Velomobiling -

Weekend on ice

Mon, 28 Jan 2008 21:30:08 -0600

Cycling "heats up" in the Minnesota winter

Minneapolis, January 26 and 27, 2008 -- a cycling weekend on ice.

After a couple weeks of Arctic cold, the Minnesota winter warmed up to near the freezing point, and cyclists' thoughts turned to ice-biking. The Minnesota Human-Powered Vehicle Association usually holds races on Rogers Lake in Mendota Heights, but snow had fallen during the freeze-up, and the ice was un-rideable. Rinks and paths on Lake Nokomis in Minneapolis had been cleared for an international Pond Hockey tournament the week before, so the races were (unofficially, since there had been no time to get a permit) re-located to the city. Enthusiastic riders raced on a dozen trikes and about as many bikes. From as far away as South Carolina, innovaters came to test their ice-racing contraptions in timed heats, drag races, and circuit races. Check out the Icebike race and photos in the Gallery, or look at a few ice-bike pictures on Flickr or a lot of videos on YouTube.

Winter weekends on Medicine Lake, just west of Minneapolis, are a time for ice-fishing, and for the annual Art Shanty exhibit. A cluster of ice houses sponsored by a local art group offered something new this year -- a human-powered fish-house. Six cyclists lined up on a wooden bench pedaled this little shanty around the exhibit, while the other passengers warmed themselves next to a wood stove. See more Human-Powered Fish-house photos in the Gallery, or on Flickr or watch the videos on YouTube.

Mary Arneson

Bakmobiel

Sun, 28 Oct 2007 13:30:39 -0500

A two-person velomobile with electric assist -- introduced in Belgium.

Fietser.be introduces the Bakmobiel, a two-person velomobile with electric assist. This special-purpose vehicle was built for a foundation that provides employment for the disabled. It serves as a delivery van for a bakery, hence the name "Bakmobiel" which refers to a "Baker's vehicle" and also plays on the "Bakfiets" or "box bike" that serves to transport goods and children in the Low Countries.

Mary Arneson

September Events

Sun, 02 Sep 2007 17:55:36 -0500

September 2007 bike events

September events

We're staying in Minneapolis this September to cycle to a couple of local rides that offer traffic-free streets and lots of biking fun. On September 9, about 7000 cyclists will ride through St. Paul on the 13th annual St. Paul Classic bike tour, and on September 16, Minneapolis introduces its own cycle tour, the Minneapolis Bike Tour on the "Grand Rounds" route.

For bike and velomobile enthusiasts elsewhere, there are a couple of great opportunities in September:

The International Velomobile Meeting takes place near Giessen, Germany on September 21-23.

The Niagara Velomobile Happening is on the same weekend (September 22 and 23) in Niagara-on-the-Lake, Ontario, Canada.

We've stayed close to home this summer except for riding in the Midwest Recumbent Rally in Stevens Point, Wisconsin in August. We're trying to put fewer miles on our cars and more on our bikes.

Mary Arneson

Global Bike Days

Tue, 05 Jun 2007 19:33:39 -0500

A local event with a global flavor

Cycling promotion sometimes bypasses urban residents who didn't grow up with bikes. A new organization in Minneapolis, BikeOn.org, reaches out to immigrant women, low-income families, and others who may not even know how to ride. (Readers may be familiar with a similar program in London.) Their promotional material shows the Midtown Global Market, a mixed-use development in an old Sears store in south Minneapolis. Running up the left-hand side of the picture is the Midtown Greenway, a cross-city bike and pedestrian path all the way across Minneapolis. This commuter route links to other trails, reaching the University of Minnesota, downtown, Farmers' Markets, and several suburbs.

On Saturday, June 30 and Sunday, July 1, BikeOn invites everyone to Global Bike Days at the Midtown Global Market. "A weekend of bikes, music, language, culture, art, spoken word, film, theater, children's activities and more" is planned for participants. And of course there will be bikes -- from ordinary to completely different!

