What a day!

I've been delaying this post, hoping that people would forget the events of the 22nd of July. They haven't. So here is what happened, it does not bode well for the 3000km in two weeks time! With too much to explain in one post I will try and sum up the events with bullet points and photographs.

PART 1 setting off.

- I spend an hour giving my bike a good going over! removing a thorn from the previous ride and meticulously repairing the puncture. (puncture No.1)

-Training partner Panda arrives and we set off to meet Phil 'gunny gun' Redgate at 5.30pm

-I propose taking the slightly quicker, but rougher back road route to Stainton.

-I get a puncture in my rear wheel (puncture No.2) and push my bike to Phil's house for repairs and to find a spanner as I have track nuts on my rear wheel, (I left mine at home)

-Find a rusty regate wrench perfect for the job, repair the tyre, put it back on (not easy, gatorskins are tough to put on especially with spoons....)

-Hsssssssssssss (Puncture No.3)

-We all laugh, 'Good ol' Harvey!' how did that happen, It's  getting late but I'll have another go....

-Off it comes.

Repair.

-Back on, 'right lets go!'

-Hsssssssss (Puncture No.4)

- !?*#!!?# !!!!!!  sake!!!  

 (It is now 7pm)

-The lads kindly offer to take me to halfords for a new inner tube.

-Come Back With inner tube.

-Suddenly realise that my ridiculous rear track wheel has very deep rims and I needed an extra long valve!?!?!? so the one just bought doesn't fit.

-Chris and Phil finally begin to loose their patience, I ask them to just leave me to cope alone at this dark time.

-I have one more go at repairing the old inner tube and it works! We can set off !!!!!! ) 50 miles before dark?

(7.45pm) no problem!


PART 2 The ride to Faugh.


-20miles in, my tyre is flat.

-After seeming OK it is now apparent that I have a slow puncture.

-Put some air in, 'it'll be fine til Faugh!'

-Put more air in..

-Put more  air in...

-Get to Faugh (Gethin's house) and have a laugh at my misfortune, eat some Pizza, and meatballs, have a quick pint, It's only 9.45 after all. We've got loads of time to get back to Perith before it gets dark.

-We finish pints. Its now dark.

-Set off for the return journey, slightly drunk, 2 lights between us, and Gethin bidding us fair well.

-15miles in...

- Hssssssss (Puncture No.5)

-with one puncture repair left to fix the now sad, worn and deflated inner tube in the pitch black, I look up to see the equally sad worn and deflated Panda and Phil, now desperately holding on to their moral boosting smiles and our one, nearly dead front light.

- Repair, Wheel Back on.

_ Hssssssss (Puncture No.6) surprisingly it hasn't worked.


SitRep:11pm, 3 of us in the middle of nowhere, one phone with little signal, A flat tyre, no repair kits, no spare inner tube. No hope.

-We are freezing cold and now cows and calfs have spotted the flashing rear light and start charging us.

-After deciding the cows are  getting  ' a bit eggy' Panda clips in and disappears down the road, will we ever see him again?

-Me and Gun try and stay warm.

We play on some hay bails, whilst trying to find signal, but also take lots of pictures with a flash, further draining what little battery resource we have remaining.

-We get signal, and make an SOS call to our saviour Ali Jack, 40minutes later he arrives in his van.

- at 12.05am I arrive home, lie in my bed and hope that I don't have to repair another inner tube until October.

What a day!

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Thanks go out to  Phil Redgate and Chris Brzozowski for their patience.
Phil's mum for unknowingly lending me her expensive talc.
Ali Jack for his petrol and time donation.
Gethin for the half way point food stop, but not for his 'did you get back OK' text but then turning his phone off.
and Mel noble for offering a backup rescue.

Cheers,

Harvey.

Performance enhancing drugs !

Having popped into the doctors to ask for advice on my slightly alarming reaction to mozzie bites,(note the second elbow) and him asking for further details of the trip, he prescribed me some cream. It's mixture of antibiotics and steroids because 'You will get boils.' Excellent. 

