I feel you're digging a deeper hole. This isn't why we came to this site and it isn't why we enjoy being here.

Can we move on to something else, please?

Let's not rush to ban free speech. An opinion well founded and elegantly expressed is worth hearing even if we disagree with it. Indeed, hearing another opinion may help us change our own. That is the point of debate.

Let us beware, however, of polite, reasoned debate that bursts into flames. We have moderators to step in if it does. In the meantime, let us talk about everything and anything that hasn't already been shown as explosive and keep to a minimum things that are out of bounds. That is the point of a free exchange.

Hi Leo,

I hope you can figure out how to make your bicycle work for you.  The main thing is your writing.  I absolutely love your writing and the sooner you do another journal the better off we all will be.  Thank you so much.  You are an inspiration.  

Thanks, Bruce. I've already nominated one Cycleblazer for a sainthood this week and it may be too soon to do it again.

In compensation, though, I hereby award you the Great Star of the People.

happy days

léo

I'm glad I only made a joke now (even though nobody understood it!)

Hi Jon.  I just wanted to let you know there was at least one person--Dylanophile that I am--who got the joke right away.  I thought it was quite clever, but I also had a feeling it might not go over all that well.  I'm glad you got a chance to explain.  Well done.

Perhaps I'm not such a Dylan expert after all.   Many years ago, I read an article that reported folk legend, Pete Seeger, literally unplugged Dylan in the middle of his set.  I've had a bit of disdain for Seeger's intolerance ever since.  Thanks to the link you provided, I now know a little bit more about the story.

Anyway, if/when I go electric, like Dylan, I hope my best days are ahead of me.

Thanks Greg! To be honest, I only had a vague "folk" memory (haha) of the controversy itself. It's one of those things that everyone seems to know in the UK - a bit like Ringo being only "the second best drummer in the Beatles" (that one's actually apocryphal, thought pretty funny. Poor old Ringo).

I was quite surprised by that incredibly detailed wiki page, with the several international episodes. Amusing to compare the folk scene with the bike touring crowd too ... I suspect we could find more parallels there too. Indeed, always room for reinvention!

Somehow I missed this post last week.  I've converted three touring bikes - upright, recumbent, and Crank Forward (which is sort of half way between upright and recumbent) to e-bikes.  The best way to do the conversion is with a mid mount setup that basically mounts the motor in front of the BB and uses it to drive the chain rings. This has three advantages: The weight is low and centered on upright or CF bikes,  You still have a wide range of gearing with front and rear shifting, and the controller can use torque sensing on the crank to make the assist proportional to how hard you pedal. 

On all of my conversions I mounted the battery low and as centered as possible so there is no interference with either front or rear panniers and the extra weight has very little effect on the handling of the bike. I couldn't do that on the recumbent because the crank is at the front of the bike but the installation doesn't interfere with racks or pannier mounting .  

This type of conversion can be done in a few hours,  the conversion kits - several are available - are not expensive, the conversion can be reversed in a few hours, and it offers the best way to convert a bike to an e-bike. 

For use as my around town bike, I removed conversion from my upright touring bike so that I didn't have to worry about the battery when I left the bike locked up away from home and my daily rides for exercise  were simpler and more effective. Because of age related issues causing neck and wrist problems, I don't plan to tour on that bike again but I do enjoy using it for exercise. I also use my two converted bikes for exercise and for keeping the batteries in shape, but not as often.

Thank you, Leo.  I'm already liking this title quite a lot.  I like it even better than sainthood.

I’m so glad this enables you to continue to bicycle tour and look forward to reading about your travels!