Mary Arneson

Velomobile News, Spring 2007

Mon, 28 May 2007 21:01:54 -0500

Velomobile news for spring of 2007

Velomobile News

It's been a month now since the Spezi bike show in Germany, and we're overdue for a report on what we saw there. We had a terrific time on our trip -- triking through the tulips in Holland, riding through Cologne in a Velotaxi, catching up on the European specialty bike scene at Spezi, and visiting friends and relatives in Austria. It's taken us some time to process and edit more than three gigabytes of photos, and we've been back at work since the day after we flew home, but we have some videos up on YouTube and some photos on Flickr and in the Gallery here. More will be coming as get them sorted and edited.

Velomobiles are cropping up all over, and some of them are quite different from the "standard" models.

The minimalist approach was seen in these examples of fabric or soft fairings for bikes and trikes:

Winter-Reisner of Hamburg offered some enclosures for trikes, including the blue one on the left. Alfred's All-Weather Solution (seen in two versions in the center) is a fairing system for various recumbents. The Velo-Kit (in red, on the right) fits a variety of trikes.

There were also new removable rigid fairings for trikes -- including one delta version:

The Cabriovelo, seen above in orange with the roof down, and in blue with the convertible top and sides in place, is built on the Sinner Comfort delta trike. In yellow, the Ped3 fairing from Slovenia is made for the Berkut trike from Russia.

New velomobiles in the WAW and Leiba line both ended up with names that translate as "breeze" -- the WAW Bries and the Leiba Brise. Drawings of the WAW offering showed its 16" front wheels and newly-designed wheel-mounting system. A late prototype of the Leiba Brise was being test-ridden on the plaza. The Leiba Brise is more open than most velomobiles.

After Spezi, we stopped at BikeRevolution in Austria and talked with Thomas Seide about his velomobile projects. His Thunderstorm velomobile wasn't ready for Spezi but will be introduced later this year. He'll be offering a lightweight full fairing that will mount on a Nomad or MadMax trike, allowing the rider to choose to ride a full-function open trike or a fully-enclosed velomobile. In addition, he will be producing Leitra velomobiles.

Mary Arneson

Mary's Blog 10 - May 17, 2007

Thu, 17 May 2007 01:43:50 -0500

Spezi 2007

Where is the Spezi news? We've been back for a little over a week, and there's lots to say about the Spezi bike show in Germersheim, Germany, but we haven't had time yet to upload the photos and write about the new developments. New velomobiles and velomobile-like fairings are appearing faster than we can keep up. There is the Bries (Breeze) from WAW, with 16" front wheels and space for larger riders than the standard WAW. There's the new Brise (Breeze) from Leiba, with only a partial enclosure for the rider. 4 Seasons Velo introduces the Cabriovelo, a fairing for a Sinner Comfort delta trike. It's wide open for fair-weather riding, but quickly converts to an enclosed trike for cold or rainy weather. Several full and partial fairings for bikes and trikes were on display. The Thunderstorm velomobile wasn't ready in time for the show, but we stopped in Austria and talked with Thomas Seide at BikeRevolution about it. Ped3 is a new velomobile from Slovenia; it is built for the Berkut trike from Russia. Over the next few weeks, we'll be working on the updates to the comparison tables and the Gallery, and we'll be posting some travel photos as well. In the meantime, we have a few pictures up on Flickr at http://www.flickr.com/photos/velomobiling/.

Mary Arneson

Mary's Blog 9 - April 20, 2007

Fri, 20 Apr 2007 09:55:11 -0500

HPV developments

Wired published an article yesterday on a Human-Powered Vehicle contest sponsored by the ASME (American Society of Mechanical Engineers).

The West Coast Human Powered Vehicle Challenge took place at the NASA-Ames Research Center - Moffett Field, CA on April 13 - 15, 2007. Twenty-Five teams and 400 attendees particpated in the event.

The results of the West Coast HPVC are posted. Please visit http://www.asme.org/Events/Contests/HPV/HPV_Results_2.cfm for complete results.

