SEATTLE - What's eight feet tall, more hairy than a yak and can travel 30 miles an hour without moving his feet? If you said Sammy the Sasquatch on a Batman bike board, you've solved one mystery.The other mystery of course is ...why?
"Because it draws attention," says Jeremy Cooper who's inside the sasquatch costume. "I like to inspire smiles in people because then they want to learn more."
Cooper is senior V-P of Seattle E-Bike, one of three electric bike shops in jet city. Electric bikes--not bike boards--are the real main attraction here.
"Electric bikes are the future," says Cooper. "I think with alternative technology and the fact that an e-bike can take you fifty miles in a day and only cost you 17 cents it's a lot cheaper than gas."
The e-bike sensation is already sweeping through countries like Holland and Germany where more and more people are cycling to work --or to get an espresso--without breaking a sweat. And yes--a remarkable number of European e-bike commerciasl do eventually involve a well groomed man having an espresso.
"We're seeing as much as one in every three bikes becoming an electric bike in some European markets," says Cooper.
Now it's Seattle's turn.
"My commute is about 15 miles and it takes me half the time it takes me in a car," says Cooper.
If well groomed Europeans can't convince you e-bikes are the future perhaps something eight feet tall and hairy might.
Want to learn more? There is an electric bike expo this weekend at Tukwila's Southcenter Mall.
