" Papa's Got A Brand New Bag"

(James Brown)

....well actually Papa's got three new bags all Ortleib plus lots of other clobber that will be needed to see him through his journey. Camping and cooking spawns lots of items and weight. The photo shows a collection of my recent lightweight (I hope) purchases. I gave the tent it's first night out by sleeping in the garden last week and apart from being unseasonally cold then everything seemed to go alright although when I awoke at just after 5 am I did sneak in to thaw! Next major event is to load all this onto the bike and pedal across to the coast. I expect I may be drilling holes in teaspoon handles to save weight after that experience.

"Not Fade Away"

(Buddy Holly)

 Well not fading away completely... but I am losing weight in an attempt to reduce the total weight of the bike and camping kit as I plan to keep as much weight off the back wheel as possible. So me and Mr Ryvita are bonding with his good friend Miss Philadelphia. Very dull but I shall be imbibing and eating copiously when on the road. Also only 44 'sleeps' to go before I wheel the bike onto the Hull to Zeebrugge Ferry....which reminds me ....I must book it today. Lots of things before I go such as Glastonbury. Had my Oxfam training last night in Leeds to be a Steward. Seems it might be a lot of hard work but I do now know how to extinguish someone on fire!

York to Faro....the route!

So after having decided to depart Blighty for a few weeks then I've picked this route. The plan is to cycle and mainly camp as I make my way slowly....but as fast as I can to the Mediterranean. Hopefully it will be day after day of heat and the opportunity to guzzle, guilt free, at the end of it and still lose weight. I don't depart for the Hull to Zeebrugge ferry until the beginning of July and so I will bring you up to speed with the procurement of kit ("boys and toys" .....I know), the training, losing weight, finding interesting places to visit etc. Stay tuned!