One of the most visible Ukrainian recumbent and velomobile riders is Alexey Ganshin known as a Velodreamer. At least on Youtube and Facebook. He has been active in the velomobile scene ever since and he has shared his experience with building all different recumbent vehicles. From pretty common two-wheelers, over trikes and velomobiles, to impressive builds like a social tandem quad. But it has all changed on February 24th after Russia invaded Ukraine. Alexey no longer shares photos from capturing his latest work, but photos and videos about the war.
His latest project was a racing velomobile for NAVRA (North American Velomobile Racing Association) that has been founded by Jason Dubin from New York City. Jason wants to promote velomobile riding in the USA the same way velomobiles are promoted in Australia by the Australian HPV Super Series. However, this project has to be postponed at least for a while.
I have contacted Alexey and got a reply from him:
“Everything is calm in our village. We are in the very center of Ukraine, the enemies have not yet reached here.
There are only two possible outcomes of this war, and both of them will end in the defeat of Russia. But I will act depending on which option happens:
1 – Our troops will stop the enemy and will systematically destroy within a month. Thanks to the sanctions, Putin will soon run out of money for the war and will be forced to withdraw his troops. In this case, I’m staying here, I have supplies for 3 months, so everything is fine.
2 – Enemy troops will still be able to capture Kyiv and overthrow the government. In this case, a long guerrilla war will begin. Ukraine will not tolerate occupation or a government not elected by the people. In this case, I will have to leave. I am invited by the founder of “Pima velobike” so that I can continue to work on their equipment and on their premises in Poland.“
It is great to read that Piotr Majcher, the founder of Pima velobike has offered such help to Alexey. However, I deeply hope, Alexey and his family will be able to live their velo-dream in Ukraine.
Here are a couple of photos and videos of his work, but I recommend you to visit his Youtube Channel directly.
See where Alexey lives
