From: Philip St. George, thenorthbaybay.ca staff
NORTH BAY — Burt Parks travels almost 20 kilometers a day. But he doesn’t drive and he doesn’t walk – he takes his e-bike.
“This here is a custom 2009 DayMak Boomer Beast Electric Bike,” Parks says, patting the large, three-wheeled chair. “A true classic.”
Park’s e-bike, along with “dozens of others” will be a part of the 1st Annual North Bay E-Bike Show.
The show takes place Saturday, August 25th from 1 pm until 6 pm in the Cassells St. Tim Horton’s parking lot.
“There will be tons of e-bikes for people to look at,” says Jim “Jimbo” Fournier, one of the show’s organisers. “I’ll be bringing two of my own to the show: a classic 2008 Vespa Granturismo with a mint cherry red and purple finish, and an antique 2001 Zhongyu Rex 50 Scooter that still runs sometimes. When she was in her prime, Rex could hit speeds of 40 km/hr on a steep decline.”
All proceeds for the show will go to e-bike upgrades, vape juice, and towards buying new e-bikes for the victims of sidewalk e-bike collisions.
“People don’t realize how much damage a pedestrian can do to an e-bike when they hit it,” says e-biker Lynn Bernier. “I’ve been hit by six pedestrians, and every one of them has damaged my bike. With the money we pull in, I’m going to fix it up. It’ll be nice to be able to have mirrors again.”
“We talked about using the money to buy insurance,” says organiser Will Bassoon. “But we quickly took that off the table.”
Attendees can expect demonstrations on e-bike maintenance, vendor tables, and a “very short” course on safety.
“We’ll also be right in the Tim Horton’s parking lot,” says Parks. “So you know, if anyone wants some coffee or donuts it’s right there. Might be a good idea before we go out on our e-bike cruise.”
To conclude the 1st Annual E-Bike Show, Parks, Fournier, Bernier, and “anyone else who wants to join” are going to ride their e-bikes on a tour of North Bay.
“We’re going to start on Cassells and then go down to the waterfront where we’ll get on the Kate Pace Way,” says Parks. “We’ll follow it until Gertrude St., and then head all the way up Lakeshore before turning around at the Omischl Complex. From there we’ll head back to Algonquin and up to Sobey’s.”
“Then the plan is to buy some beer from the LCBO, balance it on our e-bikes, and head home. It will be a perfect e-bike day.”
Tickets for the 1st Annual E-Bike Show are on sale Emmo E-Bikes, Vapor Trend, Juice on the Loose, and POINTTS™, The Traffic Ticket Specialists.