Monday, July 28, 2008

Velomobiles Burlington VT October 4th

The Velomobiles are coming to Vermont!
This year the HPV Burlington Bikefest takes the place of the New England Human Powered and Ultra Efficient Vehicle rally held in Amherst, MA for the last several years.

Last weekend I tagged along with my wife to a conference she had in Burlington and met up with some of the folks organizing the event. Phil, Marc and Stu have some big plans. There will be camping in a nice municipal campground right on the the shoreline bike path. A ride out to a working farm and an expo at Oakledge Park where folks can checkout the velomobiles and other interesting vehicles.

Burlington is a great little city on the shores of Lake Champlain. I was impressed by how much was going on there. The lake front is gorgeous and certainly not hurt by a bike path that hugs the shore. There are great restaurants and lots of micro brewed beer. There's also a thriving arts scene and lots of little non profit organizations doing good things. One that I particularly enjoyed finding was Local Motion the bike advocacy group that has worked to extend the bike path north along the island line.

Early October in Burlington is peak foliage season, which will make the trip that much better. If you've been fantasizing about a velomobile, plan to come. It will be a great place to see (possibly even ride) a bunch of manufactured as well as homebuilt velomobiles.
The HPV Burlington Bikefest website will soon be getting updates and we hope an online registration feature, so check it out.