A New Mango Owner - ME!

I sit here typing this somewhat in a daze tonight. In my garage sits a classic Mango Velomobile #134. Its there 4 months early thanks to Bob McKenzie, formerly of the Recumbent Blog. I first read and got interested in Velos reading and following his blog. Then when he got his Mango I went down to see it in person. I was smitten. For almost 16 months I read and watched a lot about velos, then the RotoVelo came out and I thought Ah Ha! maybe its for me. (cheaper and robust). A little scrimping, some extra work and I could maybe get one. So I set out to try one out to see If a big guy like me could fit in one(285lbs) So I called up Cornell in Cochrane and went down to check it out in September. Yes, I could just fit - But I knew I had to reduce the engine over the winter and strive to save for the late spring.
     Later in October I dropped in the see Rob and his Mango in Olds and to test ride a different model. I just sat in Cornells, Rob let me take it for a nice spin. YES I loved it. A Rotovelo was rolling in my head (Didn't think I could afford a European pedigree filly).  Then Rob Dropped the bomb and offered to sell me his for, well, a really awesome deal with ALL the extras. Since his wife got ill last year he just wasn't using it as it should be, and he had been considering selling it when I called for a "test ride".  I jumped at the chance but told him it wouldn't be until April that I could begin to pay it off. No Sweat. We shook hands on the deal and I went home happy and planning to begin the process.
    I got a second job, lost 30 lbs in 3 months, read even more, designed some t-shirts read the ROAM Thread,made lots of accessory and mod lists, I was on track to obtaining a Velo in the spring. I didn't talk to Rob until a couple of days after Christmas when I emailed him Holiday Greetings and mentioned the new me and extra job and that I  was still planning on obtaining the Mango from him. I got an email back within minutes asking me to call him. Oh no, now what.........
    Everything was fine he just wanted to make me an offer I couldn't refuse. So today after visiting my folks in Calgary for New Years, I stopped in at Robs in Olds and picked up Mango #134, 4 months early. I have some fitting to do, some more weight to lose, more extra job hours but Thanks to the Generousity of a good man, Today I am a Velonaut.
     Its still sort of "not real" and I am in humled and in awe.
     I want to be a good spokeman for Velos in Western Canada, so I want to chronicle about my mods, accessories, etc., here on this blog. I am hoping that this could be a good resource for others looking into velomobiles in Canada
Stay tuned Pix and more to come.
Larry in Leduc