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- 15
Me a British expat regular cyclist living in the foot hills of the Kamnik Savinja Alps got the itch for a VM .Maybe not the best idea living with massive climbs all around me but I couldn’t shake the idea off . My only previous recumbent cycle I had ever owned was a Windcheetah but that was many years ago.
After a lot of reading / YouTube and potential VM’s I settled on a DF XL being sold by HoVelo on behalf of its owner and as it had only covered 130 km from new , certainly wasn’t my ideal colour choice but you can’t have everything So I done a deal without seeing it in the flesh or riding it .
For me The DF XL ticked many boxes I felt it was a good place to start .
A Flix Bus and train Got me from Slovenia to Aichach ( Home of HoVelo) arriving early morning on April Saturday 12th . HoVelo Owner Johann Hoy had prepped the bike ready for me and then was very thorough setting it up to suit me.
He knew I was riding it home and the exact spares I had asked for had Been supplied too .
Race hood and unwanted parts I didn’t need for the journey to be posted to me was no problem for him.
By the time I had loaded my camping gear , clothes and spares I didn’t get away until lunch time .
Peddling away from the shop in my first ever VM knowing I had the Alps and roughly 700km ahead of me was a slightly strange feeling .
This was my rough route
I had chosen to head to Campingplatz Königsforf South of Munich .
The VM was flawless and even navigating central Munich I never felt concerned about the cars around me , German drivers were very good . A new to me riding position had caused a bit of cramp but nothing to serious .
I set off destination unknown but heading towards Innsbruck ,Wow what a day I had ! the scenery was stunning and on top a proper introduction to climbing big hills , a scary introduction to big ish descents/ slightly scary speed and many explanations to interested people that it doesn’t have a motor . No problems that day other than a minor gear shift issue which was easily rectified . I ended my day in the beautiful old town of Mittenwald and enjoyed a hotel with good food for the night .
Leaving Mittenwald I was straight into a steep climb out of town , wow it was a slog but again absolutely beautiful. I had plenty of time and I was very comfortable inside the VM so I just took my time. Late morning I came across a 18% descent with many warnings to truck drivers of the many escape roads incase of brake failure . Yep you guessed it I needed one ! It was reasonably scary but I knew what was going on .
Having entered the second run off area at over 80kph with virtually no bite in the brakes I needed the whole run off in order to stop . I had overheated the brakes .
Once stopped I then realised how vulnerable I was parked in the middle . Quickly got out lifted the vm onto the edge and took the front wheels off to help speed up the cooling down . I got out of the way and had an early lunch .
1 hour later I took the remainder of the descent very cautiously and then continued into Innsbruck where I had intended putting the VM on the train to Brenner . The woman at the ticket office wasn’t very helpful and had no interest in her own company’s website stating they carry oversize bikes , trailers etc on different trains .
Life’s to short to argue so I got back in the VM at 14.45 and cycled the Brenner pass . Hell at times it was hard but I had done it and now almost felt unstoppable however it was now 19.56 and getting dusk . The next kilometers went by in a flash , I was very pleased with the headlight and a hotel stop was taken in Colle Isarco. It was now raining and The Italian lady host was very helpful and insisted I park the VM in the dining room .
It was very Wet ️ and I was so hot that I could steam up the tiny mirrors with my face from 30cm away.
Had a few navigational issues this day but the previous Brenner pass climb the day before had left me with a fast 70km gradual descent .
I Had a bit of trouble with barriers on cycle paths but it was only a minor issue . This was a massive day for me and even with a big climb 216km was covered before stopping at a campsite in Italy .
I joined the Alpe Adria route and have my last night at a campsite I always fancied trying near Kranska Gora .
Weather was changeable but nice , when it rained it was nice and refreshing just as well as the Plökenpass was quite hard going but again no troubles at all with the VM other than a new experience where I nearly turned it over when getting out stationary . Made me realise when tired I need to be careful .
Made it to the campsite and it was just perfect .
I was on a mission I had started cycling 4 1/2 days ago and I had 100km to home .
I got the hammer down and into my local town Kamnik for an early lunch / refuel as I knew I had a 3km 22% climb to my house . Hell was it hard but 55 mins and I had made it home .
Greeted by the wife and My dog was fantastic .
I had not hung around on this journey but I had covered over 700km carrying camping kit etc and was so pleased with the DF. It had been fully reliable , comfortable, surprisingly quiet and very capable of carrying all my kit with ease .
