TDM2014: Day1 – to the end of switzerland

finally: we’re on our way! it’s been a long time we’ve already planned this trip and been talking about it. after getting employed again, i felt it in order to resurrect the plan and during the few weeks before i start working to get TW560 the R&R it deserves 🙂 as usual, jc arrives at around 0620 and we load all our stuff into the TWIKE. although everyone around me was convinced that our first driving day would be grey and rainy, i told everyone to shut up and believe in the sun. well…as we started out, it was dark […]

TDM2014, 8-9 days around the mediteranean

we’re happy to announce another one of our longer TWIKE aventures. the goal this year is to visit the three northernmost points of the mediterranean sea (this quest takes us all the way to croatia, crossing the width of italy to genoa and back to switzerland. (blue lines)) – this is why we call this challenge “Tour De (la) Mediterranée” as usual, we are going to try to stick to the blue lines as closely as possible and see what happens. since this map is somewhat more complex than the usual ones, google can no longer display all waypoints in […]

one day trip, part2: exploring beautiful switzerland

since the blog entry for the first part of the day was getting quite long, i’ve added this second entry for reading convenience. we take up the action after having very nice lunch at the silwängi alp hut and are on our way down to the schönisei valley. arriving at schönisei, tw560’s battery is fully charged at 414V and ready to take us over 3 passes in one charge! (about 6000 metres of altitude delta in total) at the top of glaubenberg-pass (a very narrow street where busses and trucks have to take 30-min turns, since they cannot cross) a […]

one day trip, part 1 – exploring beautiful switzerland

i’m very happy to live in switzerland…and humbled by the beauty of this country. that said, as a foreigner, i might be more susceptible to switzerland’s culture and beauty than most locals. whilst risking to repeat myself – if you’ve not yet been to switzerland… you absolutely have to make plans to visit! jc and myself haven’t been travelling too much together lately. a few weeks ago, jc headed off to northern germany with TW231 for a 3-4 week trip crossing bavaria, the czech republic and former eastern germany on his own. he went alone, since i’m currently less mobile […]

vogese alps, take 2

my trip to the vogese alps just a few weeks ago was extremely nice. i couldn’t stop talking about the beautiful landscapes, quaint little villages and the very nice chalet jc and i stayed in. my wife and i then decided to retrace the same route during the week-end around may 1st. View two-day trip in a larger map the drive to freiburg was really nice and relaxing, no rain and no feldberg-recharge, beautiful views – the place jc and i chose for recharging the TWIKE last time also “recharges” people in other ways – it hosts a multitude of […]

Vandalism – Day3

The next day promises to be be a brilliant one – all the grey clouds are gone and i make my way back to delémont. i get off the train and am truly looking forward to a very relaxing ride back home when, coming around a corner, i am greeted with a very unusual sight. from a distance one thing was clear, TW560 had been pushed over and the canopy was open. i had a very bad feeling creeping up in my stomach. getting closer things turned out to be worse than expected! TW560 had been pushed around, rolled around, […]

2 (..3) days in the vogese alps – Day2

after sleeping well in very nice and comfortable rooms, jc and i are looking forward to a further day of relaxing and travelling twike-style. if you haven’t read the first day, why not click here? we’re the first ones to eat breakfast. although it is still wet and grey outside, the view from our chalet is still stunning. i must come back sometime in summer! we settle our modest bill and set out on the second leg of our trip. View two-day trip in a larger map weather conditions deteriorate quickly and whilst already being grey and cold, us climbing […]

2 (..3) days in the vogese alps – Day1

it’s been a while since jc and i have travelled together in TW560. since i’ve started a new job this year, currently, things are much less flexible as they were before. this is why jc and i have been planning just a few days away – not too far but still somewhere we’ve either not been for 20+ years (me) or not at all (jc). our choice fell on the vogese mountains – a mountain range northwest of basle between mulhouse, strassbourg and belfort. i crossed the vogese mountains more than 20 years ago on my motorbike (on my way […]

A beautiful day ahead…what to do?

Imagine: A saturday – my family fully booked with horse riding and shooting, weather forcast superb for all of switzerland… I decide to leave bright and early to drive wherever TW560 takes me. although i started out as random as possible, arriving in chur gave me just a limited choice of places to go. therefore, i decided to do this trip in the opposite direction, without the passes, since they were still covered in snow. i took the motorway, since i wanted to move away from where i usually am as fast as possible. then, slowly, my battery was quite […]

racing TW4 at e-mobility world in friedrichshafen

every year, friedrichshafen hosts a large gathering of rare and old cars at the local exposition halls. a remarkable collection it is, but one part is reserved for alternative and electric propulsion cars. this part is called e-mobility world. this year fine mobile, the TWIKE manufacturer decided to take part and have a large presence there. all TWIKE pilots were invited including access to the halls with their own vehicles. i drove the 100 kms to friedrichshafen in one charge. a very nice drive given the wonderful weather. lake constance, nestled between germany, austria and switzerland is a very nice […]