My flight left München pretty close to on time. As seems to often be the case, when arriving in Frankfurt we did not disembark at a gate, but rather at a remote location. Then we had to wait for busses. I was concerned if I would have enough time to get to my gate in Frankfurt. I shouldn’t have been.  The flight left an hour late because they had to wait for a cleaning crew.I slept very little on the flight. I spent some of that time dreading having to ride the bike home with the race hood and the limited view out of it in city traffic. Adding jet lag to the mix doesn’t make it any better. 

In Minneapolis I had to stand in the customs line for awhile. I was expecting to have to declare the bike for customs payment, but was told to just keep the blue form. Ok then. I proceeded to baggage claim. The bags were already out on the carousel. What I did not see anywhere was a giant wrapped up velomobile. Maybe they’re holding it in the back?  There were two crates with dogs in them and a line of people declaring missing luggage. While I waited in the line, I checked the AirTag I had left in the Bülk. Uh oh. It showed the bike as being in Frankfurt, Germany 21 minutes ago…. I refreshed the app. Nope. Still showing Frankfurt. Well then. It appears despite Lufthansa calling to verify the bike would make the second flight from Frankfurt to Minneapolis, that it did not in fact make the flight as promised. This is twice now that condor has failed to put a bike of mine on a flight. Meanwhile the two poor dogs were making pitiful crying sounds. Things could be worse. I could be a dog in a crate. 

As strange as it sounds, I was relieved the bike wasn’t there. I really did not want to ride it home, especially with the visibility issues I have with the race hood. I’m debating if the bike is actually the right bike for me. We had some incredible adventures together, but given my unique body dimensions and the seat design, I’m not sure it will be possible to find a position and seat that give me a good view over the hood. The turning circle with 28mm tires is also larger than what I’m accustomed to. It still needs to be made smaller to see if it can reach a point where wider tires would work without making the turning circle too large to ride safely where in love. My fonal, and biggest, concern is that within the velomobile community this particular series of Velomobiles can illicit some very polarizing viewpoints. No velomobile model is perfect. The goal of a review is to say what you find did and did not work for you, to share that info with the public, and allow them to make their own conclusions. Some developers will also take that feedback and use it to help make alterations or the model that greatly improves it. I’m the case of my review, that has led to some negative responses that have detracted from my enjoyment of the bike.

 I want to thank Jan and his team at the factory for the incredible work they did to get the bike ready in such a short time period. They provided outstanding customer service during the trip, especially the overnighted package of supplies needed to get my brake lights running again and fix the cable issue on the Büll. Both bikes were built tough. Those bikes went through hell in service to their riders, traversing stretches where I’m sure no velomobile has gone before and will likely never go again, with good reason! While I’m the end the W9 has led to some frustration for me, I do have to say it made for some really awesome photos.