Ending the first leg

The first leg of this trip is to Berlin, which I want to reach before my birthday on 1 November, and it all looked very well in the beginning. The speed was a bit slow but I compensated that by taking the ferry from Trelleborg to Sassnitz instead of going through Denmark.

Other problems were becoming increasingly annoying, though. First of all the 400 Wh bike battery is not enough with this heavy load. Second, when charging it with the charging battery it was drained. And once drained I could never fill it up again.

The solar system just does not do. At least not in northern Europe at this time of the year. Not if the weather is as shite as it has been, at least. I haven't seen the sun in a week!

So, the conclusion of this first leg is to not depend on solar energy at this time of the year this far north, not if the anount of solar panels is limited, at least.

There is no point continuing but I will now take the train to Berlin. I will simply use other eco-friendly tools to make up for the time I've lost. Hopefully the system will prove to be adequate further south.

I'm no Jesus after all

The idea of an e-bike tour came to me when I saw that Ikea was about to launch the Sladda e-bike in August. I thought about having Ikea sponsoring the tour and it would be about saving the planet, helping the refugees, being some kind of Jesus spreading the word of the post-patriarch society that is to come.

As I got home I soon realised my Jesus-potential is somewhat limited. But I am an engineer! So, at least for now I am focusing on the equipment and the biking. That saving-the-world stuff will come when it comes. If ever. But maybe a this will help save the world! A tiny step is also a step.

Just follow your guts

Some people say Follow your guts! Others say Listen to God! Some say listen to Mother Earth! Others still say Listen to the Universe! I say follow the qi field.

Every summer I spend 18 days in a village called Nossebro in Sweden where we practise Zhineng Qigong from morning until dawn. It is a wonderful experience every time and it makes you see the world with new eyes, every year. This year it became clear to me I was going on an e-bike tour.

I had already applied for a leave of absence, signed a deal with Acorn and told the tax authorities I wasn't going to earn any more money this year so it was all set! Then a friend said she needed a place to stay (after a year of adventures around the world) so I said Move in with me! All I need to do now is to get all the things needed for a solar panel-powered e-bike tour and off I go!