The joys of travel...


I got up early this morning... primarily because last night I couldn't be arsed to take my bike apart and pack it into the bike bag (soft shell from AW Cycles). So that meant that I was up and about at 0700... wielding a spanner and a bike tool to reduce my bike into a series of parts.

This is easier than it sounds... especially with a little practice. First the wheels (taking care to have undone the lead for my dynamo) then the seatpost and saddle... then the pedals and finally the handlebars. These are all then carefully inserted into the bag... taking care to refix important screws... and not to drop anything down the gaps in my decking. Lastly and new to me was to unbolt the rear derailleur and tape it to my frame... making sure that my new mech hanger (important part) was then protected with packaging. 

Once this had been accomplished... it was time to feed my snakes ... check passport and money... pack the car... and then wait to go... I was ready well before I had to leave so sat twiddling my thumbs for a bit.

Finally it was time to hop in the car and brave both the M4 and the M25. Fortunately I think most people were staying at home to watch the England game... so the roads weren't too bad.

The drive to London Southend Airport passed smoothly... parked in the long stay car park and then dragged both bike and kit the short hop to the departures area...

By this time I was well and truly sweating.

I had hoped to avoid the match result but fat chance of that as the entire airport was glued to screens... chants of Its coming home' and shouts of 'Get in' rang round the empty space... and when a huge shout went up... I figured England had scored!

Finally boarding ... after the inevitable plane delay... apparently the Jersey gate staff weren't very good at opening doors on time! The flight was uneventful... as all good flights should be... and we touched down in Malaga to a balmy 28°C.

Then the hassle... finding the shuttle to the car hire place and the inevitable q there. Still it wasnt as bad as it could have been with one couple having to fork out an extra £300 for their car due to having no mastercard or visa credit card. Still their week has to get better... at least I hope so as they are out here to get married!

So with a deep breath... I got in the wrong side of the car... reached for the gearstick ... which wasn't there... tried to remember how automatics worked... and then drove off... with the boot open!

Once that mistake had been rectified... I left the carhire place around 22:30... set my satnav... and tentatively drove off on the wrong side of the road. It was now dark and it was pretty unnerving ... unfamiliar windy roads .. in the dark... on the wrong side of the car... on the wrong side of the road... so I drove slowly...talking to myself as I went...
Look Left... stay on the Right...

Look Left ... stay on the Right

It took a load of concentration and as both the miles and minutes ticked by.. I decided that the car would not be driven much on this holiday!

I arrived later than I was aiming for at the hotel but fortunately my arrival was awaited and I got shown to a nice room.. 

There I set my charging going and settled down. The gentleman had asked when I wanted breakfast but 0700 didnt seem to be suitable for him so we settled on 0800 😁

So bed now... unpack the bike in the morning... and then go find the adventure!!

Nite x



Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Day 5... It's all downhill from here...

Image
I had done some thinking overnight and this morning... I still didn't feel great. My sore throat hadn't miraculously disappeared and I still had the vestiges of a headache. I woke up reasonably early in order to look. at. my. route and maps and discern what was the best move next. I could continue with my prepared route.... I knew that the route to the next town, Darding Besi, was pretty much downhill all the way. Then to get to Gorka, I was looking at 20 miles up and over. I googled places to. stay between Darding Besi and Gorka but nothing showed up in the little villages in between. There might be a homestay or guesthouse that wasn't advertised on google but once again I was faced with the possibility of requiring help from. friendly villagers to either let me stay or a flat place to pitch my tent in the vicinity. The other option was to drop down from Darding Besi, on F34, all the way to the highway, the main road from Kathmandu to Pokhara. The highway I knew had plenty
Read more

Day 17.. Blessings in the wind

Image
What would you try to do if you knew you could not fail?  Recent challenges that I have undertaken have not gone to plan, either through sickness and riots in Ecuador or just being too slow on the Tour Divide...  and yet I keep coming back for more. Why is that? If you asked me at the end of yesterday, I wouldn't have an answer and I'm not sure I will have one by the end of this journey. The persuit of something that tests my mind and body to its utmost is not something that necessarily gives me pleasure at the time, if fact mostly just suffering but that in itself gives me something to draw upon in everday life. Whatever situation I am in, I have been colder, hotter, wetter, more tired than at that point. Anyway enough rambling... the day ahead was going to be a test for sure.  I had not slept more than a couple of hours, in fact my body was so battered that my watch was telling me to rest, recover, go no further. It had been a VERY cold night, punctuated by not 1 but 2 trips
Read more

Day 3... Hard hits

Image
  Day 3... My day started early, though possibly not as early as it should have. My bent brake disc had resisted all attempts to straighten it despite sweating over it for an hour. I gave up and then couldn’t sleep so when my alarm sounded this morning I hadn’t really had much kip. I did not spring out of bed for sure. In fact I might have turned the alarm off and dozed off again. Essentially it didn’t really matter because the bike shop I had identified on google maps didn’t open until 0730 and in my head, remembering the last time in Ecuador that I stood outside of a bike shop and they didn’t open till 10am. Still I got there by 0830, an hour after google said it was open... no dice. Shutters down and no soul about. It did have a phone number on the sign though so after a moments hesitation called it. A chap answered and told me it would open at 9. He sounded a bit sleepy, I think I woke him up! About 10 minutes later another call from the bike chap... where are you.? Outside the sho
Read more