Time flies – as always in Terni – and I’ve got to start making my way back home. I’ve decided to drive to La Spezia today, 410km further north. With the currently very moderate temperatures and the additional weight of my luggage, I believe this will be a near-full cycle for my batteries today. As per an unwritten tradition, we all congregate at the same bar we’ve been saying our goodbyes for the last 20 years and have a farewell espresso and cornetto 🙂 Today’s route will take me across a rolling landscape before meeting up with the sea and […]
TDI2019 Day 9 – Rasiglia
Welcome to a quick TDI2019 entry – a day-trip to Rasiglia. Gabriella and I start early as the little village can get crowded very quickly. Rasiglia is an easy 70 km drive from Terni and a true gem. It is also a testament to the steadfastness of a village to survive and use modern technology to attract visitors to their unique feature: A stream flowing right though it, previously powering mills and other textile-related machinery. More on that later. But first, we enter the Valnerina, the valley of the Nera river. A very nice road winds along the narrow valley, […]
TDI2019 Day 7 – Montefalco
Today, finally, after years of me promising Marta that I’d visit Terni by TWIKE and her being really insistent wanting to try driving TW560 … finally we both found the time and … off we went! This is a very short entry as our focus was on driving and not necessarily on the destination. 🙂 Marta decided that we should drive to a small town perched on top of a small hill – Montefalco. I knew Montefalco before – their DOC wines are very drinkable and are usually not available outside Umbria. (no surprise – small amounts of wine and […]
TDI 2019 Day 6 – Castelluccio di Norcia
After a drive-free day spent with my friends (…and the reason why there is a jump in the day count), it’s time for me and one of my oldest friends in Italy to spend some quality time together. Many years ago – long before it was practical to travel to central Italy by TWIKE, one of my long-time readers of my blog – Marta (hi there!) – suggested I should take TW650 to Terni and then travel to Castellucio di Norcia as the experience was otherworldly. We’ve decided to drive to Norcia and from there to climb up to Castelluccio […]
TDI2019 Day 4 – Chioggia -> Terni
I slept very well after having completed the longest stage of any TWIKE trip ever yesterday. 650 km in one go are taxing for both vehicle and driver. After a hearty breakfast with the farm owner, I walk outside to find TW 560 just finishing the last few Wh after recharging 17.5kWh overnight. Today’s drive is much shorter than yesterday – it’s just over 400km 😀 First, I have to get back to the main road – it’s about 3 km of unpaved road which feels much less than yesterday in pitch dark. As we’re in the Pianura, the first […]
TDI2019 Day 3 – Linz -> Chioggia
Today I’m going to push the envelope what a TWIKE is capable of covering in a single day. Sure, I’ve driven halfway across Germany and pushed the envelope whilst driving through Russia but today I’m going to go for 650 km in one day not hypermiling! It was very hard getting up at 7.30 AM today. I left my cousin’s birthday party at 1.30 AM and was in my bed at 2.10 AM… After a very nice breakfast, my uncle and aunt saw me off at around 9.20 AM and I was more or less ready for my longest distance […]
TDI2019 Day 2 – Telfs -> Linz
Waking up early I am greeted by another beautiful day and a very nice view from my typical Austrian Gasthaus room. After a breakfast including one of my favourites – Handsemmel (hand made Austrian bread roll) with Leberwurst I feel 100% ready for my 330km drive to Linz. I really liked this place as the owners both came to say good-bye personally and the son wanted to sit in the TWIKE for one last time. With the canopy off, I start to drive along the Inn valley towards Innsbruck and enjoy the sun’s warm rays even through it is still […]
TDI2019 Day 1 – Switzerland -> Telfs
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 […]
TDI2019 – nearly there
Since deciding that I needed some time off, time has just flown by. Now, just one day away from my next trans-European TWIKE adventure TDI2019, everything is as ready as it can be. The usual GPS-tracking is going to be active and unlike other years, I will not write the entries at the end of every day – This trip is about relaxing and getting some fresh air / space into my brain. I’ll be adding the entries one-by-one after getting back from the trip. Really looking forward to seeing my family in Austria and Italy!
Two years in: Testing Dreifels 51Ah Pack Capacity
How time flies – it’s already been 2 years since I installed my 51Ah 17.7kWh LiNiCoAlO2-Cell-based battery pack. For better battery health and less ageing my daily charge is only to 3.8V cell charge, I never discharge below 3.3V and balance the cell packs from time to time. As my daily commute is only around 11% of the total pack capacity, I never see what the real capacity of the pack is and if it has lost any capacity. Using ‘Tesla-speak’ I drive in trip mode only 1-2 weeks total per year. And there, I never really drive the pack […]