I figured most of the bike riders wouldn't mind doing a little pedaling so I could get away with a smaller motor and lighter batteries. Truth is the bikes were just a toy in anything but almost perfectly flat areas. Coastal areas and the great plains were perfect for Ebikes. Just about anywhere else and they were a pain.

I was happy to sell the toy kits all over the country, but I knew in my heart they would be used seldom except in the area previously mentioned. Still it was a start in the new year in a new direction. 'The League of Old Men,' as I called my workers, were very careful builders.

One of the Old men was a retired welder. He cut, drilled and assembled the frame of the drive. The second was an old bicycle shop mechanic who was bored to tears sitting at home. He assembled the motor drive wheel and frame. He then fitted it to a bike, and rode it two miles. If it checked out, he disassembled it and packed it for shipment. The third man was a retired office worker with a big trucking company. He took care of the orders and shipping. They didn't really need me except when one of them was sick. I could fill in for anyone.

I sold the kits on Ebay and Craig's list. By the spring of that first year, I was doing more in kits than in bicycles. I didn't make a lot of money, but I could sure laundry at lot through the business. To laundry the money, I just built a bike on paper and sold it for the top price and then sold it to a tombstone buyer. After I had the buyer's name from the obits, I just figuratively pedaled the bike off a cliff. It seemed to be working pretty good to add a grand ever couple of months to my take.

With spring came the return of the tourist season and the custom bike sales and rental business. That second year it was bigger than ever. I kept busy and was having a grand old time. I built bikes. fished a little, and hung out at the Holiday Inn's ocean side lounge on Wednesday nights.

I hadn't had near as much fun over the winter as I was having during the spring of that second year. I had fished, arranged for the building of bike motor kits, and went out with Jengin. She and I began sleeping together just after Christmas but I was a disappointment. I should have stopped after the first time, but I swear I thought it would get better.

The expression, "The worst I even had wasn't all that bad," fitted Jengin to a tee. She was usually hammered when we slept together and pretty close to catatonic. I was thrilled to see that she and I both got busy with the start of tourist season. It was almost a blessing that she had less and less time for me.