See the Wheel Experience Theatre for short video clips of fascinating transportation alternatives!
Graham was featured in the Denver Post in ‘Profiles in Green’:
B
oulder is selected as a ‘Platinum City’ for biking
[see video & article] by the League of American Bicyclists. Joining Portland, Oregon and Davis, California as the only three cities to achieve Platinum Bike Status for promoting bicycle-friendly paths and programs.
Check out the video at Streetfilms.org, that shows Boulder’s paths and riders in action.
Electric bikes. A sustainable way to get around
(Letter in The Daily Camera 11/17/08 by Graham Hill)
Who is afraid of the big bad fall season? The only thing I dread about the fall in the Boulder-Denver area is people’s response to colder weather, which affects their frequency to bike. People begin to tuck away their bikes and the cars
pop up like spring daffodils.
The reasons are numerous, but why should we rely only on our bike, when we could also have an electric bike, which often can replace a car trip. If a “boosted” bike can help you eliminate a car trip, why are we not promoting local action to overturn a silly law that prevents these enabling wheels to assist our very issues we seem to ignore. Our e-bike laws don’t measure up to the social needs, they hinder sustainable practices. The steady use of a car begins to shape your lifeline to them. Local cities can offer incentives, rebates, parking, charging and opportunities to further enable this tortured technology.
Take our high schools for example; young drivers have access to cars because they have been conditioned to drive everywhere. They have parents who have cars, use them for most trips, and thus create the continuance of this practice to the next generation. A couple electric bikes in the garage can go a long ways to eliminating the desire or even need for a second car in many cases. Of course we all can’t choose where we live, but next to locating closer to our destinations, a bike-oriented household can really change your life.
An electric bike can give one a sense of freedom, which you may not have experienced prior. For the person who doesn’t even ride a bike now, one suddenly gains a greater appreciation for the neighborhoods, parks, small businesses, flowers, architecture and your community. Your trip is again enjoyed rather than hurried. A chance encounter may occur, you may start feeling better, you forget you don’t have to give any attention to parking, and suddenly you are there!
The Sociable had them talking!
The ‘Broadway Sociable’ was a big hit with kids at the First Annual Middle Cross Bikefest. Check out this video at the Daily Camera of the event, which features a great view of the side-by-side 2-wheeler in action!
Kids learn about alternative transportation. A Greeley Tribune article about a field trip promoting Clean Cities. Graham Hill participated in this unique learning experience. 4/19/08
21 Wheels teams up with new Boulder dealer: Smart Motorcars to sell new Segways and SmartCars. 21 Wheels owner Graham Hill rides his Segway on a regular basis. Featured in the Daily Camera, 1/9/05 [article ]. Registration necessary.
21 Wheels teams up with new Boulder dealer: Smart Motorcars to sell new Segways and SmartCars. 21 Wheels owner Graham Hill rides his Segway on a regular basis. Featured in the Daily Camera, 1/9/05 [article ]. Registration necessary.
Superbia! -a new book by renowned sustainability advocates Dan Chiras and Dave Wann feature Transportation strategies that have worked in 21 Wheels founder Graham Hill‘s Boulder neighborhood.
Eco-passes (encouraging bus use), car-sharing, electric bike sharing and solar-powered lighting are some of the progressive strategies successfully promoted by Graham in this neighborhood. Read an excerpt from this new book.
Evil Genius in the Garden of Eden, how corporations profit from the toxins that make us sick. A new book from Vic Shayne features a contribution from 21 Wheels owner Graham Hill:
‘The current U.S. transportation system, corporate politics and the American mindset (affected by marketing) must evolve sensibly to enable us to move into a more realistic, sustainable energy paradigm.’
Read an excerpt from this new book!
2003 Pollution Prevention Champion.
21 Wheels’ Graham Hill receives American Lung Association award!
The Boulder County Business Report article July 11, 2003 (pdf)
Boulder-Denver corridor plans
Daily Camera Article June 2003
21 Wheels owner evangelist for alternative transportation
Boulder County Business Report staff writer Caron Schwartz Ellis reports on the growing alternative transportation business of 21 Wheels. Article Link.
he Colorado Daily Article April 22, 2003
Elected officials tour U.S. 36
A coalition of local and state officials took a bus tour of U.S. 36 recently. They hope to raise funding and support for multi-modal use to improve congestion on the highway.
Read the story by MARIA BONDES at ColoradoDaily.com
The Colorado Daily Article April 22, 2003
Elected officials tour U.S. 36
A coalition of local and state officials took a bus tour of U.S. 36 recently. They hope to raise funding and support for multi-modal use to improve congestion on the highway.
Read the story by MARIA BONDES at ColoradoDaily.com
The Colorado Daily Article April 22, 2003
Elected officials tour U.S. 36
A coalition of local and state officials took a bus tour of U.S. 36 recently. They hope to raise funding and support for multi-modal use to improve congestion on the highway.
