My plan for today was to visit Simon from weathervelo.com and then return to London to have some drinks with Yarden, whom I had already visited in Southern France during TDE2022. After these meetups, I planned to head back to Alan and his family to think about where to go next.
Simon lives very close to Alan, which meant I could finally sleep past 7 am. The last three nights had been rather short, so this felt like a small luxury.
I arrived at Simon’s and was welcomed warmly with tea, biscuits, and lively discussions about light electric vehicles. Simon truly lives and breathes this world and knows a great deal about the TWIKE as well.
Simon showed me around his workshop, where I saw the current engineering prototype of his bike.
I had the chance to look at the bike in detail, ask many questions, and learn about the journey from prototype to homologation. Simon was also curious about the Swiss process, so I shared what I knew.
I am looking forward to seeing how his project develops. The vehicle is well suited for people who want to commute in town while staying protected from the weather. This was also a guiding principle for the TWIKE.
At one point I needed to join a work call, the only such interruption I had allowed myself for this trip. While I was busy, Simon kindly fixed my starter battery issue and reconnected the leads. By the time I was done, the TWIKE was ready again.
Even though I try not to work during trips like this, it was pleasant to be able to open the laptop, connect to the network, and join a video call so easily.
Although Simon had already been in a TWIKE before, he asked if he could join me for part of my ride into town. Of course, I was happy to have the company.
We enjoyed the time together, and I am grateful to Simon for sharing his knowledge and ideas about sustainable mobility.
After saying goodbye, I drove to meet Yarden at the pub he had chosen.
It had been more than three years since we last met, so we had plenty to talk about. A glass of cider made the conversation even better.
After three hours we said our farewells, and I drove back to Woking, about 75 minutes away.
Weather warnings spoke of a storm coming in from Scotland, but for the moment I was still under blue skies.
The return to Woking was pleasant, and I was still far from the bad weather.
From the TWIKE, London’s views are always a treat.
The storm stayed outside the city, and I reached Alan’s without a single drop of rain.
On the way, I bought an interesting gin. The packaging alone made it worth picking up.
Back at Alan’s we had an apéro with some gin and tonics, then planned my next days and booked the ferries I would need. More on that in my next entries.
And with that, here is the GPS track for today.
