13 minute read
IT’S ELECTRIC
It’s Electric! It’s Electric!
New biking sensation
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comes to lake Story by Roxann Edsall Photos by Kelsey Bain
Body low, head down, eyes ahead. You see the hill approaching fast. Downshifting, you begin your ascent and keep pumping. Halfway up the hill, calves, quads, hamstrings and glutes burning, you hit the button once, then twice. Immediately, the bike takes over and the pedals cease their attack on your muscles. You ascend the hill with only as much effort as you want to put into it. Welcome to the world of electric biking!
Electric bicycles are being spotted all around Logan Martin, echoing the explosion of sales around the country. The growth has been fueled, at least in part, by the pandemic, as people shy away from mass transportation and find alternatives for getting around. According to market researcher NPD Group, eBike sales shot up 240% in the 12 months leading up to July 2021. Industry experts predict that upward trend to hold as people continue to spend more time outdoors.
Around the lake, it’s all about having something else fun to do outdoors. Darrell Spears pledges to emphasize the fun in all aspects of electric biking, including the purchasing process.
The owner of Logan Martin Electrek, he hopes to help people navigate the world of electric bikes and build the eBike community on Logan Martin Lake. After retiring from the Army, he began looking into purchasing
Biking group pauses from making the rounds at Pell City Lakeside Park
an electric bike to get outside and enjoy areas around Logan Martin.
“Doing research, I went down quite a few rabbit holes,” Spears explains. “There’s a lot to sift through, tons of information and choices to make.” He ended up buying online and making what he describes as “not the best decision for me.
“It’s such a weird business model,” says Spears.
He does this by offering an eBike consulting service. The customer contacts Logan Martin Electrek and fills out a survey to describe their wants and needs. Spears meets the customer in the location where they would be riding the bike and finds out more specific needs and preferences.
At that time, the customer has a chance to try out several test bikes. The consultation and ride are included in the $100 fee, which ends with the customer receiving an emailed consultation report outlining Spears’ recommendations. The fee is applied to the price of a bike, if the customer decides to purchase through Spears.
“I include a lot in the consultation and test ride,” says Spears. “So, it is well worth the money. If I had done this before buying my first bike, I would have made a much better choice.” He insists that it’s fine if you don’t buy from him. You can use the information to purchase elsewhere or online or not buy at all. He just wants to be sure if you do buy, you get the bike that best fits you and your needs.
Spears describes the variables in the eBike buying process. The questions begin with where you want to ride an electric bike and how experienced you are with biking. Then there’s the shape and style you might be interested in.
Do you like a cruiser style or a mountain bike style? Do you prefer a step-over or step-through frame? Are you an upright rider or more aggressive? Are you looking for a hub-drive a mid-drive? And that’s just the beginning. “There are so many variables, but if we get the right fit, it’s more likely that the rider will use the bike and enjoy the experience,” assures Spears, emphasizing the value of his business model.
Martha Davenport and her partner, John Moberg, recently went through the buying process, guided by Spears. An avid cyclist, Martha began having trouble with one of her knees to the extent that she was no
longer able to ride her bicycle.
Moberg pushed to investigate the electric bike option for her. “John’s wanted an electric bike and has been researching them for years. Darrell made the process simple,” says Davenport. “He even came over the second day after we got the bikes and showed us several additional features, like how to operate the pedal assist, which is so great!”
She, Moberg and her dog, Gizmo, live at Logan’s Landing Campground and love to take their eBikes out around the lake every day it’s not raining. (Most models are safe to operate in the rain, although models with a built-in charger are not.) They’ve recently purchased a bike rack for John’s car so they can take the bikes to different locations.
Pell City Parks and Recreation maintenance crewmember John Richardson, and his wife, Melissa, have had two eBikes for about a year. His wife also has issues with her knees. “We like them because they’re easy. If you want to pedal, you can. If you don’t, you don’t have to,” says Richardson. “We use them camping and when we go to the beach. They’re great!” While they bought before Spears opened his business, Richardson was happy to hear about it for others in the market.
Even if you’re an avid standard cyclist, there are benefits to electric bicycles. “The frequently used metric is ‘2x you’ and ‘4x you,’ meaning they can put out two to four times the normal power a rider will put into a bike for a distance of 20 to 80 miles, based on terrain, user input, motor size and battery,” Spears explains.
So, if you want to get more distance with less effort, eBikes may be a good option. And, for those wanting more exercise, industry leaders say most people ride farther because it’s easier, and they end up getting as much or more exercise than they did riding a non-motorized bicycle.
Electric bicycles are, clearly, a major purchase, starting north of $1,000 and up to $10,000, depending on models and options. Most eBikes come with a battery warranty of between two and five years.
Gizmo dons gear for his ride
Gizmo loves riding in the basket of the electric bike
Darrel Spears
The charge typically lasts about 40 miles, depending on how much use the motor gets during the ride. It usually takes about six hours to charge using 120 volts.
