The Toronto Star wrote about velomobiles yesterday:
"That's quite the little thingy you've got there," says a young man – ring in his nose, backpack, slouchy trousers – as he passes Ray Mickevicius's bright yellow vehicle, sleek as a dolphin, on Queen's Quay E.
Other men (and it was clearly a man thing) circled it curiously. A pair with leather jackets and sunglasses dropped their briefcases, and one started snapping photographs. A man in a Fair Isle sweater asked questions. "Do you ride this in Toronto?"
The "thingy" is a velomobile, a ground-hugging, three-wheeled horizontal bicycle, sheathed in fibreglass. About three metres long, it looks like a miniature race car, but it's powered by pedalling. It has a steering bar, 27 gears, turn signals, lights and a speedometer.
Velomobiles are aerodynamic, keep bad weather off you and are non-polluting.
They also range from almost $4000 up to $13000. That price has to come down a lot for velomobiles to be anything but a toy for the rich cycling afficionado.
