Coming from Spain, France’s idea of having fun at the beach is noticeably different. More planning, lots of ‘animations’, hurray-hurray ‘we’re having so much fun’ type activities and lots of ClubMed-style places everywhere. The French seem much more focused on having activities going on than just relaxing. I might have just stumbled across a stretch of the coast that has a concentration of such places. I’m leaving a day earlier as my family – I have arranged to meet with a work colleague of mine that lives in southern France close to Nice and couch-surf at his place for a […]
TDE2022 – Day9: Sant Salvador to Grau du Roi
Sant Salvador was a revelation – such an cute little coastal town. Foreign tourists – very few, no English signs, very Spanish and relaxing. We enjoyed good seafood and went to the beach every day, enjoying the sun and very reasonable temperatures given the heatwave elsewhere in Europe. As mentioned before, we didn’t book anything until the last minute and that was true for the second week of our summer break as a family – we had the option of heading further south or returning to France’s southern coast for some days…which we decided to do as we liked the […]
TDE2022 – Day6: Perpignan Sant Salvador – Long distance TWIKEing & 300k anniversary
Our time in Perpignan was great – especially meeting our friends and spending a full evening at their converted old house and lounging at their swimming pool whilst sipping rosé wine. Today, we’re going to be driving another long stage which in this TWIKE translates to >300km. For this I’ve been charging the TWIKE very, very slowly during the last >24h which charges the battery at a rate at which it can store a sliver more energy in comparison to when it is charged at a normal rate As said many times before, lithium batteries don’t like to be stored […]
TDE2022 – Day 4: Avignon Perpignan – TWIKEing in Southern France
After a drive-free day with my family in Avignon, my wife and I get up bright and early. This will allow us to drive a portion of today’s trip in relatively acceptable temperatures. Speaking of which – I’ve charged the TWIKE’s batteries very slowly – even with this the batteries haven’t been able to cool off completely. 8°C difference to the outside temperature remain. 32°C is a perfect temperature to drive and get the most out of our pack. The roads are empty and the cool breeze makes for perfect TWIKEing. Today, we’re going to drive slightly more than 300 […]
TDE2022 – Day2: Chambéry Avignon – Staying above the heat!
I’m awake early since I usually am out running early. I’ve reserved a breakfast slot at 7.30 am to be sure I’ve got some space and can leave early…and am surprised to be the only one in the breakfast room at that time. This isn’t a bad thing, however, as I’ve got ample time to ask the owner about his life and how he and his wife chose to give up their previous lives and buy a budget-hotel franchise … during Covid-19, nothing less. Long story short it was a decision made with their heart, wanting to leave the corporate […]
TDE2022 – Day 1: Crossing Switzerland … in an oven
Today is the day! It’s always great to wake up bright and early, knowing everything is already packed and the only thing between a TWIKE adventure and me is some slow brewing of tea and enjoying some quiet minutes with my wife before leaving on some days on my own. I’m really in need of some solo-decompression time. To support this, even more, I’ve decided to take it slow and not drive on the motorway to Geneva but rather drive on equally interesting national roads. After finishing my tea I’m ready to start TDE2022 for real. I say goodbye to […]
TDE2022 – this year’s TWIKE adventure
A quick update on this year’s upcoming long-distance trip with TW560 – TD2022, a two week break with a TWIKE The date is finally set and the general direction chosen: France & Spain. TW560 just got back from a pre-vacation check-up and in a radical change to previous years will start on a new set of tyres. TDE2022’s main trip page is active and GPS tracking of TW560 is ready for activation, too. Looking forward to some days off, It’s been a tough 6 months.
Repairs: Weird Lights-Out
A few days ago, TWIKE 560 started acting weridly – on the center console the left three LED’s turned on if the main lights were switched on, the right-hand blinker would work, the left hand one not. However, if the lights were off, then both blinkers would work fine. Every seasoned TWIKE pilot knows that this typically means one or more of the 12V fuses are blown and the center console typically – and oddly helpfully – shows which side of the TWIKE is affected by lighting the corresponding LEDs on the front panel. Looking at the TWIKE, this is […]
emissionslos/emissionless – all new!
A new theme! More focus on photos – plus: finally, a responsive site for mobile devices! This blog has been on the internet for nearly 11 years now. All the details how and why this blog exists can be found here. Even though I had been already blogging in the mid-nineties (!), starting the blog in 2011 meant a full new start, complete with choosing the blog software, which in the 90’s didn’t exist and discovering which features were important to me. The choice fell on WordPress due to its configurability, extensibility and ease of use. After 2 months, I […]
Display Restoration
TW560’s display has become very dull after 25 years and reading data is difficult in direct sunlight. It has started to become a real problem. Not only for everyday reading but also for me during my trips I have been writing about on my blog – a recent one from my trip to Portugal below. What can be done? A quick Google search later, it turns out that buffing plastics can be exceedingly easy (toothpaste, cloth) but can also yield the exact opposite of what one would like to achieve – more scratches – or very difficult, including lots of […]