Slowly but surely

The days are slowly melting away until our departure date. I (Anna) am in my last week of work which feels pretty strange, although I must say I’m looking forward to not dealing with other people’s problems for a while and just focusing on one pedal stroke after another.

We are beginning to gather our personal gear and going through the painful (more so for me) task of deciding what we really need to bring with us (bearing in mind we have to push every last gram of gear up those nasty hills). Suddenly those 15 bikinis aren’t looking so enticing anymore..

The madness that is the gear room (formally known as the spare room at Mum & Dads)

Our final pieces of gear have been tricking in from various suppliers, some second-hand and some brand spanking new (nothing quite compares to getting new gear). Yesterday our Ortlieb panniers and racks arrived so we set to work getting them fitted as soon as we walked in the door.

Fitting the shiny new panniers to my bike (which now looks like a bumblebee)

Once we were both finished fitting the bikes out we took them for a little spin to see how they felt. These seemingly simple pieces of gear will be our lifelines whilst we are on the road and it’s actually amazing to think how little you need to truly sustain life. It’s very easy to get caught up in having the latest technology or the fanciest gears but I have no doubt in my mind that the experiences we will have on this journey and the joy they will bring us will surpass any materialistic item we could ever get out hands on.

For the mean time though Sam and I are enjoying the luxuries of living with my Mum and Dad in their lovely home on the shore (thanks Mum and Dad!).

That’s all for now

Anna xx

Speed racer