How fast you can go depends on the class. Electric bikes are divided into Class 1, up to 20 mph with no throttle and motor kicks in when the rider is pedaling; Class 2, up to 20 mph with throttle and can be used when rider is not pedaling; and Class 3, up to 28 mph with or without throttle and requires the rider to pedal.
That price may sting a bit less if President Joe Biden’s $1.75-million Build Back Better bill passes. The bill includes a 30% tax incentive on the purchase of eBikes with price tags under $4,000, with the goal of helping to reduce carbon emissions by replacing gasoline-powered cars with electric options, including electric bikes.
A desire to encourage environmental responsibility and the ability to ride bikes again after a physical injury or limitation top the list of reasons for getting an electric bike.
But the No. 1 reason, according to Spears, is fun, adding, “It lets you be 15 again!” As he nears his 50th birthday, Spears even traded his plans for a motorcycle cross-country trip in favor of a coast-to-coast eBike ride. In late spring or early fall, he plans to fly out to California and ride an electric bike from the Pacific Coast to the Atlantic Coast.
Spears loves the Logan Martin Lake community. He retired in Alabama to be near his two boys, Jonathan, now at the University of Alabama, and Chase, who’s at Jacksonville State University.
He tells the story of when he was looking for a house to buy a few years ago and drove around the lake constantly on the search. One day he drove down a long driveway, thinking it was a road and had to pull off when a car approached coming the other way.
“I talked to this guy for a long time about the area. He was super nice and even invited me to the Rotary Club. He was just about as gracious a person as I have ever met.” Turns out the friendly fellow was Elmer Harris, former CEO of Alabama Power, the company that created Logan Martin.
Spears has started an electric biking group to help build the eBiking community. The group gets together the last Sunday of each month. Their last ride was Bull’s Gap trail in the Talladega National Forest, but he’s always checking out other trip options.
Editor’s Note: For more information on the biking group or to book an eBike consultation, check out their Logan Martin Electrek Facebook page or go to www.lmelectrek.com.
Water’s
Logan Martin to remain two feet higher in winter
Water’s up!
Story by Carol Pappas Photos by submitted
Waters up
“Will make lake more usable” Yay! “I can’t wait”
What goes up on Logan Martin Lake this year isn’t coming down – at least not all the way. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers issued a Record of Decision for Alabama Power’s request to permanently increase the winter pool levels at Weiss and Logan Martin lakes.
Water’s up!
Seagulls and American White Pelicans on exposed shoreline and shallow water when level is at winter pool
This sandbar, exposed at this year’s winter level, will be submerged next time around For perspective, the bottom step of this dock ladder is two feet above winter pool
Barges will have easier access with higher water level
That means that when Logan Martin Lake begins its seasonal rise in April from winter level to summer pool of 465 feet, it won’t return to its traditional winter level of 460 feet come December. Instead, the lake will remain at 462 feet during the winter from now on, giving residents and lake enthusiasts two extra feet and in a number of cases, year-round access to the lake Lisa Martindale, Reservoir Management manager at Alabama the decision means that residents who spend time on those lakes will enjoy higher water levels beginning in winter 2022-2023.
That’s welcome news to residents like John Junkins of Pell City, whose boatlift is a few inches shy of enabling him to launch his boat from December to early April. “I can’t wait,” he said. “You know how the weather is in Alabama. We could wear shorts on Christmas Day, and it would have been awesome to be able to take a pontoon cruise. We are ecstatic about this decision.”
So is Eric Mackey of Mackey Docks. “I will love a higher level of water as it will make the lake more usable for more people with shallow water. I wished they kept it full pool nine months and drained it to winter level three months, but that is my opinion.”
For his pier-building business, it means “we will be able to access more sites with a barge now with higher water levels.”
And then, there’s the aesthetics of it all. “The lake will even look better than when it’s low and you can only see dry lake beds,” Mackey said.
It’s welcome news for residents up and down the lake who had been lobbying for it for years. During the Coosa relicensing process, there were overwhelming requests by stakeholders to increase the winter pool levels at Weiss, Neely Henry, and Logan Martin for recreational purposes. Alabama Power worked with the FERC and the US Army Corps of Engineers to incorporate these requests, a spokesman for the company said.
Through engineering studies, Alabama Power made the determination that with operational changes, the lakes could be operated at the higher winter pool elevations, and the US Army Corps of Engineers agreed.
Neely Henry is a bit different. It has had a higher level for years. Neely Henry once had a three-foot fluctuation from summer to winter pool, but studies showed that with operational changes, the lake could be operated at the higher winter pool elevation and the US Army Corps of Engineers agreed.
Neely Henry operated under a variance with the USACE for many years allowing for a 1-foot fluctuation between summer and winter and during the USACE Water Control Manual Updates in 2015, the rule curve with the 1-foot fluctuation between summer and winter pool for Neely Henry was incorporated.
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