TGIF! TDI2019 starts is today! I’ve been looking forward to this trip very much. Unlike other TWIKE adventures, this time, I will be travelling alone.

Today will be a full day at the office before I dash across Switzerland and part of Austria towards Linz.

In theory, nowadays with my huge battery pack, I could make the trip to Linz in one day but not when departing from Zurich at 4 PM. A charge somewhere in Innsbruck and one in Salzburg would be required if I want to do the full trip on the motorway – when hypermiling, I’d only need one charge!

Being on my own in the TWIKE makes packing very easy – loads of space is still available behind the driver’s seat. This is one of the most-asked questions: How much space does a TWIKE have for luggage? It turns out that it’s loads! I’ve already written about it here.

Ready for TDI2019
Ready for TDI2019

My wife takes the traditional farewell picture and off I go…to my office 🙂

TDI2019 can begin!
TDI2019 can begin!

As I want to start my Trip from Zurich to Austria with the battery charged as much as possible, I connect my TWIKE to one of the plugs in our meeting room on the second floor and charge it at 2A – doing so will allow the battery to accept a few Wh more than when it’s charged at a higher throughput.

Bemused co-workers help me set up the extension cable that needs to go up two floors and connect it.

Meeting room charging...
Meeting room charging…

This is how the cable looked like from our meeting room…

Creative office charging
Creative office charging

At 4 PM sharp, I bid my farewell and off I go! The first few hours on any TWIKE tour are filled with excitement and anticipation even though all the roads I’m driving on are super-familiar.

Lake Zurich
Lake Zurich

 

Swiss Alps
Swiss Alps

There isn’t too much to write about regarding the trip to Austria and the climb towards the Arlberg tunnel as it was 100% on the motorway and the sun set around 6 just when I had climbed the valley and entered the tunnel.

Entering the Arlberg Tunnel
Entering the Arlberg Tunnel

The tunnel, however, was a first for TW560. Normally, I prefer taking the pass, as it is really nice and offers some stunning views. Crossing a pass end of March in the dark isn’t really fun, probably very cold and potentially dangerous with water freezing on the road. I engage cruise control and zoom through the tunnel.

One of the interesting things when driving through a long alpine tunnel is the temperature difference between outside and inside – which can be very easily felt when driving a TWIKE.

Whilst the temperature difference is the biggest in the Gotthard tunnel, where you might have -10°C outside, and consistent ~+29°C inside the tunnel the Arlberg tunnel offers also very respectable temperatures around 20°C – very nice for my rather cold TWIKE pilot hands!

Arlberg tunnel
Arlberg tunnel

My goal for today is a town called Telfs. I’ve reserved a room in an old and quaint Gasthaus stating that I needed a plug for my recumbent bike. The owners were already waiting for me when I arrived and had cleared out their garage to allow me to park my TWIKE there…but not before I had driven the owner’s son around a little – we’ve got to cultivate future pilots, right? 😉

Tired but happy, I go to bed early as tomorrow will be a very long day – driving 350km, meeting with my family and partying with my cousin until very late. Good night!

TDI2019 - Day 1 GPS Track
TDI2019 – Day 1 GPS Track

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