Health, Transportation, and Velomobiles, David M. Eggleston, dmeengr@nwol.net

Background

I bicycled 4600 miles last year. I rode 1500 mi per year for the last three years using a velomobile as a substitute for a car for local errands. Longest distance on a velomobile: 183 miles in 13.2 hrs. Lois and I also rode from Midland to Amarillo in 3 days on our Mercian tandem, roughly 100 miles per day. Our ages add to 137 years.

  • How is our health deteriorating? www.cdc.gov ; lack of exercise, overeating, poor diet.

Physically active people save on average $330/yr in direct medical costs. If all physically inactive people became physically active, the net cost reduction is estimated to be $76.6 billion dollars per year. Prescription drug costs would be greatly reduced, as they would be much less needed.
  • Why do we get Alzheimer’s disease, die too soon, and spend later years in nursing homes?

http://www.cbsnews.com/now/story/0,1597,235667-412,00.shtml Alzheimer’s Update, http://www.cbsnews.com/now/story/0,1597,273647-412,00.shtml of Dr. Hugh Hendrie, Indiana Univ.: Black Nigerian Yoruba tribes are half as likely to get Alzheimer’s as genetically similar Black Americans. Factors: exercise, mostly vegetable diet.

Increasing technical sophistication. Speed records: 200 meter flying start, record is 72.47 mph. One hour record: 50.24 miles in one hour. www.velomobile.dk , www.velomobiel.nl , www.leitra.dk .

Many advantages over standard bicycles: speed, weather protection, safety, sailing, dogs, road rash, payload capacity, visibility, conspicuity, lighting, cost savings, oil not used, fitness, comfort, rain protection, convenience, no need to lock!
  • Bicycle Safety: League of American Bicyclists (LAB) Cycling Education program, www.bikeleague.org ; Techniques to avoid accidents can be learned. The most experienced bicyclists are the safest. For kids in Texas, www.supercyclist.org .

Conclusions: Velomobiles are a great tool to achieve and maintain fitness. We should all become more fit. We should work to make more efficient use of our resources (see www.natcap.org, www.lead.org ,www.rprogress.org .). We can combine normal local errands with physical exercise and achieve multiple benefits.