Cycling Story

Sorry about the lack of posts on this blog. The last time I had a chance to update the Internet cafe had blocked so much stuff It could would not work.

As you will probably know I am cycling to Australia via Siberia. The first part of the route is a training exercise to get me fit enough to face to extreme rigours to follow. This is the story of one day's cycling on a fairly easy part of the route at the end of July.

I set off in the morning with the usual rattles, nothing to worry about yet just the mugguard catching the slightly buckled back wheel.
10km into the ride halfway up the first little hill the rattle changed dramatically, the bolt holding the rear pannier rack sheared off, I had to push the bike up the rest of the hill. Had a bit of luck as the remainder of the bolt was easy to remove and I had another bolt. Unfortunately this was too long as it would have been in the way of the gears and chain. I trimed off the excess with my trusty Leatherman and cleaned up the thread. Difficult to get it in the hole straight but seemed to manage. SNAP. The head of this one also sheared off while I was tightening up and it was impossible to get the body of the bolt out this time.
Time for a quick bodge, screwed the pannier rack into the hole for the mudguard and taped the mudguard back on with Gaffer tape, Good enough to carry on (still like that now after more than another 1000km).
50km into the day, speeometer starts to behave irratically showing speeds from 3 to 135 km/hr for the same peddaling! Eventually it gives up after several resets and fresh batteries!!
70km: Flat tire, tried pumping it up just to get to a better place to fix it, no joy (why should I have any luck today). I replace the tube with a brand new one with some gue in to stop punctured being a problem in future, while being eaten alive by midges and horse flies with the ants investigating everything. Rear wheel back on, pump it up and the valve comes away from the tube!!! This is getting a little frustrating. Start again with another new tube. I managed to escape and insects and finish the rest of the ride that day without any further major mishaps

Next installment as soon as I can.

Picked up another bod in London,
--- cycling in London!!! DON'T

This is the three of us at Dover. Chris and Mike have now done 800km




We are hurtling through France.

On our way

We have started and the weight of the bikes and luggage is much more than we anticipated. It makes evern the slightest uphill stretch a major toil. We are getting stronger.

Today is a rest day will find a camp sight near Market Harborough and let the muscles heal then off again tomorrow.

Will try to keep you posted but internet is a little illusive.

Mike

Bushcraft

Last weekend I was lucky enough to be introduced to Bushcraft.
I mentioned my epic bike ride - www.thehardway.co.uk - to a friend who I had not seen for a while and he invited me to a local Bushcraft Meet. (Thanks Gary - have a look at his web site fascinating- http://www.lore-and-saga.co.uk/)
This was a real bonus for me as I will need a lot of the skills of bushcrafting on my ride and it reminded me of the joys camping out. I had my first night in a hammock and I immediately realised that this was a super alternative to a tent. Unfortunately for me it will not be a replacement for the tent which will come into its own in the nether reaches of Siberia and China but for Europe and more so for the tropics this is ideal. It does mean that I have some more equipment to carry but for the extra couple of kilo for the tarp and hammock/mosi-net it is worth it. All I need to do now is track down a suitable pair of lightweight hammocks in time.

If anyone is thinking of getting back to nature you could do a lot worse than join one of the bushcraftUK meets. These are not the extreme survivalists but a very friendly group of diverse people that like to rely more on ingenuity and improvisation rather than be spoon fed. Have a visit to http://www.bushcraftuk.com/ and take a look at the Community.

Here is Gary, despite appearances he is not playing with a new style bushcraft balloon. He is talking on his mobile phone while demonstrating a technique of 'bear bagging' .

I learned about different ways of starting fires, a boon when your matches have just fallen in a puddle, and a super little stove that can be made from two beer cans (after the beer has been disposed of).

A most enjoyable weekend.

Thanks Guys.

Welcome to The Hard Way

Welcome to the start of my 'blog on our cycle journey from Oldham (England) to Sydney (Australia).

Keep calling back to see the final steps of our preparation...

...

... and then posts from various points on our journey.

If you want to see more details of the trip have a look at http://thehardway.co.uk
I am frantically (honest) trying to build it at the moment so it is changing daily

We decided it was best to hone our first aid skills and have signed up on a 'Far From Help' medical essentials training course. Three days of intensive first aid and a lot more. It should help when I fall off my bike (again) in the wilds of Siberia.

I will keep you posted.