INDIANAPOLIS — David Honig took his Velomobile home from work on Thursday night.
“It’s basically a recumbent trike in an aerodynamic shell,” said Honig.
Honig rides his Velomobile to work 11 months out of the year.
"I’ve got 17.5 miles each way," said Honig.
This year, Honig took the Velomobile out on the track at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, as well as trained for the RAIN Ride, a bike ride across Indiana.
"It’s fun, it’s fun. You get a lot of looks. You have a lot of conversations. People ask a lot of questions, even if you’re stopped next to them at a red light," said Honig.
This year though, Honig has had to take some breaks from riding.
"I’ve been battling the air," said Honig.
Poor air quality has been an ongoing theme in Indianapolis this year ever since the wildfires in Canada started burning.
On Thursday, the Circle City was also under a heat advisory. It's a combination that made the Indianapolis Office of Sustainability declare the 20th Knozone Action Day of the year.
Indianapolis is currently in the orange zone, meaning it's unhealthy for sensitive groups.
"A lot of people don’t think about it because we want COVID to be behind us, but I’m one of many people — Some who know, some who don’t — who have lingering effects. In my case, I lost some lung capacity," said Honig.
Honig says he now pays close attention to air quality alerts. It's something he never thought he'd have to do.
"No, when we think of diseases you think of it as something you have and then you get over," said Honig.
It won't stop his love for riding around in his Velomobile, but it does alter when he rides. Honig says he stopped riding his bike for a few weeks already this year and sometimes wears a mask.
"Any type of heavy riding, particularly when it’s warm, has some impact on your lungs. You want to challenge yourself and increase your lung capacity, but mine's limited. I’m not only going to be challenged by the ride, but also by the air quality. I have to worry about, one whether I can do it and two, whether it will contribute to any long-term damage that I’ve already had," said Honig.
