Show us your rides and YOU

**TsPoet** · 05-23-2011, 12:44 PM

Originally Posted by maillotpois

Wow. That velomobile is amazing! It's like you're in a Lotus or something!

A lotus with a very poor engine.

Originally Posted by emily_in_nc

TsPoet, that looks like a blast! Lucky you!

It is, I've put about 500 miles on it in the last 2 months. Mostly as a commuter/car replacement, it's great.

Originally Posted by ladyicon

wow Poet, that looks like a very fast bike. What was your highest speed? Is it harder to go up hills with all the extra weight? Love the racy thing you have going on in the pic.

My highest speed thus far has been 45 mph - on the ride in which those photos were taken. My nerves handle up to about 33 mph just fine, then they start to frazzle. So, I think 40 will be about my top speed from now on. It could go a lot faster. I had to pass some other cyclists by crossing a rumble strip in the center of the road, and nearly flipped as I lost control and skidded sidewase. My riding partner told me as long as I hit rumble strips at less of an angle they are fine, but I wasn't willing to try it again and had to slow down behind cyclists.
It weighs about 65 lbs. I was impressed on this ride, lots of 1-3% grades up the canyon and it wasn't that hard - we averaged 12.7 mph up the 17.5 miles and 15.2 mph back down. But, it felt good, not like I was really burning to get up. According to rideswithgps, the total elevation gain up was 650 ft.
http://ridewithgps.com/users/33122/routes
I used to average 13.3 mph on my road bike commutes to work - so I'm slow by nature.