Panniers Arrrived & Examining Gina
My new panniers arrived the other day, Ortleib Front & Back-Rollers and a barbag. These are the sexiest, plushest, most exciting panniers money can buy and have a price tag to match! Luckily I got them cheap through work!
I’ve still not got any racks, they’ll have to wait til payday. In anticipation to this (next week) I went up to the local bike shop last night and had a bit of a chat with the owner there.
I showed him Gina and we agreed that he would change the freehub for something a little more useful (28T low gear), and I can keep the chain as it has hardly been used. He’s going to sort me out with some racks at a good price and will service the hubs too. All this, to me: £50.
Jobs on, I’ll be fully racked and loaded by Tuesday! That is, excluding any fancy dynamo hub and battery setup I’m thinking about……….
All Roads Lead to Brno
So far I’ve tried not to actually plan anything for the Eurocycle, the aim is, afterall to keep my options open and just decided where to go when I feel like it. There is only one thing in my itinerary so far: I’ve been invited by a friend, along with others, to visit him for New Year’s Eve. He lives in Brno, Czech.
My first thought was to aim to cycle there for the end of December, I could easily cover the distance from mostly anywhere in western Europe in a few weeks, and it’d at least give me something to aim for right in the middle of the tour.
This idea has quickly vanished when I found out that it is usually -10C in Czech at that time of year, and last year, I’ve been informed, was “very cold, 25 degrees, brrrr.” He did mean MINUS 25 degrees!
Since this revelation I’ve decided to park the bike somewhere a little warmer and get a plane/train/coach over. I could try and contact someone on WarmShowers.org, and see if they’ll keep my bike for a week or so, or I could leave it with friends in Belgium, or even cycle back to the UK.
There are a few others going to Brno at the same time, so I could feasibly leave my bike with them (southern England) and fly back out, but this seems to be a bit silly, having to go back to England, then all the way back to Czech, especially as its possible for me to be only a few hundred miles away!
Whichever way I decide to proceed, I’m hoping to leave some warm clothes with someone coming over from home, at least that way I might be a little respectible and not skin-tight!
Lucky Red Bike
I’ve begun commuting on Gina quite a bit recently, I usually walk to work but I wanted to show the bike off and get some test riding in. I’m appreciating the new routine of an extra 20 minutes in bed too!
Anyway, I was rolling down the hill into town, I went through a green light which had a right-turn filter coming across me. An oblivious woman missed the fact that there was a brightly coloured cyclist coming the other way and cut straight across in front of me!
I squeezed the breaks and prepared for a flying lesson, I unconsiously clipped out of the pedals and lept onto her bonnet. My feet hit the floor first and the bonnet took quite a lot of force out the fall as I bounced over so I was completely unharmed!
A quick dust down and check all my limbs were still attached was possible before the dolly got out of the car and began blaming me for the collision! I was already on the last minute, and in no mood to explain the highway code/rules of the road, so I gave the bike a once over and scooted away from the angry shouty woman.
When I was safely at work (on time!) I had a closer look at myself and the bike, there was not so much as a scratch on either of us! Maybe Gina is a lucky charm, but hopefully I won’t need to find out.
The Eurocycle
I realise that I’ve set up this blog and written a few things already but have yet to actually discuss what I’m doing except for a very brief outline on the About page.
My big trip, big idea, and whole point of this blog is the Eurocycle. This is my genius title to a cycle tour of Europe that I’m planning to begin this winter.
So far the plan is to starve myself all summer and save up some moolah so I can pack in and sell up my life (pretty much just a car!), then hop off on a bike for 6 months or so.
I’m not going to research and plan a great itinerary, the idea is that I will go ‘where the wind takes me’ and it’ll be a spontaneous, courageous journey where the hero finds himself, and a journey of discovery of both culture and personal realisation [note: I may have lifted this from one of many self-appreciating hippy-boho-cool films/books, and I'm under no illusions of living out a fairytale plot]. In all seriousness it does have something to so with all the wishy-washy finding oneself bumff: I need a break from real life before I grow up too quickly…
Despite trying to keep away from too much planning, my general ideas are to head south as soon as it gets cold (probably very soon after starting) and follow the coast to Portugal. I might then drift around the med, and maybe venture into southern Italy, or maybe Greece.
