It’s starting to feel a little more real!

So we are going on a bike ride and up until now we have had no bikes!

After many hours of Jimi searching far and wide for the perfect machine, he found me a ‘Ferrari’ as he called it! (Well it was black and red)

Only a small problem, it was in London and we are in Manchester. Thanks to a helpful auntie, problem solved, we borrowed a car and drove to get it. I was assured by Jimi it would be worth the early start, long drive, expensive petrol and heavy traffic jams along the way!

So we set off and hoped it would fit me and feel right to ride. (I secretly think Jimi was hoping it wouldn’t fit me so he could have it.)

After the Sat Nav nearly taking us the wrong way up one way streets, down industrial estates and crazy drivers beeping for nothing, we reached our destination.

Duuuuum duuuum duuuuuuuuuuuum… it was perfect! We were greeted by a friendly face, freshly brewed coffee and a nearly brand new Thorn Sherpa bike, perfect size, mint condition, and dare I say it, beautiful (Yes Jimi I think its beautiful, and not just a bike with two wheels.)

So I have my bike now and it feels as though everything is coming together for our trip, only a few more things to get and we can be on our way.

Jimi had a few days of intense jealousy and looking longingly at my bike until he found a bike which he will go and pick up tommorow… from Edinburgh.

From opposite ends of the country but he has the same bike as me, only a black one (and not as good.)

So now I have THE bike, I need to get practicing on it now and await the big day to arrive. (86 days to go, not that I’m counting!)

Carradice

A big thank- you to Carradice for providing us with some fantastic looking panniers and handlebar bags. They have kindly supplied us with these free of charge to support us with our round the world bike ride.

They are a lovely firm based in Nelson, Lancashire;

“In the early 1930′s Wilf Carradice first made a saddlebag for himself and discovered it was far better than anything else available. Friends soon asked for copies. By the end of the 30′s Carradice were making tents, rucksacks, sleeping bags and jackets too. Throughout the 40′s and 50′s our bags were the choice of every hard riding tourist or clubman. By the 70′s Wilf was wanting to retire and to pass the firm’s experience and reputation onto someone who would continue to produce bags to the same exacting standards. Fortunately Neville Chadwick, a keen cyclist saw the potential for quality made cycle bags and took the company on. Demand again began to outstrip the production facilities and two moves to larger premises followed.”

I met with David (son of Neville) who now runs Carradice. He was very nice and talked me through the different options, in the end I chose the CarraDry over the SuperC. The SuperC have some great reviews particularly from someone who cycled through Africa with them, but with the memory of wet sleeping bags clouding my judgement I went for the CarraDry, less durable but more waterproof. Time will tell if I made the right choice. Although David did get some extra protection pinned on to the base of ours there and then in the workshop.

David also told me about a guy they had previously helped with bags for worldwide bike trips: Ian Hibell. ”In 1963, determined to see more of the world, he left Brixham, Devon, to explore some of the most wild and inaccessible places on Earth. He has pushed, dragged or carried his bike from the fringes of the Antarctica to the jungles of the Amazon, from the Artic to the remoter islands of Indonesia.Naturally there are many extraordinary stories to tell, so many people and places, so many miles. Chased by an elephant, sniffed by a lion, jailed, shot at. More friendly confrontations have led to hospitality by such as an Eskimo princess, a Dyak headman in Borneo, African chiefs and missionaries. 

What a legend! And I don’t use that word lightly, a real inspiration.

As soon as I can join Rose on the bike again we will get away for some more training rides and start testing this lovely looking kit. We will post a review of CarraDry in the equipment section.

Charity Poker night

Our first fundraising event took place last month in the form of a poker night.

So off to the wholesalers I go to purchase food and beers, with the plan to sell the refreshments at a small mark up and the profits going to the Oxfam fund. The invitations went out, we did have one guest arrive 4 weeks early due to idiocy, but everyone turned up on the night including guests from as far a field as London, Shrewsbury and New Zealand.

So me being the only girl among a room full of men ready to play poker, I do admit to feeling a little intimidated by the talent (or what I though was talent) in the room.

After a couple of hours I was still in with a chance with a nice pile of chips. I wasn’t even the first or second, or third out of the game which I was very proud of and at least I wasn’t as bad as Jimi “Fold” Davies!

The next day with a few empty beer bottles and dirty pizza plates, the poker money tin had £82 in it and a good start for our fundraising.

Our only regret was inviting “The Andy’s”, a couple of well known poker sharks just back from the World Series, they went home with (small) handfuls of cash. (Gritted teeth) “Well done lads”.

Watch this space for more events; were planning a gig, a sports tournament, a huge raffle, charity bike wash, a race night with pies an peas …. also open to ideas.

After the christmas period of food, drink, friends, family and a spot of illness we will get into training for the trip and get our fundraising heads into gear.

Thanks all and hope to see you at the next one.

Another one bites the dust!

Every cyclists nightmare when you return to your once locked and secured treasured bicycle to realise it is no longer there. (This is in fact the 5th bike me and Jimi have have had stolen this year!)

A small possession for some which is in fact is my whole means of getting around, to and from work, to the shops and for pleasurable rides at the weekend. It is not only that they took my bike but I now have to sit on a bus in rush hour traffic, (something cyclists do not have to put up with) for an hour when it normally takes 10 minutes on my bike to get to work, it costs me my well earned money and is very time consuming. I look out of the window and felt a little bit jealous of the cyclists weaving in and out of the traffic cruising down the road whilst we re sat still.

Well, little did they know but they in fact did me a favour, my trusty (and rusty) old bike was in need of replacing anyway and now we have insurance (after numerous thefts) I can in fact buy the touring bike to train ready for our big trip next year. So thank you bike thieves for taking the decision out of my hands of when and how to buy the new bike ready for our tour. My bike will hopefully be as good to you as it was me, that is if you get the brakes fixed, put a bit of well needed oil on the gears, get new tyres and give it a good clean, but in fact you’ll probably sell it for a tenner somewhere!

The police officer said bike theft is one of the highest crimes but I hope in other countries around the world this is not the case. A new bike will be on its way soon, when Jimi kindly chooses and buys me one.

“Today we Rode!”

We decided a little training may be needed before our trip and this means setting off early from Manchester and tackling the long steep hills of the peak District towards Buxton.

Much to my dismay it wasn’t raining, (I had just purchased a nice Patagonia waterproof and wanted an excuse to wear it!)
So we got to the first hill, half way up my legs failed and I had to push the bike and my backpack up the hill, stopping halfway to remove a layer of clothing to prevent overheating. Jimi cruised past me with the full panniers up the hill before me.

Finally we reached the top and phew!, we took a breather before the long descent down. We set off down the hill to a loud screeching noise coming from both the bikes and realised our brakes were not working properly! Jimmy had his brakes on full and he was still powering down the hill with the weight of the panniers on the back of him.
So eventually the ride down the hill turned into pushing our bikes down at a slow pace, due to the sheer steepness of the hill.

“Pushing downhill”: the final insult to a wannabe fast cyclist! (but a nice metaphor, for what I’m not sure)

All in all a top day, now we are off to hide from the fireworks, eat lamb and be merry.
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