i think i mentioned before that TW560 likes vienna and travels with me there at least once a quarter. last year’s WAVE india prologue for TW560 was a trip to vienna en route to bremerhafen. myself, i travel to vienna at least every two weeks for some days on business. i usually fly and get around the city being driven by one of my employees or in a taxi. this kind of mobility is not very practical nor cheap when it comes to spending some free minutes exploring the city and the places around it – such as bratislava or […]
beautiful switzerland – churfirsten tour
i’m visiting my family whilst they are on vacation in wildhaus – we can see the churfirsten mountain range from our chalet – the view looks similar to the photo above. during the weekend one of my daughters asked if they looked the same from behind and i said … more or less, how about we check if they still look the same? said, done. the TWIKE was fully charged and off we went: View Around the Churfirsten in a larger map there is not much to say… 🙂 all on one charge & without breaking any sweat! switzerland & […]
more than expected
school children in switzerland get 2 weeks off end of april – my family usually leaves for a spot of vacation in the swiss alps, without me. this year, the second week co-incides with may 1, a work-free day in switzerland. i am planning to spend the week-end in the same chalet, work from there april 30 and leave for vienna from feldkirch (only 25 kms away) late may 1. although the drive there is uneventful, i was rather unprepared for the weather waiting for me @ 1100m altitude… (see featured picture above) i left the office in zurich with […]
TWIKE club general assembly 14apr12
saturday morning about 35 TWIKEs converged towards a nature reserve lodge near flaach in northern switzerland for the twike club yearly general assembly. our agenda was pretty simple visit the “thurauen” nature reserve eat lunch general assembly my presentation on our participation at WAVE india eat fresh asparagus at a nearby asparagus farm (yum!) first we headed out to the nature reserve with some rangers and were shown some interesting plants and animals which have chosen this rather beatiful spot to be their habitat. i really appreciated the opportunity and will certainly be back with my kids for some more […]
planning our next adventure > TDE2012
jc and i have started planning our next adventure. we’ve been travelling with the TWIKE for about 7-8 days once every year for the last 4 years. last year, besides travelling to india for 3 weeks, we took the TWIKE to denmark for a 1900km roundtrip. this year, we’re going to test JC’s TW231 in very hot environments and try to combine this with crossing a major mountain range: we’re taking TW231 from northern switzerland to southern spain. our current plan is to draw a straight line from southern spain to andorra and from there to glattfelden, our starting point, […]
next WAVE presentation: 14apr12
quick update: i have been alotted a 2 hour slot for a WAVE INDIA presentation at the TWIKE club general assembly on 14apr12. this will give me the opportunity to go into much more detail than during the last few presentations. anyone interested in being there and participating please get in touch with me.
Geneva auto show 2012 – some got it, some not
i’ve been visiting this show for the last 7 years – i expected after all the hype 2011 to see electic cars center stage. i expected cars ready to be ordered or at least to be able to be on a waiting list. only 2 car makers were able to really deliver on this exepectation: renault and tesla all other major brands center staged their even more powerful models (plus maybe a hybrid / one electric model at the far end of the booth or a prototype to be released someday) i was extremely impressed by renault’s enormous booth – […]
Home, at last!
after 3 months, TW560 returns home! everyone is happy to see the TWIKE again – neighbours who followed the blog gather around and want to see if it still looks the same 🙂 we settle back into the normal usage pattern, my wife loves the TWIKE and how easy it is to drive and park – every day i’m off to austria or on weekends when she goes to school the TWIKE is her companion. myself, i enjoy every meter driving – as usual. not everything is 100% ok, though. currently, the TWIKE consumes about 15-20% more energy with me […]
last stop before home
sunday, after a full day skiing in austria, i travel to sissach with my youngest daughter to pick up the TWIKE. a brilliant but freezing cold day @ -15°C -> we find the twike fully charged and ready in front of dreifels’ offices. with some serious winter gear TWIKEing in winter can be fun, too – we’re ready! our route will take us through some very rural parts of northwestern switzerland, we then cross into germany to finally cross back into switzerland close to the beautiful rhine falls to then conclude our 105kms trip (with a small detour to drink […]
mmm…TLC, TW560 feeling better now!
after just 3 days at dreifels’ workshop, TW560 emerges feeling much better and refreshed 🙂 no major problems were discovered by ralph schnyder (creator of TWIKE in 1986, middle) apart of the travel-related ones which already had emerged during the wave. (even the shock absorbers seem to be ok!!) equipped with the newest software version and a dump of all controller data for the duration of the WAVE, TW560 is looking forward to the next step in its rehabilitation for swiss roads: deep cleansing (inside and outside) at the TWIKE workshop i usually bring my TWIKE to. a quick check of […]