eBikeLikeMe.com sends our congratulations to the Scraper Bikers for the leadership and inspiration they give to their community. And now that Drea Cooper has exposed their story … they can share it with the world. Scraper Bikes inspires our own eBikeLikeMe club out of Santa Monica, California. We hope to spread the word and expose the power of community through riding bikes and getting out of our cars.

We recommend taking a look at this amazing short video called ScraperTown by Oakland filmmakers, Drea Cooper and Zackary Canepari. Enjoy!…

Scrapertown from California is a place. on Vimeo.

“In order to become a member of the Original Scraper Bike Team, you must: Be a resident of Oakland, CA. Be at least 7y/o or older. Retain A 3.0 Grade Point Average (GPA), Create your own Scraper Bike…(It Has To Be Amazing, Or Else You Can’t Ride.) A single-file line when riding. After 10 rides The Scraper Bike King and his Captains will decide if your bike is up to standards and if you can follow simple guidelines. After your evaluation we will consider you a member and honor you with an Original Scraper Bike Team Shirt. Only worn when Mobbin’ Stay posted to our website for all upcoming Scraper Bike Rides…” — The Scraper Bike King

A Side of Oakland You’ve Never Seen

One of the most exciting projects I’ve seen in awhile is California Is A Place, a collaboration between filmmaker Drea Cooper and photographer Zackary Canepari. It is precisely the kind of place-based journalistic effort I called for here, and the quality of what these two produce compared to the video shorts seen on cable news networks and network news magazine shows diminishes my already contemptuous estimation of America’s mainstream broadcast journalism.

GOOD Blog > Andrew Price on February 12, 2010 at 7:30 am PST

Electric bikes are getting more popular in other parts of the world:

Already, electric bikes have gained mass acceptance in China, where 22 million are expected to sell this year, and are taking off quickly in Europe. In the U.S., they are still struggling to gain ground. But a growing number of analysts say the next few years could determine whether these bikes become a part of the U.S. cycling landscape or remain a novelty.

Los Angeles would seem like the ideal place for electric bikes. Just doing errands in your own neighborhood here can require lots of medium-length (2- to 4-mile) trips. But I rarely see them around. Maybe they’re too expensive. Trek’s electric bike (see it on YouTube) is $2,200. You could get a serviceable used car for that amount. Conversion kits can be much cheaper, but those are more for hobbyists than your average cyclist.

Do you have an electric bike? Would you have one? I’d love to hear from anyone who found one at a reasonable price and uses it regularly.

Read more: http://www.good.is/post/what-s-your-take-on-electric-bikes?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+good%2Flbvp+%28GOOD+Main+RSS+Feed%29#ixzz0fOj3VxNm
Under Creative Commons License: Attribution