Cyclist Profile: Michal Kapral

Name/Age/Occupation?
Michal Kapral, 35, news editor/personal trainer

What sort of bike do you ride?
A Mango velomobile.

When did you start biking? How did you get started?
I saved up for a Bianchi racing bike when I was 14 and got addicted to pedal-powered speed.

How often do you commute by bike to work?
Now that my wife and I have the Mango, I'll be riding it to work every day

Briefly describe your commute.
I live in East York near Danforth and Woodbine, and work downtown near King and Church. Most of my route is in the bike lane on Dundas St. E. It's a great route.

What's your favourite bike store?
Well, it's not really a bike store, per say, but Bluevelo is the best place to get a velomobile.

Where do you park your bike when you get to work?
At the intersection of King and Toronto. I've befriended all the smokers who keep an eye on it for me.

What's your favourite thing about bike commuting?
I like to exercise while I commute. It's a great way to kill two birds with one stone.

What would you change to make your commute better?
I like to see more bike lanes downtown, or ideally no cars at all. Streetcar tracks are annoying as well.

Why did you decide to start commuting by bike?
I enjoy the freedom of it. There are no traffic or subway delays.

Any advice for people starting out bike commuting?
Get yourself set up to be comfortable. It can be a struggle to organize everything, but it's well worth the effort.

What would you say to convince someone who is considering commuting by
bicycle to get on board their bike?
Do it! It's fast, you don't pollute, it's cheap, you'll get fit, lose weight and feel good. What are you waiting for?!

What do you like about biking in Toronto?
There are some pretty good bike lanes (but not nearly enough). The drivers are usually fairly considerate. I biked to and from school when I lived in Rome for a year when I was 18 and almost got killed every single day.

And Dislike?
There's too much pollution, there are too many cars downtown, there are too many super-stinky vehicles, especially taxis, Brinks trucks and Wheeltrans buses.

What's your favourite piece of cycling kit/clothing/gadget?
I love the built in headlights and turn signals on the Mango. It makes you feel like you're driving a car.

Helmet or no helmet?
Helmet, but in the Mango I sometimes skip it if I'm going a few blocks to the grocery store.

Bikelane or no bikelane?
Bikelane whenever possible, unless there are car doors opening up into it.

Favourite cycling moment?
Driving the Mango to work for the first time and watching people's reactions. I heard everything from "That's SICK!" to "That is the coolest thing I've ever seen" to "That looks more like a banana than a mango."

How could the City help you enjoy riding more?
The City's bike lane plan is progressing so slowly. We have problems with people being sedentary and we have problems with smog and global warming. Developing a system to get more people commuting by bicycle would help solve all of these problems. It needs to be much higher up on the City's priority list.

If even a tiny fraction of the money that has gone into producing and subsidizing cars had gone into human-powered innovations like velomobiles, we would have tens of thousands of affordable human-powered cars pedaling around Toronto, and a much healthier, less-polluted city.

People often assume that velomobiles and other types of recumbent bikes/trikes are invisible in traffic and unsuitable for city riding. How are your experiences with the Mango?
There's a perception that any vehicle that's lower than the top of the car is dangerous, but it just comes down to common sense. Always have an "escape route" in case the car or truck next to you decides to suddenly swerve into you. Someone will tell me the Mango looks incredibly dangerous, then light up a cigarette and get in their SUV to go drive on the highway. I've seen the stats on both smoking and deaths due to SUV flipping over on the highway and they're not pretty. In city traffic, the Mango feels much safer than a bicycle. Cars treat you like a car, and it's hard to miss a bright yellow projectile with bright lights and reflective material zipping around. I just ring the bell a lot, watch for car doors in the bike lanes and don't ride in cars' blind spots.

What are the most practical aspects of riding a velomobile? Do you use if for shopping and other errands in addition to commuting?
I use the Mango to get to work, but also to run errands. It has a fair amount of "trunk" space to put beer, wine and groceries. The velomobile offers many of the same comforts as a car, like weather protection, built-in lights, turn signals and speedometer. It's also a great feeling to pedal in the comfortable recumbent lounging position. Driving home from work on a beautiful night is such a joy. The sun is setting in my rearview mirrors and I can look up at the sky watch the stars come out. Having three wheels is also convenient. When you stop at a light, you don't have to worry about falling over. I also like the fact that the chain and componentry are protected from the elements, which means minimal maintenance and none of that bike grime sliming your pant leg. The velomobile generally makes people happy and that makes me happy.

I think you're the first rider profiled on I Bike TO who is a world record holder. Can you tell us about that?
Yes, I do have the Guinness World Record for the fastest "joggling" marathon – that's running while juggling. I've been battling back and forth for this record with my American joggling rival, Zach Warren, for the past two years, and recently set the new record of 2 hours and 50 minutes. I used to joggle home from work and now I drive a velomobile, so I'm accustomed to getting funny looks.

Have you juggled while riding your velomobile yet?
I have not tried to juggling while velomobiling. I could definitely pedal it while juggling, but steering would be a bit of an issue!

You can read more about Michal's velomobiling and joggling on his own blog: thejoggler.blogspot.com.