Read the story by MARIA BONDES at ColoradoDaily.com
Daily Camera Article October 13, 2002
E-bike empowers cancer victim
But motorized bicycles not allowed on Boulder paths
By Mary Butler, Camera Staff Writer
Adenocarcinoma has ripped through Sally Kletzky’s abdomen, stomach and lymph nodes.
The one-in-a-million cancer pulses through her sturdy frame, defying life-saving, every-other-week chemotherapy treatments, which robbed her of thick brown hair and sometimes leaves her powerless.
A walk with the dog or bike ride became things to fear as her physical strength was no longer dependable.
Seventeen months into her fight against the rare disease, the Boulder woman said she has found new freedom and control in an unexpected place. She bought an electric bike, which allows her to experience the outdoors with the backup of a motor to give her power when she loses her own.
“I can control the bike and go where I want,” said Kletzky, 51. “It helps give me faith in myself and my body.”
Control has become a slippery commodity in her new life, where an unseen enemy — a fast-moving ring cell carcinoma — has taken charge.
Electric bicycles, which can travel at up to 18 mph, are treated the same as conventional bicycles in California. But in Boulder, where about 100 people own motor-assisted bikes, they’re only allowed on off-street paths if their motors are disengaged.
Earlier this year, the City Council set aside the issue of legalizing e-bikes on trails for more study. Many people in public hearings voiced concern about adding congestion to trails and noise to peaceful areas.
The issue is expected to be revisited next fall, said Marni Ratzel, a Boulder transportation planner.
Buying time
Kletzky doesn’t have time to wait for motor-assisted bikes to be legalized, though. She spends her days in chemotherapy, cancer support groups, learning more about her disease, getting alternative therapies — and spending as much time as possible with friends and family.
“I’m buying time,” she said. On days she feels strong, Kletzky has begun cycling to her friends’ homes to visit and going on trails for pleasure. She only turns on the motor when she needs to, and never at a high speed, she said.
On a recent afternoon, Kletzky accompanied her husband, Ed, while he ran Boulder’s Bobolink Trail. She pedaled to exhaustion, pushing herself on the 15-mile ride until she fell.
“I cried,” she said. Because it hurt, not because she was sad.
Kletzky rolled up her pant leg to show the bruise where the bike hit her leg in the fall. Thankfully, the skin didn’t break. Cuts that used to heal in days now pose a grave danger for infection.
“This is my badge of honor,” she said.
The assurance of knowing she could continue even if her body didn’t, she said, allowed her to go further by activating the motor with thumb lever. Experiencing the crispness of the fall air, the wind around her body — even the sight of prairie dogs, which make her laugh — was and is an invigorating force.
“I’m still here,” she said.
Chance meeting
At Boulder’s September Fall Festival on the Pearl Street Mall, Kletzky and her husband stopped briefly at a booth to look at an electric bicycle on display.
She didn’t ask any questions, but she took a card. The bicycle stuck in her mind, and finally she called Graham Hill, owner of 21 Wheels, a “new mobility” gallery that sells “e-bikes.”
Tears crept into her eyes as Kletzky recalled her first experience riding a motor-assisted bicycle, which Hill brought to her.
She pedaled from her home near Bear Creek Elementary School toward the National Center for Atmospheric Research, a short drive, but a steep and difficult climb for even the fittest cyclist.
“It was a beautiful day, and I was half way up to NCAR,” she said. “I kept saying out loud ‘Wow, this is cool.’ I could make it.”
Hill equipped her Trek mountain bike with a motor within a couple weeks. Donations from the Diana Price Fish Foundation, a nonprofit dedicated to helping cancer patients enjoy life, and Sandra Foa, a cancer support group friend, helped offset the cost.
Friends of Kletzky said the e-bike has helped her keep a positive attitude.
“It’s just that normalcy of getting out and about that I think is an exciting thing for her,” said Beverly Irons, a friend who drives Kletzky to her Denver chemotherapy treatments. “It’s something that most of us take for granted.”
Even though she can’t control her disease, Irons said, Kletzky has attacked it from every angle through therapy, information-gathering and positive thinking. And then she shares what she learns with others who might benefit.
“She teaches through her experiences and makes sure they’re out there for other people to know about them,” said Lezlie Wright, another friend who drives Kletzky to her chemotherapy appointments. The women met about 20 years ago when their daughters began Girl Scouts.
That’s why Kletzky wanted to share her e-bike experience in the newspaper, Wright said.
“She’s got to be the strongest person I’ve ever met,” she said. “She had some times in the beginning when she felt the depression and negativity, just like anyone who’s facing this sort of thing would. But somehow she just turned that all around into a positive thing. She’s gone 150 percent ever since.”
Contact Mary Butler at (303) 473-1390 or butlerm@dailycamera.com.
More information about electric bikes can be found at www.21wheels.com/links.htm, www.electric-bikes.com and www.zapworld.com. Information about the Diana Price Fish Foundation, which helps cancer victims enjoy life, can been seen at www.dpff.org.
