Still Cold Here!

Still Cold Here!

The weather is not conducive to extensive cycling at the moment, my club cancelled the first Populaire of the season supposed to take place today, instead I rode my MTB on a short course.  This winter had a fair bit of snow and it has been cold for weeks, I have often ridden on bare pavement in February but not this year, I’ve had my first ride on my road bike with bike shoes clipped-in, two days ago.  I’m still waiting for my new velomobile, it should arrive by the end of the month.  I never ride my velomobile when the roads are covered in snow and ice or when snowbanks are more than about a foot high so still time for the velomobile on the road.

There is not too much to report, I guess everyone in Europe is getting prepared for SPEZI next month.  There are plans to test the latest aerodynamic enhancements for the DF in Elfershausen, in a roll-down test, probably comparing performance with Milan SL and other velomobiles.  Hopefully, there will be some information to report soon.

Accident Survey Involving Special HPV

The German HPV organization is surveying riders of special human powered vehicles such as velomobiles.  This survey is only for German riders but it would be useful to collect and analyze stats on accidents involving velomobiles in other jurisdictions.  The goal is to examine the number and the cause of the accidents and probably compare to other bike accident statistics.

The types of bikes in the German survey include:

·      Recumbent bicycle;

·      Recumbent Tricycle,

·      Chair bicycle;

·      Sun-two / three-wheeled tandem;

·      Side by side tandem;

·      Velomobile; or

·      Other special vehicle such as a rickshaw, etc.

The survey is voluntary. The HPV eV will collect or store no personal information. The questionnaire requires more than 5 minutes on a regular computer and will take longer on a smartphone or tablet.

Cycle JV

Velomobile Demo Days

Cycle JV is hosting once again a velomobile demo day where rider can test different make and models and compare them side by side and speak with riders who are experienced with these velomobiles.  Saturday, April 4^th and Sunday April 5^th 2015

Taking place at the Vélodrome du Mans - Léon Bollée in Le Mans, France

Riders are invited to test velomobiles and recumbents, you will be able to test, compare and discuss with experienced riders!

Velomobiles available for demo include: WAW, Quest, Strada, Mango, DF, Orca, Milan GT, Milan SL, Go-One, Quest XS, LeMans ...

Recumbents made by Troytec, HP Velotechnik, Optima, Performer will also be available for testing.

WHPVA World Championships

A description with pictures and video of the courses for the next WHPVA World Championships for taking place in Maasmechelen Belgium has been posted on-line.  You can check the page on the WHPVC site here

Here is a summary of the important information:

All events take place on public roads.
The courses will be closed to traffic during the races to ensure safety
The surface consists mainly of asphalt and there are no speed bumps along the route.

• 1 hour race:
  The event will take place on a 1.9 kilometers winding course that includes a short climb (80 m long, 6% increase) 

 

• 100 km race:
  This event will take place on a fast 3.4 kilometers course with few turns and long straightaways. There are two portions with slight inclinations one is 120 m in length, @2% and the other is 600m 1.5%). 

 

• 200m and 1 km sprint:
  The courses for both sprint races feature a straight and flat road.

BeND Race Series

For my readers in Europe, I recently added the dates of the BeND race series in the Velomobile Event Calendar