Prep Work

A marvelous view from the Formartine and Buchan Way

Well, this is it folks. The final few days running up to my flight down to Newquay. Most of it will be spent going through my packing list and making sure I don't leave anything behind (it's a long way to come back for anything, after all..). I'll have to remember to get a good playlist going for the trip as well. I think I've actually set a few personal bests to Swedish House Mafia's Greyhound!

I remember getting quite frustrated with the old tyres on my bike (Schwalbe Lugano's) - punctures when you're out and about can be quite the mood-killer. Most people seem to recommend slightly wider tyres (25mm) for a long distance tour so I decided to go with those for better comfort.. and these ones in particular seemed to fit the bill. 

Apparently puncture-resistant as well, but only time will tell..

After a few hours of swearing, I finally managed to get both tyres on. This included 15 minutes of having one of the tyres in the dryer for 15 minutes to help stretch it out a bit - a great tip for those of you struggling! Google is wonderful, isn't it?

Before

After - the reflective side-walls are a nice touch

I've managed to take them out on a few rides and I don't think they roll any slower than the previous ones I had on. They definitely feel a lot more stable in the wet, though! Another plus is that I got to brush up on some basic bicycle maintenance..

My bike was all packed up by the folks at the Edinburgh Bicycle Cooperative. £15 for full packaging, box included! Mind you, it was a tough journey by foot carrying it back home.. Sending the bike down by courier seemed like the most sensible choice. CityLink were charging just under £35 with insurance through ParcelMonkey. A decent price considering it should reach the opposite end of the UK by 12pm the next day.

Flybe unfortunately could not guarantee a spot on the plane for my bike if I were to take it with them.. a risk I wasn't ready to take when the entire trip depended on it! In all fairness, they did offer to take it on the next available flight behind me.

 All ready to go!

All things are looking good so far - all that's left to do is get everything in to a suitcase. Not to forget the snacks for the trip!

Something's telling me this isn't going to be the best 3-week weight-loss program after all..