Before I get into this I thought I would add that I am drinking a Coffee and am remarkably mellow.
Came really close to blowing a mental fuse and quitting this Group yesterday but I've calmed down a lot and will try and play nice from now on---> but I don't do nice very well so I expect Ken and Vic to let me know when I'm veering into the Un-Nice area.

Hell I might even get a Veloteq E-Scooter someday and so no point in peeing on E-Scooter people if I end up being an E-Scoot Rider in the future.

Okay the Critical Mass idea

Donned on me that this Group is pretty spread out across Toronto and the GTA and a Meet-Up is not all that practical as we've seen in the last 10 attempts.

So how about have the Meet-Ups come to you (or near you).

Plan Group Rides by dividing up the City into say 5 regions and Plan Group Rides in each of the 5 areas. This way no Member is more than say 10 KM away from the start/end point of each Ride.

A few Members would start the Ride and as we approached an area where another Member lives they can Meet us and ride with us to the end location or ride for as long as they felt comfortable riding without fear of their Battery pack dying for their return trip.

We would plot Ride Routes so they include E-Bike/E-Scooter Vendor Retail locations for Charging to extend our ride distances. Would also ask Members along the Route to let us charge in their driveway and tap into their Mains (Mains is a U.K. term for a wall outlet tied to the Hydro-Electric Grid).

We could plan a Group Ride to Sample Ice Cream cones from different locations----Yummy

Best way to promote E-Bikes/E-Scooters is for the heaving masses to see us Ride in Groups and best way to promote safe driving techniques is to reel in more people with E-Scooters and via Peer pressure convince them riding on sidewalks and with a passenger is going to give us all a bad reputation. I cannot believe E-Scooter people act stupid on purpose and I suspect they just need some guidance.

Anyway lets list all the reasons why Group Rides won't work and then see if we can hammer out ways to ensure they can happen.

PS if we're still on for Sunday I will only have one e-bike available for anyone who wants to ride but arrives on the TTC. I was hoping to have a second e-bike available but it won't arrive till Monday.

I intend to build up a stable of recycled e-bikes and recycled e-scooters that could be loaned out for Group Rides in 2011

Well Joshua I'll be completely honest when I say that strong opinions need to be filtered and made a little politically correct. It's not about giving into the man it's really about respecting others and the decisions they made on style of bike to ride. We need to learn top respect one another more and try to be a team.

The real problem isn't the people buying the bikes. Its the vendors and the cheap bikes that are the culprit. The poor are the ones buying the cheap bikes and the ones breaking the rules along with the elderly as well. I think these bikes should all be at least 2k. This forces a smarter clientele to purchase them. Now I know this is a generalization but honestly the ones that have good jobs like myself and who live comfortably are not being moronic idiots on the road. The other issue is the fact that escooter style bikes are a lot more attractive to people than regular bikes so you now have an influx of people on the roads. All we need is for a few thing to get changed and all of our lives will be much easier.

Personally I think for anyone to be able to ride a bike with electricity assisting should be required to have a G1. That would be the smartest thing to do. At least then it forces people to read the rules of the road and pass a test.

In regards to meetups I'm not concerned about battery issues for myself. I'll just take my hard tail. No battery to worry about. I wonder what areas everyone is in. I know I'm downtown Toronto myself.

in great part the reason I calmed down is because I actually like E-Scooters (I know it does not come across that way) but anything that gets the heaving masses out of their cars and onto 2 or 3 wheels at a safer speed is my primary mission.

If everyone wanted a good E-Scooter we'd all be driving a Veloteq but not everyone is willing or able to buy the best and so they settle for what is out there and for the most part what is out there should have stayed in China.

2 things will happen with really crappy E-Scooters. (A) people will realize what they bought was a mistake and next time they will buy something better or (B) they will assume that all E-Scooters are crap and they will be back in their Car.

Might be a (C) in that they will buy an E-Bike but then they could buy a crappy E-Bike. I figure if a person buys a crappy E-Scooter and follows it with a crappy E-Bike they need to get spayed or neutered so they don't breed.

There are lots of projects I'd like to set up between now and 2011 that could use people from within this Group as well as E-Bikers who are not yet Members.

One project would be to educate the heaving unwashed masses about what is a good E-Scooter and create as Rating System for Dealers on a Scale of One to Ten.

Project Two would be a buy/sell/trade website with a Theft Reporting Page.

Project Three are the Group Rides and establish a stable of recycled e-scooters/e-bikes for people to participate who have not yet bought a 2 wheel e-wonder.

Project Four is open a Cafe for E-Motor riders. A Cafe that has battery charging, runs workshops and clinics and is essentially the HQ for e-bike & e-scoot riders in the city.

People are social animals who work best in Groups.

In every Group (this one included) you will have a Core Group within the larger Membership and that Core will be the people who are open to working for the greater good (as opposed to burning brain cells watching TV and waiting to die)

As I mentioned I run several Forums on Yahoo and PHP BB and Members have a 2 year lifespan i.e. they Join, Participate and within 2 years dropout. About 90% of Members follow this 2 year cycle. There is a 10% who will hang on for years and these are the Core who create projects and keep active educating new members. Some of the Core end up opening retail stores, cooperatives, create Blogs and so on.

As for Licensing E-Scooter riders.

It would be the death of E-Scooters just like Licensing killed off Mopeds in the 70's.

I think anyone on anything two wheels that wants to share the road with cars should at least have a g1. Even good ole pedal bikes. People have to at least now the rules of the road. It would be far easier to implement than special licensing for the style of bike.

What would be really nice is if they did a similar licensing system with Motorcycle licenses like the G. Have an M1 be a written test that pertains to bikes and the roads. This I think is the best options for effecting as many people as possible. I'm not sure I'm confident that groups would be effective enough in educating people themselves. I do like your ideas though and they are very progressive. The idea of getting on board with dealers is smart. They are the ones that need to do the real educating. I think there should be tighter regulations on those selling the products as well. Put some sort of liability on their laps or at least force them to follow a strict process when selling bikes. Have secret shoppers then help with enforcing the rules imposed upon them.