Velomobile pedals into Toronto Star

Here's a feature on the velomobile in the Toronto Star's Ideas section.

Versatile velomobile review

This weekend, I had the pleasure of zipping around in a Versatile velomobile, courtesy of bluevelo.com. I drove this human-powered machine all over town and found it truly addictive.

On Saturday, I went for a long ride along the waterfront and then stopped by my sister and brother-in-law's place in the Annex. It was surprisingly easy to manoeuvre the trike through city traffic. I quickly became accustomed to the shifting and steering, but going uphill was slow and labour-intensive. It was a hot, sunny day and the compartment got stuffy when I stopped at a light, but the ventilation was fine when I was moving.

The ride itself was very smooth. The mesh seat was luxurious - like pedalling in a lounge chair. The steering mechanism consists of two hand levers on either side – a comfortable and fun way to make turns, reminiscent of those Green Machines we drove around as kids (only this trike costs about $13,000 more).

The grip shifter on this one was a bit stiff, but Ray from bluevelo tells me these actually loosen up over time. The Rohloff internal hub is brilliant. Not only are all the gears on one shifter, but you can change gears at a standstill, which is particularly useful for shifting down into an easier gear to get the velo moving again after getting cut off by moronic cab drivers in city traffic.

I took the Versatile out again on Sunday. This time I rode all the way up into the north end at Avenue Road and York Mills, where I was going out for a family dinner. I stupidly took the Bayview Extension, which is probably the longest, steepest hill in Toronto, and was sweating like a pig as I crawled up in the granny gear, moving at about 7 km/h. I was smart enough to bring a towel and a change of clothes for the restaurant.

The ride home was exhilarating. I hit somewhere in the neighbourhood of 70 km'h on the Bayview downhill ... and I was braking.

Today, I took the velo to work and the looks I got from people in downtown Toronto were priceless. I locked it up on King Street in the heart of downtown and people immediately swarmed around me as I was locking it up. I walked past it a couple of times during the day and got a kick out of watching the passersby ogling this strange and wonderful machine.

And now, sadly, I have to return it to bluevelo. I'll definitely miss the Versatile, and I'm more convinced than ever that this is the ultimate rolling billboard for the right advertiser.

Speeding in a velomobile

I have a Versatile velomobile on loan for the weekend. This entirely human-powered vehicle is criminally fun. Velomobiling is a lot like joggling: You get a great workout, you laugh at yourself and a lot of people stare at you and ask questions like: "What is that?"

Possible shin fracture, and a velomobile review

First, the bad news: I may be out 6-8 weeks with a fractured tibia (the shin bone) after my unfortunate run-in last week with a parking lot barricade. X-rays are pending. This will take me to the beginning of August before I can start training for the September 30 marathon. If my shin turns out just to be bruised, then I can start to run sooner. The record attempt in up in the air.

Now the good news: Dianne and I went out on our velomobile test drive yesterday morning with Ray from Bluevelo. I drove the Belgian-made WAW and Dianne pedalled the Versatile, produced in the Netherlands. I also had a chance to take the Versatile for a spin, but Dianne was too short to fit into the WAW.

The WAW has a very low profile. You're practically sitting on the ground. Its light weight allows for quick accelerations and the steering - levers at your side connected directly to the two wheels in the front - are extremely responsive. I got the WAW up to 50 km/h and even when I stopped pedalling it just kept cruising at 49 km/h until I put on the brakes. This machine is great for speed, but could be awkward for city commuting.

I tried out the Versatile along a very bumpy road and its double suspension performed admirably. It's quite a bit heavier than the WAW, but I still got it up to 47 km/h. It had fully enclosed chain, very easy handling, an internal hub that lets you shift gears even at a stop and fun things like turn signals and a horn.

Both of these machines rocked. It's hard to describe just how fun these things are to drive. And the sight of Dianne cruising along next to me in the Versatile had me grinning ear-to-ear.

Ray has a Mango (a lighter velo than the Versatile) coming in soon. It looks like this will be the vehicle of choice for us. It's too bad these "cars of the future" are in such limited production, because they have so many advantages, not the least of which being ... they're massively fun!

How not to start your marathon training plan

When you are about to start training to break a new Guinness World Record for the fastest marathon while juggling three objects, do not smash up you knee - as I did earlier this week - while trying to jump over a parking lot barricade.

This will result is a lot of pain, and many lost training miles (and even more lost training kilometres).

Once my knee heals, I'll be rearin' to go. I plan to do several weeks of pure running before I start on the full-time joggling. I want to make sure I'm in peak running shape this time around to give me that extra speed edge.

Here's some developing joggling news: I got an e-mail from my Jolly Juggler rival Zach Warren, who is currently doing some research in Dubai and Qatar. He is unable to run because of his schedule, but said he'd be up for another joggling re-match at the Scotiabank Toronto Waterfront Marathon this September if he's back in the U.S. We thought Salt Lake would be the end, but it's too hard to stop.

