About

A brief history of the man behind
The Electric Bicycle Company.

I was born the same day man landed on the moon. July 20th in the year of 1969. If you are lucky enough to be able to read the Christchurch Press for that day you would know that on the front page it says “Man Lands on Moon.” On the inside back cover it says that John and Dianne gave birth to a 9lb baby boy. Me. You could say I was one of the first space age babies. I wasn’t riding an electric bike.

Neil Armstrong smuggled golf-balls onto the first spacecraft to land on the moon. On his first walk on the moon he ripped a pipe off the lander which is still on the moon, used it as a club and whacked his golf-balls all over the moon. He still holds the world record for the longest golf drive in history………

Anyway, since then I have done a few things and been an aircraft engineer for the last 20 years. I have been fortunate and have lived/worked in many interesting places. I have been further fortunate to find the time to collect silly bicycles. This got me a unicycle for my birthday one year, and it took myself and a friend 6 weeks in the Amsterdam campground to learn to ride it. I am hoping Paco will teach me how to motorise it, but we will see.

So, I collect powered cycles and am licensed to certify commercial jet aircraft in Europe and Antipodea . I recently spent a year studying the ‘avionics’ of commercial aircraft. I think it was 26 exams with a required 70% pass mark. ‘Avionics’ is a French word that means what it says. It is the electric science of aircraft. From a legal perspective it means electric, instruments and radio. Wherever you read radio please replace it with ‘Dark Arts.’

This has trained my eye for engineering safety and reliability.

I love my job ensuring the serviceability of aircraft.

I also love tinkering with electric bikes. They are very cool. I cannot see a more environmentally acceptable way to travel.

I always think that cost is the biggest benchmark in environmental damage. Cost equals resource consumed. Long term small cost = environmental saving.

I have two girls and a very understanding wife.

I will do all that I can to get anyone on an electric bike.