Day Ten

Feeling better rested after a couple nights in a row of sleeping in a bed, I headed to the centrum of Zwolle to find the VVV and acquire a map of zwolle to plot my way out of the city. It is surrounded by water, and was once walled off with four entry points that were closed at night to protect it's inhabitants.

The architecture here was stunning.

The streets were narrow cobblestone, and the biuldings ornate. So different from the modern residential section that circles the centrum.

I left this beautiful place, and headed off to Dronten. I needed to pick up my suitcase from Ligfietshop Tempelman. I took it slow and easy, planning on camping in Elburg again. As it turned out, I found a place right in Dronten to camp...Wissenbos. ( a bos is a forest or woods) The campsite had a bar/restaurant, so I decided to stay there two days. While I was checking out the centrum part of Dronten, I decided to call Flevobike to see if I could visit. Whoever I talked to on the phone was very nice, and said to come on over.

Visiting Flevobike was very special to me. This biulding had been my wallpaper for close to a year. It is where the Versatile was designed, and at the time I ordered mine, was still being produced in it's entirety. It's abeautiful place with a biological lawn management system.

Andre Frielink showed me around. They have CNC lathes , a large CNC mill, and the standard machine shop fixtures, and more interestingly, the mold for the Twintex bottom half of the Versatile. The clothlike Twintex, cosisting of fiberglass and polypropylene, is spray glued to the mold, made thicker in places by the application of additional layers for strength, vacuum bagged, and heated in an infared oven. While this is much faster than a fiberglass lay up, it still limits production to one body per days work.

This is a prototype recumbent they were working on at the time. It is currently available as a production model with some changes that further improve it's already impressive looks and performance. It uses the Rolhoff hub like the versatile, installed at the pivot point at the bottom of the rear seat support. The entire drive train is completely enclosed, minimizing the primary maintenance issue of any bike, the chain. I noticed this work of art on the way into the factory, and when I commented on it, they wheeled it outside, and forced me to take it for a ride. ( not that it was necessary to use extreme force or anything) Three words: Smooth, light, fast. This thing was awesome to ride. Like riding on a cloud. It's very short wheelbase makes getting started a little tricky at first, but once you get this thing rolling it is absolutely heavenly. They call it the Green Machine, but I think they should call it the Dream Machine.

I left the factory, and headed off to find Wissenbos. Had a burger at the bar while I enjoyed the company of the establishment's African Grey parrot. I also had a couple whiskey and cokes, and a nice relaxing evening with snow white.