I’ve thought about getting some work in a bar or farm or something for a few months, but I’m not so smooth with any languages so that might be a stumbling block!
With any luck I’ll be able to keep this blog updated while out and about, and it’ll not only make all my friends jealous but should also keep my family satisfied that I’m still alive!
Wishing a List
During some ‘quiet time’ at work I decided to write a kit list for everything that I could possibly need, so I can see what I still need to buy and then figure out how much longer I’ll need to stick to bread and water for dinner.
The inital list was massive, I’ve no idea how I’ll get it all in the 72L kindly provided by Mr & Mrs Pannier, however, I’ll pretend it’s not a problem for now as it’s shopping time!
The wishlist is almost as long as the kit list, it seems that I don’t own anything that a cycle tourer needs. It seems like the number of pounds needed for the kit alone will be more than I’m planning to spend on the whole trip…
I’ve always appreciated quality (read: want the most expensive thing) and I always like to be prepared as best I can (read: unwilling to compromise). It might be that my buying ethics need to be bent a little bit for this trip, either that or I might need to rob a bank.
My first wiggle shopping basket/wishlist is going to be huge, it’s a shame my next paycheck may not be quite as large. I’m also trying to get some sexy Ortleib panniers through work, if I can’t it’ll mean there will be even less food in the next few months.
Hauling Ass…
I’ve been thinking a lot about how best to prepare for the 72L of load I’ll be carrying on-board the already quite weighty Gina.
I think it could be quite a shock getting on the road with all the necessary gear after spending all summer training on my expensive super-light racer! Despite there being months and months between now and when I plan to leave, I might have to start to factor in the extra weight and subsequently the extra power I will need to transport all my kit and myself around the Continent.
The other thing that may affect my competence on Gina will be the geometry and feel of the bike. I’ve already almost come a cropper on my racer when jabbing on the brakes at a stop-light, where I attempted to headbutt the rear window of the car in front! Another slightly less obvious consequence of the differences between the bikes is the saddle sores I’ve developed this week due to perching on my ultra-thin racing saddle after a few days getting used to the very comfortable Sella Italia I was given with the new bike.
I think the best way to go now is to concentrate on my usual training for the next few months in order to get my right (screwed) leg back into shape. Then I will try and begin some more power/endurance work, and finally to begin riding exclusively with Gina as D-day gets nearer.
I’m sure a few weekenders/overnighters with full panniers will help too, but these will be primarily used to help iron out any creases in my packing and kit list.
Watch this space….
What’s in a name?
So my new bike has a name, George, Georgina, Gina, George-Gina, whatever. The name of one’s machine is very important, as it stays with you and your bicycle forever, so I needed to consider this very carefully. As I was going to spend so much time with this bike, I needed to find a really really good name for it…
The bike is clearly a male, as it is so strong and beefy and seems like it would be a straight-to-the-point kinda guy. It’s, or rather his angular build and amazing welds can only be born to man, XX would surely produce more graceful shapes. So he is a man, and that is that.
The only problem is that you, as a man, I’d be scoffed at for forever going on about how you’re “getting your leg over”, or “riding all day long“, or even “sitting astride” a man-bike. Therefore I decided that I would need to come up with a more feminine name, should the topic of my sexual preferences ever come up in relation to the bike.
Like all good parents, I toyed with endless combinations of name until I settled on George, or Georgina. This name could obviously only be confirmed once the bike was born.
George happened to be due very shortly, and he was born into this world (of Steve) on the 16th May 2010. After the delivery, at 14:07, the bouncing baby boy was officially named George “Gina” Cannondale.
Meet George “Gina”
Getting a “touring” bike was the first thing on my to-do list:
Ebay was far too expensive, and the only things on there were Dawes Galaxys of various ages/conditions, so I found this bike on the BikeRadar forums, the bloke was selling for just £150 and it fit the specs I needed quite well. The only downside was that it was in London! It looks like I was in for a very boring Sunday….
I collected George (having been named on the spot), and drove him all the way to my mums, after all every new partner needs introducing to the parents sooner or later. She loved him.
So far the modifications include: I’ve added bottle cages, three of them, but still need to get some racks, new freewheel (something much easier, 14-28T maybe….), chain, bottom bracket, headset and gel bar-tape.
I’ve taken her (him) out for a few short rides, but the Chevin killed me with the Londoner sprockets!