Arles

Arles is a beautiful old French city on the banks of the river Rhône in the former province of Provence. Once again in my visits to old French cities, Arles is a UNESCO World Heritage Site. It is also an alternative start for the Camino de Santiago

I spent a day in Arles mainly searching for my van that I had parked in an obscure car park. Prior to that I was admiring the fantastic Amphitheatre built in 60AD. According to Wikipedia it was built to hole 20,000 spectators and was the site for chariot racing and bloody hand-to-hand battles. I understand it currently hosts bull fights and concerts

Arles in 1944 - Image by J. George

St Trophime Monastery, start of the Arles route of the Camino de Santiago

Genny Mobility Factory

Genny is based in Sant'Antonino in southern Switzerland just north of the Italian border. I took the opportunity to visit and to meet the team and whilst there, to have my wheels professionally serviced for the first time ever. I have obviously done an amount of upkeep on my wheels but my joy is in riding Genny, not maintaining it.

Genny Mobility showroom

I understand that Genny is currently very busy as the other self-balanced wheelchair producers can no longer get the Segway powerbases. Genny is the one self-balanced wheelchair producer with an agreement with Segway for the production of medical devices for the next period. Genny also has an independent R&D department working on future Genny Mobility products. I'm really interested to see the future outcomes and wish Genny a bright and profitable future

Based over 2 floors Genny HQ is a clean and modern building. There is a central display area showcasing Genny in production colors, a development facility, the office and a workshop. Downstairs is storage and production 

This is my wheels undergoing service and update with a modification to the Segway actuation sensors that detect when a rider is present. I was very aware that my wheels have had significant use, often in wet salty conditions but was delighted to see it so well maintained

Whilst there I was introduced to both the electronic and mechanical designers working on future Genny Mobility products and took the opportunity to highlight some of my ideas particularly about being able to isolate power for air transport along with other issues like making Genny compatible with UK legal requirements

One of the first prototypes made 10 years ago. You can see the fundamental design is all there and I love the shape of the bold side handles

This visit was great - the team is young and keen and there is obviously vision and creativity for the future. 

I was also delighted the headquarters are adjacent to another beautiful lake that proved to be clear, warm water and a great place to stay and to swim

Briançon

According to Wikipedia the small town of Briançon is a commune in the Hautes-Alpes department in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region in southeastern France. At an altitude of 1,326 metres (4,350 feet) it is the highest city in France, based on the French definition as a community containing more than 2,000 inhabitants. Briançon is built on a plateau centre on the confluence of the Durance and the Guisane rivers.

From the surrounding countryside it looks like a citadel perched prominently in the river valley surrounded by mountains. 

Inside it is a treasure trove of tiny steep cobbled streets and mysterious doorways that look like they hide thieves and vagabonds although the good people of Briançon would probably deny that

Zürich

I have been across the border into Switzerland on previous occasions but never stayed.  After collecting my new batteries and on route to my next destination, I took the opportunity to visit Zürich and some of the beautiful lakes on my journey south

All these images are of Zürich taken on a Saturday afternoon in late September. It is situated at the northwestern tip of lake Zürich and is a stunning and beautiful city full of culture, architecture, museums and galleries. It was exceptionally easy to negotiate on my wheels. Would love to return

A prototype Segway possibly?

Along with beautiful scenery Switzerland has many lakes which are clean, warm and great to swim in backed by high mountains everywhere you look

New batteries

Approaching 8,000 miles on my wheels I am conscious my batteries are nearing the end of their life. Genny's power unit is a Segway, complete with a pair of 72v 5.2Ah Lithium-ion batteries. Getting new batteries is complicated as they are consider dangerous goods. The movement of lithium batteries is subject to regulation by the International Air Transport Association. Segway going bust has added further complications to replacing my tired old batteries 

After loads of research I have purchased a pair of ultra high capacity (UHC) batteries from a clever man who makes them in northern Switzerland. These are new batteries made with the same technology but a more modern build with higher capacity cells. To get these batteries I needed to drive across Europe and collect them in person

As I'm up for a road trip and COVID is starting to settle, and having been doubly vaccinated the world is opening again for me. Packing my VW van with mattress, cooker and of course my wheels, I set off for a grand tour and to collect my new batteries

These batteries are built into refurbished cases and there is a trade-in on the old batteries. They are made with a bespoke battery monitoring system that works in a slightly different way but still relies on the standard Segway charging interface. The usual charge indication shown on the Segway infokey reports it's level based on the use of the battery and measured by a built in shunt. The following image shows Genny having used 1/4 of its capacity 

Old picture showing 1/4 battery used and 1000 miles on the clock

The new batteries don't have that same shunt monitoring system and are more variable in how they report their level of charge however they have considerably more capacity. This is of course dependent on many variables like terrain and weight of load. I understand these batteries have powered a Segway i2 for over 92km which is easily more than twice the usual capacity of the standard battery. What I can say is that in my experience, I have been able ride for much greater distance than my old batteries would have taken me. There will be more on this in subsequent posts where I try these batteries on the Comino de Santiago

This graph compares the normal 5.2Ah (yellow), a newer releassed 5.6Ah battery (orange) and the new Swiss UHC batteries (blue) and indicates an increase in capacity of well over 200%

Delighted as I am with my new batteries I will probably revert back to my old ones till they finally die on me