Commuting by Velomobile (Claire Williams)

STORIES FROM VELOMOBILE COMMUNITY

Commuting by velomobile. Cycling as part of everyday life.

Author: Claire Williams from USA.

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I’ve been an avid cyclist the majority of my life. When I moved from Western New York to the Eastern Shore of Maryland, over 35 years ago, I found it to be a very bicycle friendly community. Just to give you an idea of my early commuting years, after our move to the Eastern Shore and before I re-entered the workforce, I would pedal my children to school (Ibis tandem and Burley trailer). Needless to say, I was the only mother in our town that transported her kids by bike, most arrived on the school bus. Once I re-entered the workforce, I could only commute occasionally due to the demands of family and young children and I always considered it a plus when I could actually ride my bike to the office. One of my most memorable times was when I decided, instead of riding my regular road bike, I pedaled my Schwinn Silver King bike (inherited from my mother) to work. This antique bike has a skirt guard and, since my office was only five miles away, I decided there was no need to put on cycling gear that particular day. Instead, I wore a dress and pedaled in high heels (and, of course, wore my helmet) just because I could – LOL. I’m sure you can imagine the looks I got. If I had been in the Netherlands, I wouldn’t have even gotten a side glance as pedaling in business attire is normal for their cycling commute.

These days, my normal commute is approximately 22-26 miles each way with several options for different routes anywhere from as few as five miles on up. Living only five miles from the university where I work makes it a very easy commute. I have the ability to take a nice long ride through the Pocomoke Forest (my usual 22-mile morning route), arrive at our gym, roll my Bülk into the building, take a shower, then ride across campus to my office, take the cargo elevator up to my floor and roll the Bulk into our office suite and park it right outside my office door. The Bülk has a lot of cargo space which enables me to carry my change of clothes and other miscellaneous items back and forth. I also keep a blanket (and tools) in the bike in the off chance I get a flat and have to repair it on the side of the road. The amount of cargo space also allows me to take my laptop and other work materials home but I try and keep home and work life separate which isn’t always possible.

One of the major reasons I love commuting by bicycle/velomobile is the ability to think about my tasks for the day on the ride in and then decompress when leaving the office. My usual ride home is a little over 26 miles but, again, I have plenty of other routes I can take depending on my frame of mind. If I don’t feel great or I have plans to meet up with someone, I can take the shortest way home. Sometimes, when I felt like I want to take the quickest way home, as soon as I get to the decision making turn (about 3 miles), I tend to decide to opt for a longer route because just those few miles already put me in a better frame of mind and I wanted to keep pedaling.

Winter commuting in a velomobile is wonderful! I’ve had several years of fall/winter/spring commuting in a Quest XS and there is nothing like starting out in the dark, watching the sunrise, and pedaling home in the evening watching the sunset. On very cold mornings, it’s a plus to be able to get in the bike before opening the garage door and pedaling out. I also feel I am more visible to drivers in the dark since they see my headlights coming from a distance. During the day, I definitely feel more visible in the Bülk than I did with the Quest XS. I feel using the flashing mode of the light module on top makes me visible to traffic entering from side streets that might not otherwise be looking for something so low on the road. If I’m not 100% sure they see me, I just give them a toot of the horn to be absolutely sure they don’t pull out in front of me.

It gets fairly hot and humid on the Eastern Shore in the summer. So far, it’s been a wonderful cool spring so I’ve been riding the Bülk almost daily. I normally change to a regular road bike when the heat and humidity arrive but I’m interested to see how the airflow feels with no hood on the Bülk. The Quest XS was definitely not conducive to summer riding but maybe the Bülk, with the air duct and more open entry area, will be more comfortable in the heat than the Quest XS. If so, then I can definitely see the Bülk becoming my year-round commuter bike while putting occasional miles on my traditional bikes during the summer months.

If you haven’t yet commuted by bicycle to work, give it a try. Better yet, get yourself a velomobile and see just how easily you can switch from driving a car to using pure pedal power!