Transporting the velomobile

When my father owned the velo, it was no problem for him to take off the nose cone and the rear fairing and slide it into his Aztek. However bizarro that vehicle looked, it had just the right amount of space for velomobile transportation. To get the velo down to Binghamton from my sister's garage in Rochester, I had to talk her into getting her boyfriend to drive it down (He also owns an Aztek. Small world, eh?).

BUT, each year since my father passed away, I have ridden the velomobile in the Ride for Roswell, which raises funds for the cancer institute that has treated more members of my family and friends than I like to consider. The first year, we still had his old Aztek and the velo was still in the garage at my childhood home. The next year, my sister's boyfriend graciously loaned us the Aztek and we took the velo from her garage to Buffalo pretty easily. This year, though, I'd talked her into bringing the velo down to Binghamton, and it seemed silly to demand that she come down, pick us up, take us to the ride, and bring us back home again (especially since she was, at that point, 7 months into a pregnancy). So, I did some hunting.

The first issue, of course, is that I'm a broke college student (I've been so for way longer than I like to think about) and I couldn't afford a special roof-rack for my little Kia Spectra or a trailer to tack on the back. Thankfully, I visited the Bentrider Forums, where recumbent gurus go to chat, including velo owners. There, I learned that some people are very brave, and those people use ratcheting tie downs and strap their velos to their cars. So, that's what I did. I had to have some help getting the velo up, and I took it for several practice drives around town.

The day I left for Buffalo, I strapped on the velo and thanked my lucky stars that the rain held off. It did, anyway, until about Cohocton, at which point it poured. I was nervous, but the drive went fairly smoothly. I will tell you this, though; it was noisy. Those tie-downs thrummed in the wind, making a wailing sound that would put banshees to shame for the entirety of my cautious 4.5 hour drive. At any rate, we made it up to Buffalo safely, and I conned some nice people in the parking lot into helping me get it down and up again after the ride. I haven't gone strapping it on just for a casual jaunt to a nearby park or anything, but I'm glad to know I could if I needed to.

Here's what people in oncoming traffic got to see.

And for the poor blighters who got stuck behind me.


And of course, here's the view from the side, which is probably most odd.