The future is electric!

Back in the 80's I used to ride my sister's skateboard now and again. It was a short wooden thing with very small wheels and was  incredibly difficult to stay upright on. This I suspect was because of its size and also due to the rough roads in my old neighbourhood. Little did I think that many many years later I would find myself riding comfortably  on an electric longboard! That situation occurred about  a month and a half ago but only after nearly two years of thinking about the best way  to commute to work. This commute had traditionally been undertaken in my car. The workplace is in a different town to the one I lived and the commute on a good day took 35-40 minutes either way by car.  After a long hard day at work there was nothing easier than to jump into my car and drive back home - this pattern became so ingrained in my mind, that I was blinkered and could not contemplate alternative forms of transport.

Then two years ago my company changed buildings and ended up being located very close to the train station. The train was now a real alternative. But how to get to the train station in my town (a 30 minute walk) and from the train station to my work place (a 11 minute walk) in the other town? I could walk but that gets a bit boring and tiresome doing it everyday. Bicycle? When I did go by train I saw the issues had by fellow passengers who wanted to take their bikes on the train. Every morning there's a small race to be had by the cyclists as they compete to get on the train first before the train's quota of five bikes is reached - forcing a few unhappy cyclists to wait for the next train. The alternative of leaving the bike at the station was not a viable solution. The horror stories I had heard from my work colleagues returning to their parked bikes only to find a broken lock or one remaining wheel locked to the bicycle railing. Would I do a bus to get to the train? Hmm, well now and then. But the buses here seem to be a law into their own in terms of turning up (or not) according to the timetable.

What I needed was something small enough to take on the train and fast enough to be better than just walking. Sure I could buy a folding Brompton like bike. But they look so cumbersome to carry around. I looked at Swegways - too expensive and too big. I looked at Segway/Hoverboards but they just seem like toys.

I thought about manual skateboards but recalled the experiences I had when I was a kid. Then after doing all this research on YouTube, YouTube felt like it knew me well enough to start recommending electric skateboard videos. For several months I watched and wondered, would I, wouldn't I be able to ride safely one of these things and eventually I concluded that an electric longboard was the one for me. Then about two months ago I saw the  VoLo-E longboard on eBay. After many discussions with the proprietor of the Volo-E store I bit the bullet and purchased. I created this blog to report on my experiences with this longboard and hopefully provide useful information to fellow electric skateboarders. Oh yes, I am an Engineer and a bit of a tinkerer. I do plan on making and reporting adjustments to my longboard :)