Responding to the mis-informed who posted commentary in my last blog entry:
#4 Hulio-G:
@U.S. Heh, I suppose you'd be the butt of jokes. But deep down everyone would love to try one of these at least once in their life.
I run across U.S. tourists coming to Copenhagen *almost daily* during the summer months (as well as the many Americans who live here), and they all express admiration and curiosity about velomobiles and recumbent trikes. The words 'cool', 'neat', 'awesome', and 'where can i get one?' are often in their commentary. They come away from the experience educated and enlightened, and with my business card (I give guided tours in velomobiles/recumbent trikes).
In the winter people from all over the world express a bit of jealousy as I go by, all warm and dry as they have to deal with the rain or snow.
Ok a few teenagers giggle or laugh when I'm cycling past, but it's always mixed with shouts of "cool bike!" or "cool sofa-cycle" ('sofa-cykel' is a common Danish term for recumbent bike).
#3 Duelmaster409:
If you saw someone riding around in one of these in the US, they'd be immediately kicked into a metal rehabilitation center for being so weird. Not that this is weird, it actually looks kind of fun!
Using your twisted logic, people smoking cigarettes should be 'kicked into a mental rehab center' since it's been proven for decades that smoking causes cancer more often than not. It's weird to willingly start a habit that is known kill to thousands of people a year. You have to be mentally unstable to do it.
Cycling in a velomobile is *different*, not weird - and certainly no weirder than using computers, which was relegated to being 'weird', 'nerdy', and limited usage when they first came out. Now you can't swing a stick without hitting something computerized.
Jul 3, 2011 7:04PM
#2 EmpirezTeam:
I still think this is the most awkward form of transportation I've ever seen. You don't ever see stuff like that in U.S.
If 'awkward' means cycling in comfort, greater speed, and larger cargo capacity all year 'round, then I will prefer 'awkward' any time.
The later part of the statement is quite funny, as it is a completely false statement. Velomobiles are a growing market in the US, from as far back as 2003 at least, possibly even farther.
Owners and Dealers of velomobiles are spread across the continental US and Canada. Here is a partial list of links showing that velomobiles are alive and growing in popularity and use:
The North American Velomobilist Website: http://www.velomobiles.net/
VelomobileUSA, LLC. - Stateside manufacturer of the Alleweder Velomobile, Texas dealer for the Quest Velomobile: http://www.velomobileusa.com/
Roll Over America: Coast-to-coast tour by velomobile: http://www.rolloveramerica.eu/
Many velomobile events around the world yearly, half of which are held in the US: http://www.velomobiling.com/events
International Human Powered Vehicle Association, which often include velomobiles and recumbents in several of their US events: http://www.ihpva.org/events.htm
The velomobile section at 'bentrideronline is very active, mostly by North American and Northern European members: http://www.bentrideronline.com/messageboard/ forumdisplay.php?f=15
One of the members of the 'bentrideronline forum recently created a 'North American Velonaut' map, marking where many of the velomobile riders are located: http://www.zeemaps.com/map?group=171479
So, in fact, you *do* see stuff like that in the U.S. and many other parts of the world too.
Expensive? Sure. But the price is well worth it at around $5000-6000 USD. Savings on your auto insurance, fuel, repairs, and monthly payments can easily repay the investment in less than 1 year in most cases.
When you think about the money that can be saved by commuting in a velomobile and doing it in such a healthy style, it’s hard to see a downside.
A few other links for informational/educational improvement:
Why ride a velomobile? http://www.bluevelo.com/Page_2.html
Amazing Bikes: Velomobiles http://www.velovision.com/showStory.php?storynum=1165
And yes, there are a few two-person velomobiles out there. It's a new market, but one that will gain in momentum over time.
You may now remove your foot from your mouth! :)
ID:115402
 Jul 4 2011, 3:18 am
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I was hoping for the post on your trip that you promised, but yea+ nonetheless!
