Arrived in Nepal

Made it safely to Nepal. Crazy busy place. Very tired so just pictures














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On the way

Well, I'm just waiting to board the plane. I love the airport. Had a seamless checkin and security was efficient. Charged £100 for the extra baggage. Ouch!




Leroy is excited and doesn't know where to look first.



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One more sleep!

Well the bike and all kit is packed.  I am only allowed 30kg on the flight and that includes the bike bag.



Collectively my gear is 9kg overweight.  Its going to be expensive at check in!



Its so close, and now all the rushing around is done, I feel a little in limbo.



I've been thinking even more about my dear Mum this week and got slightly overwhelmed this evening.

I know she would be so excited for me and also proud.  I still miss her so very much and these fundraising events help me to handle the pain and sense of loss.



I'm so excited about this trip.  Its so different from others I've done.  I'm feeling out of my comfort zone and just don't know what to expect.



I am a little worried about my young cat Jerry,  I've never left him so long, but my lovely neighbours will feed my cats each day and he will probably be fine.  I'm going to miss him so.



Leroy has a specially knitted jumper to keep him warm in the mountains.  After the Africa trip I think he will feel the cold.



Last night some friends came over for a farewell drink and I've had so many good wishes for the trip it's touching.

Bike is packed

Yay! My bike is all in order and now packed up in the bike bag with quite a bit of other gear.









I think I have all the right stuff ready to pack up.

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Non packing

Bit of a disappointing afternoon today. I planned to pack my bike up but upon close inspection decided that the chainrings were a little too worn to take on the epic journey. Frustratingly I couldn't get new ones today. So I've packed the wheels and the rest of the bike will be wrapped and packed on Wednesday.

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Getting closer

Only 8 days to go and I'm off on my adventure.

I cycled to work and back today on my mountain bike and took the longer route.  It felt so good this morning that I nearly cycled past my turn off.  I had the pleasure of seeing two Herons and a pair of nesting Swans on the canal and the weather was fair.

I have gone on a few runs too just to keep my fitness up.  I've certainly not trained as much as I would like to have so am hoping my base fitness will get me through the 720 miles.



On my ride home tonight I was thinking about the trip ahead.  I've ridden on long multi day journeys before, but for some reason I am very nervous about this one.  It is my first visit to Asia, and the bit that scares me is the altitude at which I will be riding.  I've only ridden at just over 3000 metres in Mexico nearly 15 years ago.  I just don't know how I will cope with the altitude.  I am not a great fan of roughing it and neither do I like the cold.

We can expect warm days but below freezing in the evenings,  I hope my big sleeping bag and super duper sleeping mat keep me warm in my tent.



As the day draws closer I'm getting nervous about it all, I've checked with the tour company in case I've forgotten something, all is in order there.  I'm worried that I won't achieve my goal and will let people down.

But I know I will be giving it my all.  I also want to take it slow and soak up all the sights and sounds and enjoy the experience.

Non training!

I must admit the training has not gone to plan, well actually there wasn't much of a plan other than to ride regularly.  But that hasn't happened.  My house move and subsequent work on said house has taken up my time.

I have done a few good rides but the odd 150 miler is not really the best training for the multiday high altitude adventure.

I went for a great ride o Rhayader with my friend Mark, and I did a 65 mile sportive in Surrey last month

I had  began to feel unwell and very tired, that turned into a cold and a virus.

I hope to be riding regularly very soon