The 2004 New England Velomobile Rally was a blast (Click here to read my account of the event).

Please join us for the 2005 New England Human Powered Vehicle Rally as we bring northeastern human powered vehicle enthusiasts together to celebrate our machines as fun, health promoting, environmentally conscious and sustainable transportation.

Event Date: Saturday, October 8, 2005
Event Location: The Lion's Club Facility located on Billings way in Hatfield, Massachusetts. FOR DIRECTIONS - CLICK HERE

We're on, rain or Shine
It looks like we will be getting rain this Friday night and into Saturday for the New England HPV Rally. Please make sure you have gear suitable for the conditions. For the velomobilists, it'll be a chance to put your vehicles through their paces. For unfaired riders, please bring warm weatherproof gear. An extra change of dry clothing is also a good idea

The Expo event in the afternoon will take place at the Hatfield Lions Club Pavillion, which is a large, metal roofed structure - so we should be well sheltered for that portion of the day.

Also, I just got in copies of the 50 page booklet "So You Want to Build an HPV" that I will availble at the Rally for $17.00 Each"

All HPV's are welcome. Any riding position, any number of wheels (of any size) in any configuration - the only real requirement is that your vehicle is at least partially human powered.

This week is usually peak fall foliage season - so riding in the Pioneer valley among the blazing fall colors should be awesome!

I will be there with my Quest velomobile.
Other Human Powered vehicles likely to be at the Rally:
John Tetz has indicated that he will be there with his new Zotefoam faired trike. He has a new technique for working with Zotefoam - soon to be posted on the web- that should be suited to making high quality fairings on a homebuilder scale.
Reg Rodaro will be there with his Stormy Weather Velomobile. A Mango Velomobile
A Go-One velomobile
Several Reynolds Weld Lab machines
A Flevobike Versatile Velomobile.
Assorted recumbent trikes - both factory and homebuilt
Various power assists
Various Easyracers bikes and homebuilt clones
Other recumbent bikes
upright bikes

This years event will be similar to the rally in Northampton last year, and will consist of an approximately 30 mile group ride in the morning (departing at 10:00 AM), followed by an expo. event in the afternoon at 1:30 after lunch. If you plan only to attend the expo and haven't pre-registered, please arrive by 1:00 to allow enought time prior to the start of the Expo. Participants are encouraged to give a brief 'show and tell' presentation on their favorite rig during the expo event.

Accommodations

On-site Camping will be available the night of Friday, Oct 7, and Saturday, Oct 8, and is included with registration.
Male and female bathroom facilities (toilets and sinks, but no showers) with electrical power are located on-site, however, no RV type hookups are available at the facility. The pavilion is a large metal buiding with picnic tables on a concrete floor. A barbeque grill is available.

For those that opt to camp out Saturday night, we will need to be out by 8:00 AM Sunday morning to make room for the next event.

I haven't called for rates, availability, etc, so I can't speak personally for these, but my contact in the Hatfield Area, Matt Sokop of the Hatfield Lions club has also provided me with the following information on area accommodations:

Matt Wrote:

The Deerfield Inn in Old Deerfield is very nice, as is the Hotel Northampton. The Deerfield in is located in the center of Old Deerfield and is on the route that I gave you. The Hotel Northampton is as very nice and is in the center of Northampton. The Inn at Northampton is also nice and has an indoor pool and possibly an outdoor pool. It is located just south of the center of town on route 5 by exist 18 off of route 91. There are a lot of shops and restaurants in downtown Northampton which add to the fun of staying there. For general information on where to stay, www.noho.com has more information. Also www.shelburnefalls.com has information for the Shellburne Falls area. There is also a Red Roof Inn at exit 24 off of route 91 in South Deerfield. As you head towards Amherst and Hadley from Northampton there are a variety of hotels and motels available .

The Hatfield Lion's club will have food available for purchase during the day on Oct. 8. Proceeds from food sales will go to the Lion's club and the local causes and charities that they support, including providing funding to local people with disabilities, particularly the deaf and blind.

Registration proceeds will go to supporting the Wildfire HPV velomobile project.

Registration information:

Registration for the AM ride and the expo in the afternoon is $25.00 before September 1. After September 1, registration goes up to $35.00 If you are interested in attending only in the expo portion of the event, registration will be $10.00 right up until the day of the event.

Registration is free for kids under 12.

Registration before the ride will take place from 8:45AM-9:45AM. If you choose to 'pay at the door', before the expo, please catch me during lunch between (approximately)12:30-1:30.

T-shirt update (9-6-05): T-shirts will not be printed this year due to insufficient orders. T-shirt money for those who have ordered them will be refunded at the rally. If you have ordered a T-shirt and aren't at the rally to recieve your T-shirt money back, I will mail your refund to you after the event.

Disclaimer:Please note that participation in this event is at your own risk and indicates that you understand that operating an HPV on the road and camping out in the open have inherent risks. The Insurance for the event requires that participants sign a liability waiver. I will have these available at the event.

T-shirt and registration payment can be made by paypal (payable to recumbo@gwi.net), or please send check or money order to me at:

Ethan Davis
61 Newtown Rd.
Biddeford, ME 04005

When registering, please be sure to provide your name, address, telephone # and/or email address, and size and quantity of T-shirts ordered.

Please feel free to Email me with any questions or suggestions.