Volkswagen Unveils 44 lb Folding Electric Scooter

Fits In The Spare Tire Well Of Most Cars
by Larry Lagarde

Earlier this week at the Auto China 2010 convention, Volkswagen unveiled the Bik.e, a self propelled electric folding scooter with looks similar to a bicycle. Fold the Bik.e and it will fit into the spare tire hold of most cars (if the spare is removed).

Volkswagen envisions commuters driving part way to work in their VW's, then pulling out the Bik.e to ride up to the last 12 miles to the destination, avoiding traffic congestion in urban areas as well as the cost and time typically taken to park in most downtown areas.

Although the Bik.e looks cool, it's heavy for a scooter (44 lbs), has a short range (@ 12 mph), cannot be pedaled when the batteries run out, does not have a hot swappable battery pack and appears not to roll when folded. Besides these major drawbacks, availability or pricing info has yet to be made available.

My guess is that the Bik.e will retail for @ $2500 with some sort of discount if you buy it along with a new VW. For that kind of money, I'd prefer to have an IF Reach DC folding electric bike, which is similar in size when folded but has a much further range, cruising speed and hot swappable battery. And if some problem arises with the IF Reach DC's electric drive, you can always pedal.

RideTHISbike Opens French Quarter Store

by Larry Lagarde

GREAT NEWS:
RideTHISbike will soon have a bike store in the New Orleans French Quarter!

After looking at locations for over a year, I am very excited to announce that RideTHISbike.com will soon have a store in the French Quarter. Located at 317 Burgundy St, the store is a few minutes' walk from Bourbon St (2 blocks), Canal St (3 blocks) and a quick streetcar or taxi ride from most New Orleans hotels, lodging accommodations and neighborhoods like the CBD, Warehouse District, Uptown, Mid City, etc.

Most of the folding bicycles currently on the folding bike page at RideTHISbike.com (as well as some other models) will be available at the store. Bikes will be offered for sale and for rent. Hotel delivery as well as helmets, water and bike locks will be available.

Why The French Quarter
The Quarter is the heart and soul of New Orleans. Designed for horses, buggies and walking, the Quarter's grid of narrow streets (where multi-story buildings stand shoulder to shoulder) is well suited for bicycling via folding bike. New Orleans is flat so a small folding bicycle with just a few gears is fine. Plus, Quarter residents, workers and visitors can fold their bike and take it with them inside where the bike's out of sight of vandals and thieves.

Hopefully, the sight of folding bikes zipping around the French Quarter will help more Americans recognize that bicycles are practical, sustainable and fun transportation.

By the way, if you're in New Orleans for a convention, cruise or something else that limits your time, a folding bike is a great way to quickly discover the city's main sights.

Thriv Natural Performance

Raising the bar in casual & sport apparel
by Larry Lagarde

Just as recent innovations in folding bikes are raising the bar in the cycling industry, the same holds true in the apparel industry. One example of this is Speedo's introduction 2 years ago of the revolutionary LZR swimsuit. Another example is the Thriv line of sport and casual apparel.

Thriv has come up with a way to fabricate clothes with a fabric content that's 95% cotton and bamboo. The result is a fabric that's incredibly soft, flexible, light, breathable, uv resistant, fade resistant, odor resistant, durable, sustainable and reasonably priced. I know. I've been testing Thriv clothing since December.

On December 11, 2009, the local newspaper here in New Orleans (the Times Picayune) ran a story on Thriv. Titled "Tough Workouts Soft Fabrics", the story described Thriv as downy soft & light active wear that was superior in every way to polypropylene apparel.

An even bigger surprise was that Thriv was headquartered here in the New Orleans area. Hungry for more info, I called Thriv's office and they invited me to stop by to look around. I went over the following day.

When I arrived, the owner of the company greeted me, invited me into his office and sat down with me for over an hour. Rather than me interviewing him for a story on sustainable products (which was my intention), it was more like him interviewing me. I found this puzzling until near the end of the meeting when he offered me a variety of clothing to try out free of charge. I think he wanted to be sure I would put the product through it's paces. Boy did I.

So here are the facts.
I have been wearing Thriv fitness clothes (tees, long sleeve shirts & pants) at least once a week since December on hot days and cold, in extremely humid weather and on picture perfect days. I've worn Thriv on long bike rides exceeding 50 miles. Several times, while looking for a Thriv shirt to wear during a long ride, I'll find my wife wearing it while taking a nap or playing games on the computer. Her excuse: "it's just so comfortable honey."

I have yet to adhere to (or read) any care instructions for the clothing. The Thriv clothes have been washed on hot and dried on high heat. There has been no noticeable fade or shrinkage. The clothes have been smudged with peanut butter, jelly, syrup, mustard and coffee; yet, all the stains have come out (granted, the Thriv clothes I have all are black in color).

