Simeon Iliev

A couple of years ago when I was in a process of switching countries from Bulgaria to The Netherlands and just started working on my new job there. One day in the office, I met a colleague in the morning, and as part of our usual morning talk, I was asking him how he came to the office that morning, he said, “Yeah, I came by bicycle”. And when I have asked him, how far from the office you live, he said: “yeah, it is about 42 km…”. I was struck by the answer, so I asked him how much time it took you to come to the office from home, and he replied: “Ah, about 45 mins, but normally on average between 45 mins and 1 hours+-“. So I was looking strange at him, but he said, “well, I have a velomobile bicycle, and that helps”. So this is how my journey with velomobiles has started and I started making plans to buy a velomobile.

Fast forward, couple of years later after that I had to move – switch countries back to Bulgaria, in Sofia again. And I got totally disappointed with my plans for buying a velomobile, because here in Bulgaria we have very bad roads, and very crazy drivers, and literally none proper bicycle lanes/pads. (Alright to be fair there are some bicycle lanes, but nothing comparable to the ones in Netherlands or even Germany). But for some reason I have said to myself, I should rather promote cycling in Bulgaria rather than giving up. So in the end I have said to myself, “I will try to become a velomobile and bicycle promoter in Sofia and in Bulgaria” and maybe in general cycling ambassador as something ecological and healthy as transport for work, travel and fun. And I will do that starting by taking the risk and be an example.

So I ordered a Bülk velomobile and somehow, I saw the opportunity and got inspired to get it myself from the factory in Romania and drive it back to my home in Sofia, in Bulgaria, around 650 KMs. It seems quite an adventure, and good opportunity for nice first rides with my new velomobile. But I got discouraged by a lot of relatives and colleagues, that were saying, it can be dangerous and risky – Given the roads and drivers in Romania and Bulgaria, they are far from what are the roads and drivers in the Netherlands or other West Europe countries. However this didn’t force me to give up, cycling in general is risky anyway, doesn’t matter where. And also as dedicated Christian believer I have hope and trust in God that He will protect me during my trips with this bicycle.

And indeed it happened so, I made my first 650 KMs on a trip from Romania to Bulgaria successfully. And now driving everyday to the office with my Bülk velomobile. You can check more about it on my YouTube channel: Velomobile Zone Youtube, HERE.

Also I have a website: https://velomobilezone.com, as well can be found in most of the social media channels, see here. I also created a discord forum channel: Velomobile Zone Discord forum & chat (see here).

After Eggert Bülk and Jens Buckbesch started the Milan project in 2005 (which is still running successfully today), they started a new velomobile project in 2021, the Bülk-MK1. It implements a new space utilization and aerodynamic concept. The findings from various wind tunnel tests were also taken into account. Jens documented every step of the Bülk-MK1 project, then he sent us very detailed info to create a page where you can discover the philosophy of the Bülk-MK1.

A velomobile is a human-powered vehicle related to the bicycle, for everyday use, with a body/shell that provides comfort, weather protection and luggage space. Due to the aerodynamically shaped bodywork, you can achieve a decent speed with little effort (30-50 km/h on flat road). Velomobiles are very suitable as commuter vehicles, for shopping or holidays, also are a good way to clear your mind while taking a tour or a road trip with your friends.

Do you want to discover the velomobile models? You are in the right place. Here you will find all the details about each model, reviews, how to order, velomobile price and all kind of useful information.