Not only that but the possible side affects include, 'lightening of the skin colour', 'thinning of the skin', 'changes in the growth of your body hair' and 'a red spotty rash around the mouth or chin'. 

Beard?? To be continued...

Making do

The financial burden of the trip is starting to take its toll, and accessories are but a luxury.

Ne worries....I've got a degree in design...

pass me the tape!

Lighter than carbon bottle cage

the new 'one-use' pump holder, (ideal for puncture repair in hideously wet conditions)



Harvey

Harvey's training so far...

Unlike Luke and Flora cruising around the flatlands of France, pretending they are getting wet ;-) I have been training very hard indeed.

Dragging myself up, down and around the demanding terrain of Cumbria. With my training partners, Phil Redgate, Chris Brzozowski and Sam Putnam keeping me going.

We have been regularly eating up the miles, but flat rides round here are hard to come by, so the relationship with the fixie is beginning to wear thin, especially when riding alongside geared bikes. (I'm just about keeping pace!)

Climbing and flats are relentless but more and more bearable on a fixed gear, but the descents are starting to take their toll -  if its not my legs cramping up trying to keep up with the pedals on the long down hills it's putting up with the laughter of those watching my leg frantically trying to keep up with the cadence!

Enough was enough for the last ride (50miles) and I flipped my hub round to make use of my freewheel gear

...and it was absolute bliss!

maybe we should take one on the trip.

....just in case.



Harvey.

One month to go...

Flora's bike is ready! Day 1 of test ride: Started well in sunny weather, Lille to St Omer was about 70km, then we took the train to the seaside... Nice lady stashed our bikes in her garage, Nutella waffles and pizza on the seafront, lovely! Good weather forecast for the 'morro.

 

Day 2: Forecast lies. It pissed down. Headwind. Flora's crank fell off, lots of times! Took the decision to jump on a train after 35km, and we* promptly headed to the only town without a station... think happy thoughts! 

 

Lessons learnt - Waterproof panniers work! Single speed is hard work on the tiniest of climbs... Bring more than one hoody. We still have loads of work to do on these old bikes if they are going to make it down the Danube, tho they make excellent drying racks!

 

Donations have shot up this week, cracking effort from all friends and family, thank you very much!

* Luke

Cheers me dears!

A big thankyou for all your kind donations so far! The most interesting has to be Grace, Jude and Chris offering £5 every time Harvey 'falls off his bike, gets forcibly ejected from a country or delays your journey by more then 6 hours'. We thought this was strange, as each of them knows Harvey very well, nevertheless, this is great news for MacMillan!

< Click the map to enlarge it >

Quite a few people asking where the challenge starts. Well, on August the 13th we get the train to Donaueschingen in the German Black Forest, where the official source of the Danube is marked by the spring below. Donau is German for Danube...

As the sign says, it is then 2840km to the sea! After that, the plan is to get a plane back to the UK, probably from Bucharest, but this needs some organizing!

Meanwhile, Flora has gone from not much cycling experince at all, to cross training! I'm kidding, but with Emma she ran a 10km race for life last weekend in Manchester, raising awareness for breast cancer, excellent work...

Ciorba De Burta

BBC travel today covering European hangover cures - "In Romania, this soup, brimming with strips of tripe, vinegar, garlic, hot pepper, and sour cream, is the cure of choice!". 


Tripe is Flora's favorite!

Why are we raising money for Macmillan?

Macmillan are an invaluable charity helping not only cancer patients but their families too. This can be anything from a chat, cuppa and a hug, to financial support, and perhaps most importantly, answering all of your questions, now matter how big or small.

It seemed fitting to do this ride in memory of Flora (and Jude)'s dad, whilst raising awareness of this charity. To us, they deserve all the recognition they can get.

We'll all be sporting these at various points along the route. (I apologise for the non-ironed t-shirt, I'll do it before we go!)

Yesterday we put up posters on various local village noticeboards. On the two rides we have been on so far Harvey has managed to fall off on both occasions, this doesn't bode too well for an entire month of riding...