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Our conversation was one of the high points of my visit to the Spezi @ChristianW. I will be back, and next time we may need to drink some beer to celebrate this first cross country voyage? In any case I hope to come back with more money next time so that I can participate in one of those expensive breakfasts and test a German pizzeria 
And there are a whole heap of Christians here on the forum! "Hello, I am Christian" was one of the most heard things at the Spezi Even in the campground when I arrived, which Christian was that again?
So now many of you have seen a road weary Agilo after a 1326 km drive across all of France, a little bit of Switzerland to southern Germany. I will not say it was always easy, some of my route decisions I would not make today. The proof is that on the way back I only drove approximately 1143 km because I ignored BRouter routing saving about 60 km. And I didn't get lost!
The Bilan:
- wood is a very strong building material, on some stretches of French country farm track I tried imagining myself in a Bülk (because I am in love with that particular VM) and I am sure I would have had problems. I know the difference between a wooden rowing shell and a CF rowing shell and how they perform in rough conditions, I imagine similar differences on rough roads.
- the Ginko turned brake drums performed flawlessly. My move to independent brake levers also played a very important role, especially in the single emergency braking situation I had.
- my battery was not correctly proportioned for 140 km stages. Driving a large heavy VM without assistance is not much fun in some parts of the country. I was very careful yesterday to conserve enough battery capacity for the final 27 km.
- camping in the rain is not a lot of fun, next time I will leave with enough money to use cheap hotels from time to time. I will also have a tent that is 1 kg lighter and not a complete kitchen with me.
- my "training" was very successful I think. I walked long distances every single day from January. I drove HPV trike km from time to time. I did not drive Agilo very much at all. Knowing that I was going to spend a lot of hours (almost 120 hours) inside I did not want to have VM fatigue the first week.
- my Japanese diet worked both at home (5 kg weight loss before leaving) and on the road. Carrying the extra weight of a full kitchen and heavy ingredients was worth while just for the pleasure of the evening meal. The rice meal I prefer is Oyakodon, absolutely delicious and easy to make in a campground. And home made ramen with locally sourced pork chops or filet is not bad either. You can carry pak choi and green onions in a thermal bag for quite a long time! I "only" lost 4 kg on the road, not much fat left and very relaxed muscles on the upper body. I have a longing for my favorite deep fried Japanese dishes that will need to be satisfied as of today
- longest stage 169 km and shortest 80 km (Alsace to Spezi). At the end I was late starting and still arriving on time at the destination camping ground, I was amazed myself at how fit I became as time went by. A 200 km brevet on the flat in Agilo (empty) with no assistance? I think I could do that...
- the encounters, both on the road and meeting you all at Spezi is the reason one takes on such an enterprise. Those conversations make all the minutes of pain and suffering worth while.
Bilan 100% positive! No pain, no gain. The breakdowns, the slight physical suffering - left kneecap woke up at 6º C but was tamed with an elastic knee support thing - and my spine vs wood seat on the back country tracks were both surmountable. The beautiful French countryside sliding by at an average of 21 km/h, sometimes in the rain... The learning experience, I have total confidence in my vehicle, my driving in everyday traffic, driving in the rain, my capacity to repare breakdowns on the way - more punctures in one day than since I started riding bicycles again 10 years ago! Sometimes I got annoyed at the cars that would follow me for a km because they were filming. I joked with Bodo Sitko that if he paid me 1€ for every photo or video taken I would be a very rich man.
Once again I would like to personally thank Bodo Sitko for his velomobile plan, it might not be to everyone's taste but I think it has proven itself, I personally think Agilo is a very good, road worthy vélomobile. The technical Agilo specific remarks, tweaks and modifications I would recommend to builders will be in the Agilo thread.
Photo: Jean Paul Giorgetti, Warmshowers host, Alsace.
And there are a whole heap of Christians here on the forum! "Hello, I am Christian" was one of the most heard things at the Spezi
Even in the campground when I arrived, which Christian was that again? So now many of you have seen a road weary Agilo after a 1326 km drive across all of France, a little bit of Switzerland to southern Germany. I will not say it was always easy, some of my route decisions I would not make today. The proof is that on the way back I only drove approximately 1143 km because I ignored BRouter routing saving about 60 km. And I didn't get lost!
The Bilan:
- wood is a very strong building material, on some stretches of French country farm track I tried imagining myself in a Bülk (because I am in love with that particular VM) and I am sure I would have had problems. I know the difference between a wooden rowing shell and a CF rowing shell and how they perform in rough conditions, I imagine similar differences on rough roads.
- the Ginko turned brake drums performed flawlessly. My move to independent brake levers also played a very important role, especially in the single emergency braking situation I had.
- my battery was not correctly proportioned for 140 km stages. Driving a large heavy VM without assistance is not much fun in some parts of the country. I was very careful yesterday to conserve enough battery capacity for the final 27 km.
- camping in the rain is not a lot of fun, next time I will leave with enough money to use cheap hotels from time to time. I will also have a tent that is 1 kg lighter and not a complete kitchen with me.
- my "training" was very successful I think. I walked long distances every single day from January. I drove HPV trike km from time to time. I did not drive Agilo very much at all. Knowing that I was going to spend a lot of hours (almost 120 hours) inside I did not want to have VM fatigue the first week.
- my Japanese diet worked both at home (5 kg weight loss before leaving) and on the road. Carrying the extra weight of a full kitchen and heavy ingredients was worth while just for the pleasure of the evening meal. The rice meal I prefer is Oyakodon, absolutely delicious and easy to make in a campground. And home made ramen with locally sourced pork chops or filet is not bad either. You can carry pak choi and green onions in a thermal bag for quite a long time! I "only" lost 4 kg on the road, not much fat left and very relaxed muscles on the upper body. I have a longing for my favorite deep fried Japanese dishes that will need to be satisfied as of today
- longest stage 169 km and shortest 80 km (Alsace to Spezi). At the end I was late starting and still arriving on time at the destination camping ground, I was amazed myself at how fit I became as time went by. A 200 km brevet on the flat in Agilo (empty) with no assistance? I think I could do that...
- the encounters, both on the road and meeting you all at Spezi is the reason one takes on such an enterprise. Those conversations make all the minutes of pain and suffering worth while.
Bilan 100% positive! No pain, no gain. The breakdowns, the slight physical suffering - left kneecap woke up at 6º C but was tamed with an elastic knee support thing - and my spine vs wood seat on the back country tracks were both surmountable. The beautiful French countryside sliding by at an average of 21 km/h, sometimes in the rain... The learning experience, I have total confidence in my vehicle, my driving in everyday traffic, driving in the rain, my capacity to repare breakdowns on the way - more punctures in one day than since I started riding bicycles again 10 years ago! Sometimes I got annoyed at the cars that would follow me for a km because they were filming. I joked with Bodo Sitko that if he paid me 1€ for every photo or video taken I would be a very rich man.
Once again I would like to personally thank Bodo Sitko for his velomobile plan, it might not be to everyone's taste but I think it has proven itself, I personally think Agilo is a very good, road worthy vélomobile. The technical Agilo specific remarks, tweaks and modifications I would recommend to builders will be in the Agilo thread.
Photo: Jean Paul Giorgetti, Warmshowers host, Alsace.