Disappointingly, for those of us who are trying to raise awareness of velomobiles, the whole event seemed to pass without the word "velomobile" ever coming up. The mechanical engineering students could probably learn something from the velomobile industry, and human-powered vehicles have a lot to gain from new technology and insights, but the two worlds seem to run on parallel tracks and never to meet.

This separation isn't limited to the United States; European educational institutions also sponsor HPV challenges and projects without seeming to notice a thriving velomobile industry under their noses.

One where the two worlds may meet this year is in Scarborough, Maine, where the Electrathon organization is inviting some Human-Powered Vehicle people to its electric vehicle contest.

Another option is at the East Coast ASME event, coming up in May. Maybe a Florida faired trike or velomobile could show up at the University of Central Florida May 11-13 to demonstrate that HPV's aren't just for engineering students.

We're heading for the SPEZI bike show and hope to bring back lots of photos of new velomobile developments in Europe!

Mary Arneson

't Fietscafe comes to Minneapolis

Sat, 31 Mar 2007 23:30:33 -0500

't Fietscafe comes to Minneapolis

The Pedal Pub makes its rainy debut

March 31, 2007 in Minneapolis, a few dozen hardy souls came out to welcome the newest addition to the local human-powered vehicle scene. Builders Henk and Zwier van Laar were on hand as their Dutch invention -- a 16-person rolling pub -- rolled out on the Stone Arch Bridge across the Mississippi River.

The Fietscafe has been in production in the Netherlands for ten years, and more than 30 of them are for rent for parties, sightseeing, and even weddings there and in Belgium and Germany.

Partners Al Boyce and Eric Olson imported this popular Dutch party bike as an addition to the Twin Cities fun rental scene, which already includes a Conference Bike (Cycle Seven).

Check out a few photos in the Gallery

Mary's Blog 8 - March 18, 2007

Sun, 18 Mar 2007 10:23:49 -0500

Snowy weather activity

Winter still has a grip on Minnesota, but there are signs of spring. A bald eagle is sitting on her nest at the corner of Cedar Avenue and the Crosstown freeway; we went and looked at her yesterday. Most of the activity is indoors, though, when half-melted snow still makes the trails slippery. I've been building a Mango velomobile. It's made out of paper, and it's tiny. You can find the pattern on the Velomobiel website. Photos will follow.

I've also reviewed our YouTube experience. It's sort of fun to see which videos are viewed and how often.

Mary Arneson

World velomobile news

Fri, 16 Feb 2007 15:22:22 -0600

What's happening in the world velomobile market?

Astrophysicist and science journalist Yvan Dutil has been talking with manufacturers and velomobilists and has written an article on velomobile production around the globe. Click on the photo to see what he's found out.

Mary Arneson

Mary's Blog 7

Fri, 09 Feb 2007 21:31:10 -0600

How do you keep a website relevant to its users? One way we "listen" to our readers is to monitor the log of web searches that bring people to our site -- then try to make the frequently-searched terms more accessible. "Tandem velomobile" is one of the most common searches; unfortunately, it isn't easy to find, or to make, a 2-person velomobile, but we did manage to assemble a collection of information and links related to two-person HPV's and related topics, including the human-powered beer bus. (Recent searches on beer buses seem to be aimed at the question of whether they are legal in the United States; we would guess that a Fietscafe in the Netherlands would have an easier time getting a beer license than one in North America.) The origin of the word "velomobile" is another popular search. We've posted an old letter that summarized some 2004 Dutch investigations of that history. Many searchers are looking for reviews of specific velomobiles, and we continue to welcome those. We're getting closer to finishing the Velomobile Comparison Tables, which people have been reaching through a link (we didn't put it up ourselves) on Wikipedia. The explosion of new velomobiles threatens to make the tables obsolete before they are done; we keep adding more lines with each revision.

