October 3rd-5th, 2008 at City Hall Park

On behalf of the volunteers of the Bikefest I want to thank everyone who participated in our Bikefest & New England HPV Rally!

The Bikefest was a success beyond our expectations. We had great media coverage, both before and during the event. Seven Days and The Free Press ran articles and the event was well covered by WCAX on the Saturday evening news.

We had an excellent turnout at all of our venues. On Friday night, at Contois Auditorium, over 50 people attended talks by Lisa Aultman-Hall & Brian Ball . On Saturday well over 200 people came to see the variety of HPVs at City Hall Park. There were about 40+ children and their parents participating in the parade, and 38 cyclists riding recumbent trikes, recumbent bikes, and velomobiles who made the ride out to Shelburne Farms.

When we arrived back at Oakledge Park, (nearly an hour after our expected arrival), there were another 50+ people waiting to meet us and try out the velomobiles and trikes.

On Sunday families, as well as the visiting participants joined us, for our tour of the northern part of the Burlington Bike Path and Colchester. Bike enthusiasts from ages 6-70 were along for the ride, which brought us to City Hall Park where a number of additional people had gathered for the end of the Festival. Everyone enjoyed the lunch, conversation, and one last opportunity to test drive the velomobiles.

The 38 cyclists who came from all over New England, and New York State unanimously agreed that this was the best rally they had ever been to. It was the largest for New England, and all were in agreement that Burlington was indeed a, “bike friendly,” city and a beautiful place to ride. I must also add that Shelburne Farms was the high point of the ride. As one rider put it, “this place is a knockout!” And who would have thought people would rave about macaroni & cheese? Well, they all did!

Our goal for the next year is to hold another event in February in conjunction with Hero’s Welcome in North Hero. We will introduce ice cycling to the region as another way to promote year-round cycling. In the fall of ’09 we will host our 2^nd. Annual HPV Burlington Bikefest, which we will endeavor to make bigger and better.

Thanks again for helping to make our event such a success!

The Festival will have several events during the weekend, with the primary attraction being many types of velomobiles that are sure to catch people’s attention. The events will include talks and video, Friday night at Contois Auditorium, by Lisa Altman-Hall, Director of UVM’S Transportation Research Center, and Bryan Ball, who is a national guru of Velomobiles. On Saturday, Oct. 4, we will have a 30 mile tour for Velomobiles and other cyclists through the city and surrounding area, and then gather at Oakledge Park to enable people to learn more about the potential of human powered vehicles in their daily lives. There will also be a Trailer Pull contest, to show what can be carried by a bike trailer.

On Sunday, Oct. 5 we will have a City Ride, and then gather at City Hall Park. This will give people another chance to share how bicycles can become their primary transportation year-round, and become car, and fossil fuel free!

From the Energy Self Sufficiency Newsletter, March 2005:
Why you NEED a Velomobile, By Bryan J. Ball (PDF)

and a Velomobile Guide with buyers information,
also by Bryon J. Ball at bentrideronline.com:
http://www.bentrideronline.com/Buyer%27s%20Guide/velomobileguide.htm

Go-One, Stephen Mosca (PDF)
http://www.interbike.com/ib/photos/stylus/10070.pdf

Wildfire, Ethan Davis: www.wildfirehpv.com

George Reynolds has a site: http://www.velocar.net/72.html

Chris Spollen's site: http://spollensworld.blogspot.com/2008_05_01_archive.html that feature's John's trike in the third picture

• Campsites; we have 10 campsites set aside for Oct. 3-5 at North Beach Campsite. 1 of the 10 is set up for RV Hookup, and we can get more hookups, and sites, but folks have to register by Mid. Aug.
• Hotels & Motels; best bet is check out Lake Champlain Chamber web site. It is peak foliage season & UVM Parent weekend to boot, so space is scarce.
• Folks wanting to stay with a family, or household contact Stu Lindsay.
  See Registration.
• We will be hosting a dinner on Sat. evening. Please let us know if you want to join in! There’s a spot on the registration to Check.