Serving the Glebe community since 1973 www.glebereport.ca February 15, 2019
ISSN 0702-7796 Vol. 47 No. 2 Issue no. 511 FREE
E - BIKING IN AN OTTAWA WINTER The e-Skeeter in winter – it’s fine if you layer up!
By Ashwin Shingadia
It was a cold, blustery day with temperatures dipping to minus 29 Celsius. The Glebe was covered in deep snow; streets and sidewalks had not been cleared by the city. I did not think he would come... but the doorbell rang exactly on time and Soo Hum parked his e-bike in front of my townhouse. Since December 23, “e-Skeeter,”as he calls his YTO pedal-assisted e-bike, had travelled some 400 kilometres on bumpy, icy sidewalks and roads. He has been all over the city from Mooney’s Bay to the Market,
Westboro, National Gallery, libraries, supermarkets, Algonquin College, Merivale Road. His e-display indicates speed, trip length and total distance, time and remaining battery capacity, among other measurements. He says his e-Skeeter model is nimble, quick, friendly to women, easy to control and good for those who are new to e-biking. It can be folded and stored in the trunk of a car and is popular with yacht owners! E-biking is cheap, practical and healthy transport. Oulu, Finland, a town of 200,000 with a climate similar to Ottawa, has some 54,000 winter cyclists!
WHY DID YOU START E-BIKING?
“About15 years ago, I became a single parent, joined a moms’ circle and cut costs in order to bring up my daughter Samantha, also a keen cyclist,” said Hum. He sold his house and used his car for emergencies. His first e-bike was a German Cube, the equivalent of a VW, made by Bosch Electronics. His second was a Swiss Stromer, the “Lamborghini” of e-bikes. This is the ninth winter that he has been e-biking. “I am a photographer,” he said. “The new capabilities of an e-bike enable me to go up to a lookout in the Gatineaus
E-BIKE COMMUTING
We decided to go around the corner and visit Michael Wolfson, one of the pioneers of e-biking in the Glebe. He began cycling some 47 years ago when he went to work at Tunney’s Pasture. “It was faster to get to Tunney’s Pasture than the bus and it has allowed us Continued on page 2
WHAT’S INSIDE
MARK YOUR CALENDARS Feb.19......................... GACA monthly meeting, GCC, 7 p.m. Feb. 21........................ Snow Mole walks, Abbotsford House, 10 a.m.; Mar. 21, .................................... GCC, 1 p.m. Feb. 22........................ Concerts By the Canal, Anderson Brothers, .................................... Southminster Church, 7:30 p.m. Feb. 26........................ GCA monthly meeting, GCC, 7 p.m. Feb. 27........................ Snow and ice removal forum, City Hall, 7–8:30 p.m. Feb. 28........................ New central library workshop, 395 Wellington St., 6–9 p.m.; .................................... Mar. 2, location TBD, 9 a.m.–12 p.m. .................................... ottawacentrallibrary.ca/introducing-inspire555-series Feb. 28........................ Bronson reconstruction info session, GCC, 6:30 p.m. Mar. 18........................ Senator Kim Pate lecture, Richcraft Hall, Carleton U, 7 p.m.
with my equipment, take photographs and get back. It will take any hill and make it invisible to the rider. I dress like skiers – layers of jackets, a helmet, gloves, balaclava, goggles, and good warm socks and boots.”
Bowman’s on Bank Page 18
Master plan for Glebe parks Page 16
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PHOTO: SOO HUM
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