Velomobiles are fast

Impressive speed on these Quest velomobiles. The winner of the 25K race, Ymte Sijbrandij, averaged just under 57 km/h. I've pushed the Mango up to 55 km/h on a flat, but that took some serious huffing and puffing.

Driving a Human-Powered Car in Toronto

Here I am driving home from work in the Mango human-powered car. Thanks to my velomobile sponsor, Yellow Brick Road Inc.

Velomobile sponsorship

Our Mango velomobile will soon have a sponsor (details to follow), and we're hoping to keep it sponsored indefinitely by pitching it to other advertisers in the future. It's really a no-brainer, when you consider that it sits parked it downtown Toronto all day and attracts 100 times more attention than a traditional billboard. I like to watch people react to it as they walk by. A lot of people will even pose next to it for a picture. It also has more surface area for advertising than those new Eco Cabs that are being pedalled around Yonge and Dundas.

Last weekend, I did my final interview with the documentary film crew that has been following me for two years, and they even got some footage of me and kids in the Mango. The movie, Breaking and Entering, is slated for release sometime in 2009. They assure me that they've assembled some of the best joggling footage in history.

Winter velomobiling in a Quest

Here's a good demonstration of some winter velomobiling in Windsor, Ontario, Canada.



Our Mango has been bured under a heap of snow for a couple of weeks. There is no way I could drive it through the stacks of snow on our sidestreets that haven't been ploughed.

Velomobile featured on msn.ca

(Photo: Isaac Adams-Hands, MSN.ca)

MSN.ca's Autos section just posted a great feature on my Mango velomobile. You can find it HERE. I love this shot of the Mango stopped next to the Cadillac Escalade. What a study in contrasts.

Mango profiled in ibiketo.ca

Here's my "cyclist" profile from ibiketo. It should really be tryclist, but I'll let that pass.

Updates to this blog will be less frequent for the next little while as I'm now working about 756 hours per week.

The fall joggling plan

This photo of 5-ball joggling champ Owen Morse is one of the best joggling shots I've ever seen. As he competes at the 1988 International Jugglers' Association festival, you can see the look of intense concentration on this face as he maintains a perfect 5-ball pattern while sprinting. That combination of speed and coordination is what makes joggling (in my unbiased opinion) the greatest sport in the world.

My plan for the fall is to improve my base running speed with some track work. At the track, I'll also be working on my 5-ball joggling. If I can find a track race that will accept of joggler, I want to go for the 5,000m joggling world record of 16:55 sometime during the winter.

Since I'll be running lower mileage over the next few months, I'm going to use my extra time to look for an advertiser for the Mango velomobile. If anyone knows a company who would be interested in getting their brand on a non-polluting, health-promoting, head-turning vehicle, inquiries can be sent to joggler1@gmail.com.

Joggling the ZooRun

This is me driving the Mango velo to work. The camerawork is shaky, but the actual ride is very smooth due to the double suspension.

On Saturday, I'll be joggling the ZooRun 10K at the Toronto Zoo, then hanging out at the Reebok joggling booth and giving joggling tutorials.

Niagara Velomobile Happening

Here's some great video from this weekend's Niagara Velomobile Happening, hosted by Reg Rodaro at his farm near Niagara-on-the-Lake, Ontario. Ray from Bluevelo was kind enough to take our Mango up there for us, along with several other models. What an experience it was to ride in a peleton of velos.

In this video you can see me in the Mango driving behind a WAW and Ray shooting the video from a Quest.

I did some final marathon test pacing, so now I just need to stay healthy and rest up for the big joggle.

Running Room talk

Here's a short clip of the Mango velomobile in action. It's an ideal vehicle for the city, being compact, manoeuvrable, bright yellow and lightweight.

I gave a talk to the marathon clinic at the Yonge-Eglinton Running Room store last night. Many of the runners were in taper mode for the Scotiabank Toronto Waterfront or Chicago, so there was a good feeling of pre-race excitement in the room. Reebok even left me a box full of goodies to give out after the talk.

Reebok placed a full-page ad in the current Running Room magazine featuring ... me! I was dumbfounded to see myself in it. To go from being that 11-year-old kid reading the Guinness Book to seeing yourself in the full-page Reebok ad is unbelievable. I'm glad I came out of retirement.

Emissions-free driving

Here I am getting ready to drive to work in Toronto's first Mango velomobile. Perfect cross-training for joggling.

Mango madness!

Dianne and I are now the proud owners of a Mango velomobile. Specifically, Mango #106. That's right, the 106th Mango ever made by Go-Mango in collaboration with Velomobiel.nl in the Netherlands. The purchase was arranged through Canada's only velomobile dealer, Ray Mickevicius of Bluevelo.

For those who missed my recent velomobile ramblings, this machine is essentially a human-powered car. Or, put another way, it's a very, very expensive tricycle.

I'll be driving the Mango to and from work every day, winter included.

I took it to work on Friday and the ride was superb. It was an odd feeling to be kicking back in a car-like vehicle – with a horn, headlights and turn signals – while at the same time getting exercise and not polluting. My commute in the Mango actually made me look around and wonder, honestly, why there weren't hundreds of thousands of these things driving around town.

From the reactions on the street, you'd think I was driving some kind of spacecraft from the future. I heard a lot of: "What IS that?!" or "That is SICK!" And since my legs and the pedals were hidden under the fairing, there were a lot of questions about how the velo is propelled: "What powers that thing?," one driver asked me. "Quads, hamstrings, some calves," I said.

More photos and video clips will follow. The picture above was me taking an elated Lauryn out for a spin. She is the world's youngest velomobile enthusiast.

The joggling training is winding down now; two weeks to go. Tomorrow I have a 13-mile joggle planned, with 10 miles at marathon pace. That should give me a good indication of my fitness heading into the big race.