I want to ride my bicycle, I want to ride my bike

Remember summer vacation when you were a kid? Three months of nothing to do but sleep in and hang out. Hot summer days so long you felt bored and actually looked forward to the start of school. I remember my parents telling me that I’d look back on those years as the best in my life. They were right, but it’s taken me decades to see that. The one thing that helped me remember what my childhood was like is riding my bike.

I ride about 10 miles every day and would ride all year if we didn’t have winter. The desire to ride all year, along with the exorbitant gas prices sparked a thought to look for a pedal powered vehicle. A sort of Flintstone mobile. I’ve found that almost anything I can think of, someone has already built so I wasn’t surprised to find a true Flintstone mobile. Watch the video, I'm not fond of 86 Buicks but this is hilarious. I love how you can see their feet. When they pull in the garage, you can see through the grill and out the window.

I actually had something more fashionable and luxurious in mind, a little more practical too. I like the peddle power but I want two seats side by side, room for groceries, heated seats and air conditioning. It has to look 'cool', and easily travel at 35 MPH. That sounds like a Smart car, except for the pedals. There is something like that called a Twike. Its top speed is 35 mph, it seats two, is pedal powered with an electric motor assist. Unfortunately, it’s fugly and expensive… $35,000.00. I think I would rather have a Smart. Or better yet a Mini.

Then I stumbled upon these things called a velomobile. They’re quite popular in Europe, especially the Netherlands. I found a reference to them on the wikipedia page for People Powered Vehicles (PPV). A velomobile is a covered bike, usually a recumbent bike or trike. Picture one of those laid back bikes that old guys with beards and bellies ride but a tricycle. Now encase it with a lightweight covering. Wella you have a Velomobile. We test drive a go-one this weekend. You can have your own go-one for around $10,000. At little less than a Smart car.

Here's a picture of a People Powered Vehicle from the 1970’s. It was built in Sterling Heights MI and was introduced during the 1970's oil embargo. Ironically, the high gas prices that made the PPV appealing also caused the company to go bankrupt.