SPEZI

Fri, 02 Feb 2007 12:12:49 -0600

The Spezialradmesse special bike show in Germersheim Germany will be especially interesting for velomobile fans this year. 4 Seasons Velos will be showing a removable bike or trike soft fairing. The eZeTop fairing will be on display. Aerorider will be there. Alfred's All-Wetter-Schutz rain-protection system will make an appearance. Bike-Revolution of Austria was planning to introduce the new Thunderstorm Velomobile at the 2007 SPEZI, but it won't be quite ready. Cab-Bike brings its new, improved version of the Cab-Bike. Flevobike, developer of the Versatile velomobile has an exhibit this year. Greenspeed, which has been developing a quad velomobile, will be there, but since velomobiles don't travel easily, only their splendid trikes are likely to be on the stand. Leitra will, of course, be on hand. Lohmeyer, the German Alleweder dealer will be back again. Novosport is showing a variety of partial fairings for bikes and trikes. Velotechnik.de brings the WAW and the Go-one velomobiles this year.

There is much more, with folding bikes, racing trikes, side-by-side tandem trikes from at least two manufacturers, a wide variety of adapted trikes and bikes and other rehabilitation equipment, hub dynamos, the latest from Schlumpf, and LOTS of recumbent bicycles. Test rides on a designated track and informal test-rides on the plaza are always popular. A trike race offers high-speed excitement, and there are usually some extra trikes for those who want to compete but had to travel trike-less. Travel to and from the train station and exhibit halls is by human-powered vehicles --generally a Kettwiesel train of five or more trikes (see the YouTube clip below), a Conference Bike, and a rickshaw of one type or another (details not yet available for 2007).

The show is April 28 and 29, 2007 in Germersheim, Germany. It's on rail and bus lines, highways and a long-distance bike route and can be reached easily from Frankfurt am Main.

Ice Bike Races

Sat, 27 Jan 2007 16:02:08 -0600

The Minnesota HPV Association's 16th Annual Human Powered Ice Vehicle World Speed Championships were a great success! We're posting photos in two Gallery albums. The general-interest and best photos will go in this album in Travels and Events, while we're putting the photos of interest to ice-bike fans and MNHPVA members here. On Friday, when we cleared the snow, temperatures were around freezing. The sun melted the bits of snow that remained on the tracks, and low overnight temperatures re-froze the surface into the smoothest ice we've seen for one of these events. Smooth ice generally favors the "bladed" ice-bikes, but this was so glassy that it was hard for anybody to ride. With temperatures dropping from 22 degrees in the morning (-5.5 C) to 13 degrees (-10.5 C) by early afternoon, and with crosswinds gusting to 36 mph (58 kph), the races were exciting, and the hot soup in the warming room was even more exciting.

The YouTube video is about 8 minutes long and contains shots of clearing the snow, testing the very slippery ice, looking at the wide variety of ice bikes, watching the races, relaxing together afterward, and distributing the prizes. We'll post a few of the best clips in higher resolution for those who can't get enough of ice bikes.

Cycle Vision Date Announced

Fri, 26 Jan 2007 14:41:46 -0600

Cycle Vision 2007 will take place on June 2 & 3 at the Amsterdam Velodrome in the Sloten Sportpark near Schiphol in the Netherlands. This is one of the great HPV racing events of the year, and there are always plenty of exhibitors and test tracks to keep non-racers busy.

Left Coast Velomobile Gathering 2007

Thu, 25 Jan 2007 07:15:46 -0600

This announcement on the Bentrideronline Events thread should excite North American velomobile enthusiasts:

For those of you interested in Velomobiles and located somewhere along the West Coast of North America, the Second Annual Left Coast Velomobile Gathering is tentatively scheduled to be held in San Luis Obispo, California over the weekend of March 24-25, 2007. (Due to some pending, non-VM events, we are moving the date up a month from last year's April meeting)

We welcome all VM's and streamliners, whether homebuilt or commercially-produced, as well as anyone interested in Velomobiles. Also, we would like to extend a welcome to any recumbent manufacturers looking to show VM-friendly cycles and manufacturers (or sales reps) of E-assist systems which might be suitable for installation in VM's. Admittance is free and there will be a catered lunch put on for the demonstrators on Saturday. Donations to help defray costs are, of course, quite welcome!

(See also the events calendar -- click on "Events" on the bar above)