electric bike

Get on Your eBike and Ride!

Marrs Electric Cycle Co. Custom M2

Electric bicycles and Light Electric Vehicles in general, are making a big come back. The state of California is supporting them  and hope that they will replace cars for short trips, they have already started building protected bike lanes and other states are using what they call green lanes where bikes share lanes with cars but the bike has the right away. Here in CA the law is 3 feet but most drivers don't know. 




Here are some links to get you started:

Light Electric Vehicle Association (LEVA)
http://www.levassociation.com/






New eBike Law Passes in California
( http://www.peopleforbikes.org/blog/entry/new-e-bike-law-passes-in-california )
( https://www.electricbike.com/california-ebike-laws/ )

Protected Bike Lanes:
( http://www.peopleforbikes.org/green-lane-project/pages/protected-bike-lanes-101 )


There's so many new companies coming out with new electric vehicles and eBikes that it is hard to keep up. You need to learn about battery management systems, and battery configurations and types before you buy. Batteries can be the most expensive part. They come in different sizes and types depending on the type of riding and the distance you want to travel. The legal speed limit is 20 mph, any faster and you need to pay a one time registration fee. It's too much technical info to cover here right now. The eBikes are setup so you can use peddle power, peddle assist power, and full throttle. It depends on configuration of the motor and the battery how long the battery will run and how fast the top speed is.

You can learn more about the technical at Khan Academy . You can become a Bike Repair Tech by taking classes with the Light Electric Vehicle Association (LEVA)  I recently took the Level 1-4 courses with LEVA and I had a great time! They have all the resources and tools and the repair manual. The class I attended was in the Local News!

You can take the Level One class online and take the exam and get a certificate. Probably a good idea for anyone interested in buying an eBike or any new owners wanting to understand more about their investment and any safety or maintenance issues. In my class we had the owner of The Bike Shop in Bel Air MD, wanting to learn because they have been getting so many electric bikes in for repairs or accessories, so much so that they decided they better start selling them. We also had a new employee of Green Light Innovations and he brought the new Amp Errand eBike, and we had Mom that is taking Electrical Engineering classes, at the college, with her son. I have to admit that I was very impressed with the college and their commitment to NEW technologies.

  Danville VA Community College for Advanced Technology and Training.

This is the Lab our classes were taught in. Impressive

[ PHOTOS of my Trip to Virginia ]

Other Links
The Bike Shop in Bel Air MD
Green Light Innovations

Local News Virginia:
( http://wsls.com/2016/10/13/danville-community-college-offering-unique-electric-bicycle-workshop/). 

Links to Additional Learning

LEVA Tech Training
( http://www.levassociation.com/leva-certified-technician-training/ )

Khan Academy
( https://www.khanacademy.org/ )

Endless Sphere E-Bike Forum 
at ( https://www.endless-sphere.com/forums ) to get more experience.

Some great articles about eBikes

Pedego Electric Bikes make riding more fun.
( http://www.pedegoelectricbikes.com/in-the-news/ )

LA Times:
( http://articles.latimes.com/2000/feb/23/news/hw-1519 )

Entrepreneur with Asperger's peddling affordable electric bike
( http://www.latimes.com/business/autos/la-fi-hy-autism-entrepreneur-20150228-story.html ) 

hatter contest

2016 Origninal Star Trek Hats

I draft all the patterns myself. I learned to make hats from a variety of books like From the Neck Up, youtube. I have also had personal instruction from Jane Smith, and Lee Duncan. If you are in to hats and caps I recommend Mad Hatters Society and the Cap Department groups on Facebook. Most of my postings are public so check me out too Michael A. Chylinski aka jomodad. You can find free patterns and tutorials all over the web www.craftsy.com is one of my favorites heres a link to my projects Jomodad Craftsy Projects. I purchase most of my supplies at Jo-Ann's keep an eye on their website for great coupons. They have a sale on patterns for $1 and they have some ok hat patterns there. Ok, Have fun and be original.

sephardic cooking

This is not a recipe as much as it is a method of cooking. You can change the ingredients to things you like. I love to just use green beans and leftover meat, but you can make substations as you like.

Saute the onions in olive oil and some garlic and seasonings to taste. if meat it raw brown, if leftovers just toss in after adding water. Once the meat is browned add the vegetables and beans of choice. I like Lima, white, black-eye peas, or green beans or any combination of those. I sometime add carrots, potatoes, squash or cauliflower. Squash I try to add towards the end but its ok to add it early. Bring it to a boil and then trun down to a simmer and let simmer of at least 1 hour more is fine.

I am sure it can also be done in a cork pot not sure what changes it might need, but we have let it cook all day on the stove with no problems.

I like big chunks so it's more like a meal than a soup, but you can eat it like soup or over rice. We have made it with meat balls and then the next day and heated up some marinara and put the meatballs in that for a second meal or I have made eggs the following morning and heated the broth with some of the beans and onions and put that on some fried eggs and refried beans and a tortilla to make Hueveos Rancheros.