with over 6000 kilometers/3,700 miles in the last year, the trike has been my primary transportation- whether bouncing down dirt-tracks, carrying heavy boxes or shopping bags, or cruising at 25-30 kph (15-20 mph) for hours at a time (when the wind co-operates).
cycling is a great means of sustainable transportation: it's clean, it's healthy, and it's cheap compared to most other types of personal vehicles (specifically cars and trucks).
improvements over the last few generations in cycle-technology also improved it's useability: swing-arm suspension, air/gas shocks, disc-brakes, internal hub gear systems that allow you to switch gears while standing still, and light-weight frames - just to name a few.
recumbent cycles (and in my case recumbent trikes) add another level of attraction: comfort. on the Anthrotech above, I can go for hours without the well-known butt pain that long tours can produce. i ride in a reclined position, so i can see more of what's around me. i enjoy my rides, instead of suffer through them. in the rain and snow, i don't need to worry about falling over. no longer do i have the annoying chore of constantly getting-off-n-on a bike at every stoplight or intersection.
and to step up the comfort another notch: velomobiles! basically this means adding a body or fairing to a cycle as a means of weather protection or improving aero-dynamics.
while there are very aero-dynamic velomobiles out there, such as the aerorider and go-one, they turn out to be not that practical in several areas. most bothersome is that they are pretty useless in the rain - the angle of the windscreen makes viewing through rain/snow difficult or impossible, and they are too curved to use a windshield wiper effectively. i've heard the glare on a sunny day makes it hard to see, and it's worse if it's scratched up. plus, these specific models are friggin' expensive, on the average of $7,000 and up!
thankfully there are cheaper and more practical alternatives, such as the Cab-bike, the Alleweder, the Ped-3, and others. i won't babble further on the subject since wikipedia has a good starting point to satisfy most curiosities: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Velomobile .
here in Denmark, i've become very interested in a local manufacturer of velomobile called the Leitra (http://www.leitra.dk):
i won't be getting this particular model, it's just the one i test rode last weekend with my girlfriend. what i will do is work with the builder to modify a body to fit my Anthrotech. my version will retain the top, but be removable too. and it will be white-n-red (danish colors).
and it will be mine! :)
more pictures of the 'Thunderstorm' and how it compares to the Leitra can be found here (click on 'dia-show').
