September 1, 2021 8.25 am This story is over 30 months old

Lincoln jeweller’s bike hobby turns heads in local village

He raced in a competition over the Bank Holiday weekend
John inside his new Velomobile, which was recently seen hovering down the road in Welton.

The owner of a local jewellery business is the rider of a quirky red Velomobile bicycle which has been the talking point in a village near Lincoln.

Footage was captured last week of the human-powered bicycle in Welton and The Lincolnite caught up with the vehicle’s owner John Greed, who told us about his Trisled Aquila 3.

John is the founder and joint owner of John Greed Jewellery Ltd, which now operates online, and preparing to expand back into its old warehouse on Firth Road in Lincoln.

The 54-year-old, who lives in Nettleham, said the moment he was caught on camera was a practice ride on a “good piece of tarmac” from Welton through to Normanby-by-Spital.

John was practising ahead of two days of racing at the British Human Powered Club at Darley Moor in Derbyshire over the August Bank Holiday weekend. He purchased the vehicle from Australia for around £9,000 and bought another at the racing event.

Some of the other vVlomobiles that John was racing against at Darley Moor.

He competed in the Velomobile class and won three races – 15 minutes, 40 minutes, and two hour – but lost the one lap race by just half a second.

“My legs are a bit tired, but it felt good winning three races. It was the first time I’d competed in a Velomobile, the speeds were amazing and it felt incredible,” John said.

John has already won three races in his Velomobile.

John also recently purchased another Velomobile called a Milan SL.

He added: “Because of its streamline shape it goes a lot faster than a conventional bike. For the power that it would take to go 22mph on a conventional bike this Velombile would be going about 32mph, so it’s great fun for racing in, and on some of the slight downhill sections of the track I should be going about 45mph.

“For those that don’t know me, as well as being the founder of John Greed Jewellery, I also have a life long passion for riding and racing bikes, including recumbents which you ride lying down and are fantastic fun.

“Although this particular one is a thoroughbred racing machine, given the current climate crisis and the need for more efficient use of energy, I believe we will see more domestic, practical versions in the future.”

John also owns a racing recumbent tricycle called an Ice VTX.

John has been interested in these kind of vehicles since his childhood and describes himself as now being “in my prime”. He plans to compete with his Velombile at other competitions across the country this year.

He said: “I’ve always been intrigued by Velomobile and that kind of vehicle, and riding in a recumbent position. It is incredible fun and going round tracks at 30-40mph, it is as much fun as I can legally have after 50.”

In addition to the his two Velomobile bikes, John also has a racing recumbent tricycle – an Ice VTX.

John has also responded to some safety concerns he received from The Lincolnite readers about his vehicle, saying: “People need to be a bit less fixated on it. I’ve been riding for 45 years and I’m not going to stop now. We all need to be more considerate of each other.”