The SolarCycle Diaries: 3 riders. 12,000 miles. 1 cause.

We have 3.5 months left. Which seems like ages but is getting nearer and nearer at an alarming rate.

So - first things first - visa’s.

Turning up to various borders without these isn’t always the best idea. Cue an afternoon spent assessing entry requirements. Immediately resulting in alarm from Jamie. “You need my passport for HOW many months…? Distress from me. “Is sunbathing in Iran unlikely if I have to wear a hijab in my application photo?” And confusion from Horatio. “I don’t see why I can’t I have two passports? I’m sure someone I know has lots of passports.” “Have you been watching James Bond again…..”

Anyway - then it was vaccinations (especially time consuming if you have forgotten how to spell Japanese encephalitis but refuse to resort to spell check for a full hour and a half), equipment assessment (extra-light v ultra-light v super-light v lighter-than-light) and a detailed breakdown of communications tools (thanks again for your unwavering patience Phil).

Plus - for all of us - training has now started in earnest. 

Jamie has been pedaling away in France. I have been cycling, back to Parkour and - in a moment of extreme bravery - attempted Bollywood dancing. But it has been Horatio who has proved the most courageous, last Sunday’s kayaking attempt finding him neck deep in the Thames!

(Apparently, the queries from the towpath “Is it cold?” and “How did you get water in your kayak?” weren’t particularly well received…)

Anyhow, all very busy but also exciting. Most especially as Horatio can soon be revealed. Dun nun nun nah…. 

xxx

It’s unlikely that to many of you are loosing sleep over our trip timetable but - on the off-chance - I should mention that Horatio is useless and DID in fact include the US in his journey time calculations. 

So we are back to 3 May as the start date.

Anyway - just a quick note as can’t think straight (evil, killer cold has led to cotton wool head). Hope life is wonderful though x

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

Sorry for site radio silence but it everything got busy over the festive period. Organisation is back with a vengeance now though, so yesterday saw the first outing of 2009.

Braving the freezing conditions (ok, ok, technically we were in the car so it wasn’t THAT brave but it was terribly icy out) Horatio and I hopped down the M5 (or 4? Or both?) to get him measured up for a Thorn touring bike. Cue: much discussion of gears, brakes and - most importantly - whether or not it was better if the hub is black or silver, which gets dirtier with age. (Silver. Obviously. In order to look rugged.)

Also deliberation on what we need to do over the next couple of months. And the exact trip timings….

Yes, much as my navigational skills should be questioned at all times, so should his ability to add.

After receiving a detailed country mileage spreadsheet earlier in the week, I was delighted to note that we could leave as late as 3 May and still get back in time for Christmas. But - on closer inspection - this is because he “might have missed out America”. All 2700 miles of it!

Anyhow, all creaking back on track.

The wonderful Rohan Gunatillake put the map and photo’s up on here over Christmas and I have been playing with Ovi, the Nokia lifestyle system, to see whether we can use that enroute. I am pleased to say that it looks amazing, is pretty easy to use and even lets you pin point the exact locations your photo’s were taken. Sadly I can’t remember where any of the ones from the France / Spain are from (’lost somewhere near Pamplona 1′, lost somewhere near Cordoba 5′) but it will be brilliant if we can get it all synched up.

So next it is just sorting out visa’s, vaccinations and how exactly how we get add six weeks of cycling back into the timetable…. No problem.

xx