In another stunning joggling development, Barry Goldmeier pulled off yet another 5-ball joggling marathon in San Diego recently, finishing with a chip time of 5 hours and 40 minutes. If you think this is slow, try juggling five beanbags ... then imagine trying to run forward for 26.2 miles while you're maintaining that juggling pattern. Barry's been trying to convince me that joggling a 5-ball marathon may not be as difficult as I think. I'm not yet convinced.

This Sunday, my wife and I will be testing out two velomobiles with Ray from bluevelo: the WAW and the Versatile. I want to see if I can get the WAW up past 50 km/h. This will give us a feel for what these HPVs (human-powered vehicles) can do. If we decide to get one, it'll probably be the Mango, which is not available for testing right now, but is best suited for city driving and for shorter drivers (ie. Dianne, who is 5'1").

Joggling the Father's Day 5K

I snoozed the alarm in my sleep and almost missed the Father's Day 5K. The whole family slept in and I was the only one to make it out to Toronto's Distillery District for the prostate cancer charity run.

The distillery is a perfect venue for a run like this. There's a tonne of space both outdoors and in, and the roads in the area are flat and almost traffic-free.

I used my Sport Juggling Co. racing beanbags and started out in the lead. But a drop at 1K took me back into 2nd place, where I stayed until the end. I finished comfortably in 18 minutes, so I still think a world-record, sub-16:55 is doable on the track.

It's good to be joggling again.

Ray from Bluevelo e-mailed me today to let me know that I'm booked for a velomobile test drive next Sunday. I'll be trying out the WAW and the Versatile. Can't wait!

Strength training and WAW testing

I've requested a test drive of the WAW velomobile (photo above, courtesy of www,bluevelo.com). Ray Mickevicius at Bluevelo tells me things are busy (maybe some requests flooding in since the Globe and Mail article by Peter Cheney?), but he'll try to fit me in sometime this weekend.

After doing some research, I think the WAW may be the velomobile of choice for me. I want to go fast, be fully protected from the elements and have a good space on the side to get an advertising sponsor. Who would like to sponsor a velomobiling bloggling joggler?

Since this blog is ostensibly about joggling, I will say that I'm starting to feel good about my pre-training phase for the September marathon. I'm doing some high-quality core work and strength training, running speedwork and plyometrics and generally trying to eat well.

Now if only my allergies would go away...

Eccentric and fun modes of transportation

Earlier this week I mentioned that Bluevelo, a Toronto-based distributor of velomobiles (human-powered cars), was selling some incredible-looking machines for about $10,000 and up. Well, their site is now listing the Dutch-designed Alligt Alleweder kit (pictured above) for a bargain $3,495 for a limited time.

Since I've decided to bike to and from work rather than take the subway there and joggle home, I could almost justify this cost. My subway pass costs about $1,000 per year (kindly donated by my generous mom), so this vehicle would pay for itself in under four years. And think of the fun I'd have!

I've always had a fascination with the human-powered commute. When I was a kid, I ran ran, walked, skateboarded or biked everywhere. When I was training competitively for the marathon, I ran to and from work every day for a daily total of 16-20 miles, depending on my route. In my recent training for the Salt Lake City Marathon, I've been joggling home from work and doing tricks the whole way. I've become addicted to having fun and exercising on my commute. I could never, ever drive a car to work, and taking the subway both ways every day would be pretty miserable too. I need me-power.

So maybe I'll do my little part to save the planet, make a statement, turn some heads (I'm now used to that), stay fit and have fun and get myself a nice, shiny velomobile!

Cruising out of retirement

I'm going to give this thing one more shot. That's right, I'm joining the likes of Magic Johnson, Bjorn Borg and Muhammad Ali by coming out of retirement. Of course, all three of these sports heroes failed quite spectacularly in their comeback efforts.

Why will I be any different? Well, for one thing, I'm not Magic Johnson, Bjorn Borg or Muhammad Ali. I'm a joggler, which means the heights of my sports-stardom were about as lofty as the world champion of Tiddly Winks. I didn't rise high enough to fall. Secondly, my retirement lasted only 1.5 months, so I'm not too stale yet.

Yesterday, I told the good people at the Scotiabank Toronto Waterfront Marathon that I will be back in September to try and break Zach's 2:52:15 marathon joggling record. I don't plan to do any publicity this time around. I think the news media are getting a bit tired of joggling anyway - it's not a novelty anymore.

So here goes nothing...

Today, I got stuck on a hot, crowded subway and that convinced me that it's time I started riding my bike to work. This means I'll no longer be able to joggle home as part of my training, so I'll have to run late at night or very early in the morning.

The photo at the top of this post is the vehicle I'm drooling over right now. It's a pedal-powered velomobile available in Toronto through http://www.bluevelo.com/. The catch is that these things cost about $10,000. The $20 I've made so far through joggling won't go very far to cover this cost, but who knows what joggling endorsements await me around the corner now that I'm back in the game.