Velomobiling in Alabama

Accident photo from December

2009-08-06T17:59:00.003-05:00

I thought I'd show the photo of the accident last December, which is responsible for the big gash in the body. The accident was caused by a pickup truck which pulled out of a driveway in front of me, stopped and then backed up onto me. Since then I've been extra careful when stopping behind a large vehicle - the key is to stop far enough so that you can see the rear-view mirror of the vehicle.

The whole top half of the body is a single fiberglass part. The replacement finally arrived last week, so I will be replacing it over the next week or so. It is not a trivial job, as I need to drill matching bolt holes to the new body panel.

W.C.Handy 100 Century Ride

2009-07-31T23:54:00.002-05:00

I rode the Quest in the WC Handy 100 century ride last Saturday. This century ride starts in Florence AL, and includes a section of the wonderful Natchez Trace parkway, riding first to the Mississippi border and then to the Tennessee border before returning to Florence.

It was quite an experience - longest ride on the Quest by far. It did help that I'd ridden this century ride twice in previous years.

Overall the Quest worked even better than I expected. I completed the 107-mile route without incident despite the 92-degree heat. I took it easy so it took me about 6.5 hours which I think is better than my previous attempt with a Challenge Fujin-SL lowracer.

It was interesting to note that I tended to pass road bikes on slight uphills. The mass and aerodynamics of the Quest carries me up small uphill sections very efficiently. It also helps that I can rest my legs on even the slightest downhills, and I have plenty of energy for the next uphill section.

Here's the mass start. I was at the tail end of the start (I barely made it in time) but I only saw two other recumbent bikes.

This is a typical section of the road from Florence to Natchez Trace. Lots of private homes and churches.

...and corn fields.

The view changes dramaticaly once we're on the Natchez Trace Parkway. There are no businesses or residences, and commercial vehicles are not allowed. Which means it's mostly tourist traffic.

Here's the Mississippi border.

Some nice open roads on the Parkway.

Very nice rest stop. I ended up stopping at every rest stop to refill my bottle with Gatorade.

Tennessee border!
Back at the starting point, McFarland Park at Florence, AL.
And here's the Quest loaded again on our (actually my wife's) pickup truck.

Kettweisel + Anura

2009-07-20T00:04:00.002-05:00

Here's our latest acquisition, a Greenspeed Anura, coupled to our old Kettwiesel. We took out this tandem for the second time today and it seems to be working out well. It's a little slower than our old Vision tandem, but we appreciate the security (safety) and the independent gearing. My wife gets to be the captain of this "train," as she's more comfortable with the padded seat of the Anura while I prefer the mesh seat of the Kettwiesel. (And I don't think the Kettwiesel works well as the lead trike, as it has a very lightly loaded front wheel.)

Phot on flickr

2009-07-16T22:34:00.002-05:00

Ray at Bluevelo alerted me to a photo of me posted on flickr. A very nice shot too. The photographer De Olkiewicz has allowed me to post the photo here. (I like many of the other photos there too, by the way - especially this series.

Beach Vacation

2009-07-13T16:21:00.003-05:00

Got back from spending a long weekend at Seagrove Beach, on the Gulf coast. Very nice area, good bike paths on most major roads. It's too much trouble to transport the Quest (I haven't even tried loading it on any vehicle yet) so I took the Kettweisel and my wife took her upright trike. Though I have to admit, I had more fun on a rented ocean kayak than the trike...

Huntsville Mayor's Ride

2009-07-01T23:50:00.004-05:00

A couple of photos from the "first annual" Mayor's Ride on May 17.

Old photo

2009-06-30T22:48:00.004-05:00

Here's a photo of my Velomobiel.nl Quest, serial number 204, to get the blog started. It was originally a demo/personal bike at Bluevelo, inc., the North American dealer for velomobiel.nl. I purchased it in December 2008.

This photo is from January 31 (2009). I think this was the first time I rode it up to Monte Sano, which is a ~1000 ft climb from my house.