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They look pretty cool, but there's no way Americans could ride them around here. What Duelmaster409 said is at least partially true, riding one of those would most definitely lead to you being mocked, be a victim of road rage, or have your ride vandalized.
It's a shame they aren't popular around here. I think part of it has to do with America's car fetish and the way our roads are built. A regular bicycle is great for transportation around town, but a trike doesn't have that sort of maneuverability. They aren't practical for long distance rides either since at least where I live you'll have to drive for 20-30 minutes along the highway to get to the next town. | |
I think the issue is that most of Europe is rather nice looking while most the U.S. is not, so the likelihood of seeing someone riding one of these in the states is directly tied to the likelihood that your town/city/state is a popular place for long distance cycling and tourist activity.
Coming from Florida, I can say that I've seen these a bit in Orlando and Tampa, and even in my backwoods hometown, thanks to the presence of Rails To Trails. | |
Hiro the Dragon King wrote:
most of Europe is rather nice looking while most the U.S. is not Dude, what? Once you get out of town there are rolling hills and creeks everywhere. | |
EmpirezTeam wrote:
"Awkward" means I would've been the laughing stock in high school if I rode onto the parking lot in one of those. Then you must have a very closed minded high school. While that might happen on the first day or two, once you've shared the experience with them (let them try it out), educated them, perhaps even got the school involved in letting you make a presentation for a larger body of students, the attitudes would clearly change. That has happened numerous times here in Europe and the UK, to positive effect, and should not be any different anywhere else in the world if done properly. I saw my first velomobile up close in Georgia in 1988 - a Leitra I think - at my high school, during a presentation on different ways to cycle. While there were a few students who laughed and thought it looked stupid, they were well in the minority, and several of them changed their tune once they did a test ride. >> The later part of the statement is quite funny, as it is a completely false statement. It's actually not. Actually it is. I was addressing the claim "You don't ever see stuff like that in U.S.", which is a false statement, and my links (especially the map one) support that. There are people around the country that use their velomobile regularly - just probably not near you. Now if you had said "I don't ever see stuff like that", then you would be unfortunately right. > I've been in 4 states in U.S., my parents have been in a few more, not including my siblings and relatives and the other people I come in contact with. I'm pretty sure if I were to ask them if they ever saw anyone riding a "velomobile" down the street, they wouldn't have the slightest clue as to what I was talking about. And I'm not questioning whether *they* have seen them, only pointing out that yes, indeed, that 'stuff' happens there too. I've been in all 48 states of the Continental US, plus parts of Mexico and most of Canada since 1967. I didn't see velomobiles all over the place (only 3 times for myself in that period of time, and one of those up close), but I knew they existed. > These people, like you, probably whip out their velomobile every now and then when they're about to do some cycling event. I take minor offence to that, since I ride mine Nomad everyday for commuting to work, weekly food shopping, or general exercise - regardless of weather conditions - when not driving my cycle taxi. And the same goes for the thousands of people in those forum links I posted (out of the 12,000 members, about a third are dedicated velomobile riders in that forum alone). People like myself and those just mentioned ride them *all the time*, not just whenever we fancy, or when there is an event to attend. That's the *whole point* of driving a velomobile: because it's more comfortable, typically faster in city traffic, and protects you from the very weather that stops other cyclists. I never said the velomobile population was large - I said it was a growing market, and refuted your claim that "You don't ever see stuff like that in U.S." with facts to prove otherwise. | |
And? If there is a place to ride a bike through that, that would be gorgeous. Here, we have roads running through crappy urban areas, and once you get out of there, it's fence-line after fence-line of "private property". Luckily, Rails To Trails avoids most of that and provides a mostly scenic route through the state.
