Our first drive-free day on our second yearly TWIKE-adventure. We open the window of our room to be greeted not only by a very typical Mediterranean view, but also by a brilliant day awaiting us. Since last time I was in Brescia, I didn’t get to see to much of the city – this time I’m trying to catch up a little 🙂 First, we head out to have a look at Brescia’s marble quarries – source of a very nice marble variant called Botticino. Many older buildings in Brescia are built from this stone. Looking down from the hills […]
TDST2017 – Day1: A beautiful drive to Brescia
As always, the last few days before a trip are a whirl of preparations, getting everything done and looking forward to the drive. Weather is forecast to be perfect – my daughter and myself are very much looking forward to our trip together. Saturday morning, it’s still dark outside when we get up and start packing our TWIKE. I’ve changed the charge model to maximum capacity trip-mode (as coined by Tesla-speak) and TW560 spent the night slowly charging to 100%/17.7kWh capacity, which we will be needing today. With 10 years experience and efficiency, we load all our stuff into the […]
TDST2017: Less than a week!
All systems go. New GPS tracking & mapping solution activated and ready TWIKE fully serviced Chocolate buying date set Friends phoned and confirmed Hotel in Venice booked Train back to Switzerland booked Made space on phone’s SD card Tested TW_560’s Twitter feed We’re ready and looking forward to our trip. Due to unforseen complications, I had to cut my trip short by one day and thus will not be able to drive all the way back home in my TWIKE but will take the train from Villach to Feldkirch and drive from there to my office directly and start working […]
TDST2017, TW560’s second pan-European trip in 2017
As you might already know, the Austrian part of my family meets up once a year in Styria for a few days of catching-up, eating good food and drinking Styria’s very drinkable white wine. We from Switzerland have been taking part for over a decade now and wouldn’t want to miss this event for nothing in the world. (Teenage daughters insisting on coming is always a good sign 😉 ) TW560 has also been to Styria a few times and it has always been a very memorable trip. Last year’s attempt with my youngest daughter wasn’t very successful and resulted […]
Post-TDE2017 TLC for TW560 (Part 3/3)
Finally, after being very busy, I’m able to conclude TDE2017‘s TLC for TW560. After ~30’000km driven since I bought the new pack, I figured it would be time to see how the cells were doing and balance the pack to restore its full capacity. Unlike my last pack that just had 15 balancer ports, this pack has 2x3x7=42 such ports. (The answer to all questions 😉 ) Balancing this battery pack will definitely take longer than before! According to Ralph, inventor of the TWIKE and vendor of my current pack, balance cycles per port should be around 15 minutes – […]
Post-TDE2017 TLC for TW560 (Part 2/3)
With part 1/3 TW560 taken care of, it’s time to put my focus on two other issues: After just one day of constant wiper usage during a storm in Hungary, TW560’s acrylic windscreen is badly scratched and needs urgent attention. When the sun or lights from oncoming traffic hits the windscreen, I’m almost blind. Lots and lots of dirt in my TWIKE Let’s start with TW560’s windscreen: This is how my windscreen looked like before I started the procedure. Luckily, a few years ago, I found a new method to polish the plastic back to perfection. Another picture […]
Post-TDE2017 TLC for TW560 (Part 1/3)
Unlike our many other yearly TWIKE adventures, TDE2017 took a heavy toll on TW560. Time to give TW560 some TLC and make TWIKEing great again! 🙂 First stop is at Andreas Martin’s Ksenotek, Switzerland’s newest TWIKE service partner in northern Switzerland. The 360° sphere below was created by me during TWIKE Klub Switzerland’s 2016 general assembly which started at Andreas’ workshop. Use your mouse to pan around in any direction. Andreas workshop is right behind you 🙂 As usual, Andreas greets me enthusiastically and before he starts working on my TWIKE offers me a coffee and catches up […]
TDE2017 – Day11: A last climb to 1675m & home sweet home!
Welcome to the last day of our trans-European TWIKE trip, TDE2017. Weather throughout the last few days has been more or less grey and cold. (or just plain horrible). With our roof on, we can brave more or less any kind of weather, but TWIKEing is definitely about the experience with the roof off – enjoying the quiet humming of the electric motor and being able to hear the sounds around the vehicle. Today, we were pleasantly surprised by rays of sun waking us and some blue sky greeting us outside. After breakfast, we get back to our fully […]
TDE2017 – Day 10: Salzburg and (finally) back to the Alps
I blame, yet again, post-midnight alcohol consumption for us not leaving early… Austria’s very drinkable white wine is just too tasty and chatting with members of my family just makes time fly by much too fast. We bid our farewells until October, where we all will, as every year, meet again in Styria. Driving out of Linz direction Wels, we finally see something we’ve both missed dearly for some days now: Hills and mountains. We both agree that it’s absolutely more fun to cross mountain ranges than flatlands. Unlike the last few days, today, we take our time. Weather […]
TDE2017 – Day 9: R&R in Linz
We stayed up until way after mid-night. I blame the very tasty white wine. 🙂 Our only drive-free day on this year’s TWIKE adventure is filled with feel-good activities and interesting stuff for my daughter. Exiting the building my uncle lives in, I chuckled at yet again a very Austrian name and the implications it could have if applied to an international – specifically, an English-speaking – environment… This name reminds me of the last names of two Swiss people I’ve met: Mr. Killer and… Mrs. Boner 😀 Today, even TW560 gets some well-deserved rest! First thing planned […]