sports a hydraulic front fork for off-road fun, and the luxury of hydaulic disk brakes. It came installed with a rear rack, and panniers will make it perfect for shopping, work or picnics.
After a couple of years mostly town riding, Jojo (& Charlie) and I went out for one of the finest loop rides in Monroe county. This route tours our three large valleys on the eastside, Kerr Creek, Getty’s Creek, and Brummett’s Creek Roads. Our map is below, 90% of the ride was through quiet countryside, with several miles on ridgetop, but mostly through the valleys. Our total distance was over 23 miles, as we took a 2 mile out and back to the Campbell preserve on Upper Birdie Galyon.
Gettys-Brummetts loop
Over the past 15 years, Jojo, Charlie, and I have ridden on nearly every road in Monroe and Lawrence counties, but lately (due to health and age issues), we have not been riding as in the past. Instead we have been enjoying the city’s growing bike infrastructure and trails. But we missed those long treks through the county…
So now with the use of our Zephyr E-bikes, we are back on track with longer rides! I rode my purple Rans recumbent (which we outfitted a 500Watt front wheel motor), while Jojo/Charlie rode my RadWagon cargo bike that I have been using the past few years.
Purple Rans Stratus
About 90% of the ride was on the nearly empty country roads that crisscross eastern Monroe county. Here is the list of roads in order:
Kerr Creek – 3 miles of country homes along the limestone creek
Getty’s Creek – a quick climb over to SR 46, and a quick dash to:
Birdie Gaylon/Fleenor/Hash – The hill up Lower Birdie Galyon is really steep, but our electric assist made it easy. Right on Fleenor, best to have a hand on the brakes descending to Hash Road, then right to Brummett’s Creek Rd.
Brummett’s Creek – 3.5 miles of beautiful valley riding – farm fields surrounded by green ridges of state forest
Mt. Giliad-Upper Birdie Gaylon-Mt. Giliad. Several miles of ridge riding. Upper Birdie Galyon goes well into the forest, ending at Sycamore Land Trust’s Campbell preserve, well worth the extra 2 miles
Getty’s Creek – Just beautifull as Brummett’s, Getty’s Creek Rd runs for a mile less along Stephens Creek (and meets Mt. Gilead Rd at the confluence of Getty’s Creek and Stephens Creek.)
Kerr Creek – Back up Kerr Creek, usually the hill at the end is a killer when coming home, but this time we were exhilarated rather than exhausted.
Charlie Bird visits Campbell Preserve
We met a local biker riding the same Getty’s/Brummett’s loop we were on who was riding this Magnum Metro. The owner was very pleased with the bike, so I looked up the brand back at the shop, they are priced mid-range ($1600-$2800), so a pretty decent value…except they are out of stock of all models! They do have $1000 scooters in stock…
Magnum City E-Bike
Charlie Bird loves nothing better than stretching his wings will riding up Brummett’s Creek Rd.
Charlie enjoying the breeze.
CORN! Well over knee high well before Fourth of July! I am thinking it has been growing in these valleys for thousands of years.
I recorded this song just as the Inauguration (2021) began. As Amtrack Joe seems to be the first president with a sense of what good transportation looks and feels like, I was feeling paticularly hopeful for the future. I am hoping our e-bike initiative will help bring ever more folks to the biking lifestyle, and foster postive change in our transporation system.
First recorded in the late 1930’s by the Rouse Brothers on fiddle and guitar, it was covered in 2005 by Robert Crumb and His Cheap Suit Serenaders on their “Singing in the Bathtub” album. It apparently made its way to England, where this cute video has emerged. All three versions are superior to mine, but I just had to give it a try!
Waterfalls are special places, maybe it’s the ions, the water vapor, the sound, the whole experience is magical, waterfalls have a spirit, and each one is unique.
This waterfall runs most of the year, and is visible from Mt. Gilead Rd. The small branch that falls into Stephan’s Creek runs for about a half mile till it attains the Mt. Gilead Ridge. There are not that many waterfalls in Monroe county, I hope on visiting them all this year, but I don’t know where they all are. Let me know of any you are aware of, I would love to take a shower in each and everyone this summer.
An easy ride to the southwest side of town, the Leonard Springs Nature Park is a great getaway, and Jojo and I biked out there last weekend. The water was flowing really well, the waterfall below the springs was loud and proud. I think this is the best waterfall in the county, anyone know of others that are better?
On Saturday, Jojo and I went for a bike ride east of Bloomington, and while hiking in the Yellowwood forest found the motherload of bluebells (Mertensia virginica). Two weeks before we had ridden to Woodall Road where we had found them last year, but no luck, and a lot of hill climbing resulted. But this cool clear spring day we encountered a side valley that eventually rises to Scarce o’ Fat ridge.
All along the forested valley floor the bluebells were only plants visible, with an occasional buckeye sprout rising above the carpet of blue flowers and magenta buds. There was a dry branch running through the middle, and we walked up it a few hundred yards and sat on a log to admire the etheric glow of the bluebells. Right next to us I discovered a rare plant which did not turn blue once it flowered. (The bluebell buds are magenta when they appear, then as the flowers grow out of the buds, they morph to the a vibrant deep blue.) The pink bluebell seemed to be pretty rare, of the tens of thousands of flowers in the valley we saw only 2 pinks, and they were close together.
I’ve heard from others that this has been a good year for bluebells, they certainly did like this spring. They are perennials, but also spread from seed that is not easily dispersed. This means that they take over whole areas of a forested flood plain; here they were even beginning to climb the hillside, not their normal habitat.
We walked up the dry branch into the Valley of the Bluebells | Flowers 2009
Bluebells morph from Magenta to Blue | Flowers 2009