I now intend to ride it locally in more of a empty : lightweight mode in order to gauge the gearing before I decide to make any tweeks
Kevin
After a lot of reading / YouTube and potential VM’s I settled on a DF XL being sold by HoVelo on behalf of its owner and as it had only covered 130 km from new , certainly wasn’t my ideal colour choice but you can’t have everything So I done a deal without seeing it in the flesh or riding it .
For me The DF XL ticked many boxes I felt it was a good place to start .
A Flix Bus and train Got me from Slovenia to Aichach ( Home of HoVelo) arriving early morning on April Saturday 12th . HoVelo Owner Johann Hoy had prepped the bike ready for me and then was very thorough setting it up to suit me.
He knew I was riding it home and the exact spares I had asked for had Been supplied too .
Race hood and unwanted parts I didn’t need for the journey to be posted to me was no problem for him.
By the time I had loaded my camping gear , clothes and spares I didn’t get away until lunch time .
Peddling away from the shop in my first ever VM knowing I had the Alps and roughly 700km ahead of me was a slightly strange feeling .
This was my rough route
I had chosen to head to Campingplatz Königsforf South of Munich .
The VM was flawless and even navigating central Munich I never felt concerned about the cars around me , German drivers were very good . A new to me riding position had caused a bit of cramp but nothing to serious .
I set off destination unknown but heading towards Innsbruck ,Wow what a day I had ! the scenery was stunning and on top a proper introduction to climbing big hills , a scary introduction to big ish descents/ slightly scary speed and many explanations to interested people that it doesn’t have a motor . No problems that day other than a minor gear shift issue which was easily rectified . I ended my day in the beautiful old town of Mittenwald and enjoyed a hotel with good food for the night .
Leaving Mittenwald I was straight into a steep climb out of town , wow it was a slog but again absolutely beautiful. I had plenty of time and I was very comfortable inside the VM so I just took my time. Late morning I came across a 18% descent with many warnings to truck drivers of the many escape roads incase of brake failure . Yep you guessed it I needed one ! It was reasonably scary but I knew what was going on .
Having entered the second run off area at over 80kph with virtually no bite in the brakes I needed the whole run off in order to stop . I had overheated the brakes .
Once stopped I then realised how vulnerable I was parked in the middle . Quickly got out lifted the vm onto the edge and took the front wheels off to help speed up the cooling down . I got out of the way and had an early lunch .
1 hour later I took the remainder of the descent very cautiously and then continued into Innsbruck where I had intended putting the VM on the train to Brenner . The woman at the ticket office wasn’t very helpful and had no interest in her own company’s website stating they carry oversize bikes , trailers etc on different trains .
Life’s to short to argue so I got back in the VM at 14.45 and cycled the Brenner pass . Hell at times it was hard but I had done it and now almost felt unstoppable however it was now 19.56 and getting dusk . The next kilometers went by in a flash , I was very pleased with the headlight and a hotel stop was taken in Colle Isarco. It was now raining and The Italian lady host was very helpful and insisted I park the VM in the dining room .
It was very Wet ️ and I was so hot that I could steam up the tiny mirrors with my face from 30cm away.
Had a few navigational issues this day but the previous Brenner pass climb the day before had left me with a fast 70km gradual descent .
I Had a bit of trouble with barriers on cycle paths but it was only a minor issue . This was a massive day for me and even with a big climb 216km was covered before stopping at a campsite in Italy .
I joined the Alpe Adria route and have my last night at a campsite I always fancied trying near Kranska Gora .
Weather was changeable but nice , when it rained it was nice and refreshing just as well as the Plökenpass was quite hard going but again no troubles at all with the VM other than a new experience where I nearly turned it over when getting out stationary . Made me realise when tired I need to be careful .
Made it to the campsite and it was just perfect .
I was on a mission I had started cycling 4 1/2 days ago and I had 100km to home .
I got the hammer down and into my local town Kamnik for an early lunch / refuel as I knew I had a 3km 22% climb to my house . Hell was it hard but 55 mins and I had made it home .
Greeted by the wife and My dog was fantastic .
I had not hung around on this journey but I had covered over 700km carrying camping kit etc and was so pleased with the DF. It had been fully reliable , comfortable, surprisingly quiet and very capable of carrying all my kit with ease .
I now intend to ride it locally in more of a empty : lightweight mode in order to gauge the gearing before I decide to make any tweeks
Kevin
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