When I work out in Thriv, the sweat wicks from my body. You can see the shirt's wet; however, it's more damp than soaked and the wetness evaporates fairly quickly. Even if I don't shower immediately after the workout, the Thriv clothes remain odor free.

Thriv Better Than Any Other Clothing Material
I've worn a variety of other unusual, natural fabrics (including alpaca, cashmere and silk) but NOTHING comes close to the comfort of Thriv. As to synthetics, the difference is even more dramatic because polypro balls up, smells, scratches the skin, stains and shrinks whereas Thriv does not.

One last point; Thriv clothes are durable.
Several months ago, while test riding a new recumbent bike, the lower right pant leg of my Thriv Inglewood pants got caught between the chain and the front chain ring. The teeth in the chain ring cut through the pants like a cookie cutter. Rather than repair them, I took this opportunity to see what would happen if I did nothing. I continued to wear & wash the pants as normal. The holes did not grow and I'm still wearing the pants.

Thriv is a great example how product innovation can lead to more enjoyable experiences. I've felt more refreshed after riding in Thriv than when riding in synthetics. So now the question is what do I do with all those polypropylene pants and tops I'm no longer wearing.

It's moments like this that make me glad I don't own stock in Nike.

Prediction: Coming Soon To New Orleans

Multi-Modal Transportation By Necessity
by Larry Lagarde

Hurricane Katrina has turned New Orleans into a virtual petri dish of experiments in urban living and sustainability (examples include Brad Pitt's trend setting "Make It Right" housing project, local musician Andreas Hoffman's amazing distribution & installation of 200,000+ compact flourescent light bulbs via Green Light New Orleans and the help of literally tousands of volunteers from across the nation). As the 5th anniversary of Katrina fast approaches, the 2010 census is being tabulated and major Katrina rebuilding efforts wind down, where this leaves New Orleans is uncertain. There is one sure thing though; New Orleans will continue to function as an experiment in urban renewal and/or survival out of sheer necessity. As an example, look at what's happening with mass transit.

In 2004, New Orleans Regional Transit Agency (NORTA) was one of the most successful transit agencies in the nation (in regards to revenue earned by passenger boardings). Hurricane Katrina decimated NORTA's fleet and facilities. Former riders were shipped out of New Orleans to destinations unknown, ending up in almost every state in the union.

While NORTA dealt with how to rebuild their transit fleet and facilities, many Katrina evacuees had their own problems. Without resources to return to New Orleans, evacuees simply remained in Houston, Dallas, Atlanta, Memphis and elsewhere where they built their lives anew. As a result, NORTA's boardings went from a pre-Katrina high in 2004 of 130,000/day to almost 0/day in fiscal year 2006. By fiscal year 2009, with the help of special Section 70-25 subsidies from the Federal Transit Administration, boardings had climbed back to 40,000/day and were on track for continual growth but the money was running out.

This week, transit agencies in the New Orleans area were notified that 33% reductions in transit funding should be expected to take place as of FY 2012 (Oct. 1, 2011). Today, NORTA announced that the Lil Easy transit shuttle (a service initiated in 2009 in the 9th Ward and later expanded to other depopulated neighborhoods) was being terminated. The timing of these 2 announcements cannot be coincidental.

With NORTA routes and timetables already reduced to the bone, additional cuts in service will place NORTA and Veolia (NORTA's private partner) in a disturbing position. The city's streetcar light rail lines are great revenue generators as tourists love to ride them; however, the streetcars are of limited use to locals. Thus, cutting streetcars means substantial, additional revenue cuts. On the other hand, cutting bus routes and/or schedules will have a lesser impact on revenues but will severely restrict local ridership. Transfers between routes will take longer. Minimum wage earners at local grocery stores, big box stores, hotels, etc. could loose their jobs due to excessive tardiness.

So while coping with budget shortfalls will not be easy, I predict that the streetcars will be saved due to their historic, iconic and touristic appeal, leaving locals to work out their own options. And one option that will be used more is a multi-modal transportation approach involving bicycles to cover the longer "first & last mile" distances to get to or from the transit stop.

NORTA's entire bus fleet has bike racks for 2 full size bikes so at least 2 cyclists/bus can be accommodated; but a more practical approach would be to ride a bike that folds compactly so it can be brought aboard the bus. This way, the bike/transit rider will not be refused from boarding if the bike rack is full. And if the transit bus has a mechanical problem, the cyclist can simply ride their bike the rest of the way.

NORTA just scheduled a news conference for 6pm this evening. The details of the conference have not been announced but if it's to announce future service reductions, you read about it here first!