EDIT: In recent years, our county seems to have been making an effort to make portions look much better. They've cleaned up a huge area and ran a two lane pedestrian area that runs along the entire length of the highway. | |
SuperAntx wrote:
...riding one of those would most definitely lead to you being mocked, be a victim of road rage, or have your ride vandalized. Obviously that's not the case, as there are hundreds of them in the US at least, and I've yet to hear about one being severely treated like that in the news or in any of the forums I am a member of where there is a large US velomobile membership. *Maybe* once or twice a year someone gets his ride messed with, but the damage is minor and rare. And it's an honest group, so they tend to report when things like that happen. Your assumptions just don't hold up to the known facts. | |
I don't think it's something you'd hear about in the news. It would be more like teenagers throwing rocks rather than straight up destroying the trike.
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Where are you from? People don't do that here, even if it's a rainbow colored car with two dicks, crossing streams.
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Hiro the Dragon King wrote:
Coming from Florida, I can say that I've seen these a bit in Orlando and Tampa, and even in my backwoods hometown, thanks to the presence of Rails To Trails. Several of the major posters in the 'bentrideronline velomobile forums are die-hard Florida velomobile riders, using their rides for everything. One particular rider, fred_dot_u, gets harassed periodically by un-informed police officers, so he carries a copy of the Florida bike codes to prove he has a right to the road in the absence of bike lanes. He's constantly getting tickets thrown out of court because of the lack of knowledge of the local Police. | |
I'd love to commute in one, but the price is rather high. I don't know if I've spent 6k to purchase, repair, and fuel my car in the four years I've had it. (I don't drive when I don't have to).
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SuperAntx wrote:
I don't think it's something you'd hear about in the news. It would be more like teenagers throwing rocks rather than straight up destroying the trike. And like I said, the forum members are usually quick to post about such incidents, and they really don't happen as often as you might think. Certainly no worse than any other vehicle. | |
I'm completely aware of that digitalmouse. 90% Florida officers are uninformed dickwads. There've been stories in papers recently about how bad the police are when it comes to cyclists. And coming from a family of cyclists, I've heard a bit about it.
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IainPeregrine wrote:
I'd love to commute in one, but the price is rather high. That *is* the current stumbling block, but there are several efforts underway to build velomobiles more locally (already a few in the US) to help offset costs. And I know of 3 projects underway to make them more mass-produced, which will bring the price down considerably in the coming years. You can, of course, go the route I did- buy a used trike, fix it up, and spend the real money on the body (about $800 for the orange fairing in my origial post, and that's because I learned how to build it from the guy that makes them- saving me labor costs...that fairing is about $1500 if you have it built for you). Total cost for my 'velomobile' was about $3000 altogether. It's re-couped that investment completely in just a couple of months. | |
Hiro the Dragon King wrote:
Where are you from? People don't do that here, even if it's a rainbow colored car with two dicks, crossing streams. Well, this place is kind of a shithole. If anyone were to throw rocks at a trike, they'd be from this town. | |
I wouldn't drive through that town, let alone cycle through it.
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"Awkward" means I would've been the laughing stock in high school if I rode onto the parking lot in one of those. I'm not arguing the fact that it's probably more comfortable and faster. I'm saying it's unusual and looks more weird than it does "cool".
The later part of the statement is quite funny, as it is a completely false statement. Velomobiles are a growing market in the US, from as far back as 2003 at least, possibly even farther.
It's actually not. I've been in 4 states in U.S., my parents have been in a few more, not including my siblings and relatives and the other people I come in contact with. I'm pretty sure if I were to ask them if they ever saw anyone riding a "velomobile" down the street, they wouldn't have the slightest clue as to what I was talking about.
There may be people trying to sell these, but the fact is they're extremely uncommon. I also happen to live in a neighborhood with a lot of bike riders which should increase the chances of me seeing one of these, but I still haven't. These people, like you, probably whip out their velomobile every now and then when they're about to do some cycling event. Other than that, it rots somewhere in a garage until you're ready to use it again, which is why "you don't ever see stuff like that in U.S." because chances are, you won't unless you actually go to these bike events or are apart of the 2% of the population that just so happens to know someone that owns one. =/