Tuesday 28 February 2012

Some more prep stuff

Gave the bike a good wash after it's dousing in Cornwall mud at the weekend. Haven't got a clean picture, so you'll have to imagine what she looks like now.

Also packed most of my gear - several times. Chucked quite a bit out so now I have just two small panniers (actually two bicycle handlebar bags lashed together under the seat) with a pair of trainers, a plate, cup, spork, a collection of football and cycling shirts, plus keyrings to give to kids on the way down through Africa. Not much in them at all - deliberate, as the plan is to give stuff away as I go, and put colder weather gear in the panniers as the weather warms up. My clothes fit in a very small dry bag in the top box. Netbook and wash kit is also in that.

And I had my last jab. Julie (below) and Jo at the Superdrug Travel Clinic in Croydon were excellent. Both went out of their way to find out about relevant disease patterns and source best prices for vaccinations - which are not cheap. But I don't want to end up needing treatment for something that I could have avoided, particularly if I'm taking it way from somebody who needs it.


Tomorrow I've got to take the last of the spares, plus the donated knitted hats (yep, it gets cold in Africa too) and the hoodies donated by Recognition Trophies in Wallington ( thanks Clive and Sue)to Sue     ( a fellow scooterist) in Lindfield, so that it can all be taken to Portsmouth by car by her son on Saturday, and loaded on the Shogun that will follow us.

The most difficult thing today was persuading my son to load songs onto my Ipod to keep me entertained while riding.