BIDDEFORD — A toy-like vehicle resembling a yellow torpedo sits among the idling trucks and cars backed up at Biddeford's busy Five Points intersection during the evening rush hour. When the light turns green the automobiles surge forward, as does Chuck Hazzard in his pedal-powered velomobile, his bike helmet bobbing at a level even with the hubcaps and exhaust pipes surrounding him.
Hazzard pedals through the intersection of Route 111 and Route 1 and signals a right turn onto West Street, where snowbanks rise several feet above his head. A briefcase, a laptop computer and a Dunkin' Donuts bag are tucked in beside him as he rolls home from work in the snug capsule of his fully enclosed recumbent tricycle.
He dodges frost heaves and hits speeds of 40 mph downhill. In little more than half an hour, he pulls into his driveway and unfolds his thin frame from the cockpit, warmed by the nine-mile commute he cycles about four times a week, year-round.
Though not an uncommon sight in Europe, velomobiles are almost unknown in the United States. By most estimates, there are about 50 of the enclosed, pedal-powered vehicles in this country. Hazzard and another Biddeford resident, Ethan Davis, say they are the only two people riding them in Maine.
Hazzard, who works at Great Works Internet in Biddeford, makes no secret of his affection for gadgets. He rides with a global positioning system, a weather station and a heart-rate monitor, and posts data from the instruments as well as personal observations about his commute on a blog (www.hazbro.com).
But the 44-year-old lawyer and engineer says that, for him, the velomobile is also a practical, four-season vehicle for getting exercise and going to work. Last year he logged almost 3,000 miles in the cockpit.
"My car sits home during the week," he said. "I told my wife we ought to just sell it."
Mainly as a way to get more exercise, Hazzard began commuting to work by bicycle about nine years ago with a mountain bike and a tow-behind trailer. Though workable in good weather, it was less than ideal on wet days and through the long, cold months of winter.
About two years ago, Davis, whose interest in human-powered vehicles goes back to articles he read in Popular Mechanics and Scientific American as a child, saw Hazzard on the road. The two began talking velomobiles.
Soon, Hazzard traded the mountain bike for his $3,800 Dutch-built vehicle, Mango.
Hazzard is among the 26,000 Mainers - 4 percent of the work force - who either bike or walk to work, according to the state Department of Transportation.
The department does not break down the numbers any further, but the executive director of the Bicycle Coalition of Maine, Jeff Miller, said he is certain that the number of people biking to work is increasing as more people look for ways to incorporate exercise into their daily lives.
Nevertheless, barring a sudden spike in gas prices, Miller said he doesn't foresee a groundswell of interest in velomobiles. "Those are still a pretty exotic breed," he said.
Hazzard's vehicle resembles a streamlined soapbox racer. The teardrop-shaped fiberglass shell surrounds a recumbent tricycle with an aluminum frame, 72 gearing combinations, drum brakes and shock absorbers. Hazzard said almost no weather conditions, other than roads made slick by fresh snow and ice, prevent him from riding his 70-pound vehicle to work, where he rolls it inside the office during the day.
For those unaccustomed to encountering Hazzard on the roads between Route 111 and his home on a side street off Route 9 near Biddeford Pool, the sight of his little bulbous vehicle rolling along the side of the road can be startling, particularly at night.
A velomobile rider is the same as a bicyclist under the law, and, like bicyclists, Hazzard equipped his vehicle with high-powered LEDs and reflective tape to make himself visible. Twice, though, he has been stopped by Biddeford police.
Once, he said, an officer questioned his choice of lights. Another time, an officer was convinced that Hazzard's unusual vehicle must have electric power and therefore should be registered.
" 'Does this have a motor?' " Hazzard said the officer asked.
"I said, 'You're looking at it.' "
While Hazzard's main interest in velomobiles is riding them, Davis, a nurse at Southern Maine Medical Center, is trying to start a business manufacturing velomobiles in Maine.
Davis has put two of his three velomobiles up for sale to raise funds for market and manufacturing research, with hopes of obtaining licensing rights from Velomobiel.nl, the Dutch company that built Hazzard's vehicle. In Europe, there is a 17-month waiting list for the company's new vehicles, he said.
Despite Americans' legendary love of cars, Davis said he believes there is room on roads in the United States for velomobiles, at least among people with sufficient income and strong feelings about fitness and the environment.
"I think there is an appropriate use of cars, but the convenience store is only half a mile down the road and I don't think jumping in my car to go there is necessarily appropriate," he said.
In his blog, Hazzard records some of the practical chores he accomplishes with his velomobile, such as stopping at the grocery store on the way home from work or stuffing it full of recyclables and pedaling to the transfer station. At the same time, even a short discussion about his pedal-powered travels reveals how much Hazzard also enjoys the ride.
"It's so much fun," he said. "People wave from the side of the road. You get to hear the birds."
Staff Writer Seth Harkness can be contacted at 282-8225 or at:
sharkness@pressherald.com