April 9, 2015

            Today was a rollercoaster. Emotions ran low during the morning, sky rocketed during the early afternoon, and then began to head back down later afternoon. Campbell and I ran into a bump last night when we realized that a battery did not come with the kit that we ordered. This is simply because batteries are extremely expensive and would turn any buyer away simply by looking at the price. After spending hours last night researching what battery we needed and how much it would cost, I began to worry about our next move. The first batteries that were suggested ran from 300$ to 500$, which is way out of our budget. However, things turned around as the day began.

            Campbell and I went to Wal-Mart to purchase a bike carrier rack to hold our imaginary battery. We then showed up at Patrick’s with a lot of educated questions about what battery we can use. After calling all his connections, the best answer he could give us was soldering D batteries together until it can retain 48 volts. This would have been very sketchy. Campbell and I drove to Batteries Plus Bulbs in order to get a second opinion, and the man could not have been more helpful. He knew exactly what to do and how to give it to us. Thanks to him, we were able to get four batteries for more than half off along with some extra wires and a sprinkle of great advice. Campbell and I left ecstatic.

            Our next project was mounting the control and the battery. The battery fits perfectly on the stand we bought, but still needs to be secured. Patrick then suggested that we mount the control on the frame. We drove to Home Depot with a grocery list and got all the equipment we thought might work. Trying to secure the battery was a complete failure, and we will have to continue that work tomorrow. Mounting to control was also much harder than we assumed it would be. The strip of metal we bought was not lining up with the controller, and attempting to make modification to it only frustrated me.

            Tomorrow we need to catch up. The electric bike will be finished tomorrow, and we will then start on the gas-powered bike. The project has been a lot harder than I first assumed, but I secretly like it. I enjoy the challenge of figuring out a solution to a problem that is not clear at first. We get to tinker and manipulate objects on and off the bike so everything fits. It is fun. I am excited to finish this bike and move on to the next one.