Jo Ackroyd’s Big Biking Adventure

Panic 1,
BMW parts haven’t arrived, seems the Goodridge hoses are on back order so none of the parts have been sent, but i placed the order in the Christmas break! Good job I dont know what I’m doing otherwise I’d be really up tight.
Panic 2
The made to measure front carrier system (cough - home made jerrycan holder.) Is nearly complete and needs an aluminium TIG welder. Gotta find someone quick so theres time to make other plans if it doesnt work too well. Ill upload photos for you to rate! You can buy something to do the same job from Touratech, but the basic unfitted unpainted version is £1500!
Panic 3
More injections on Friday - oh Lawdy!

2 cut fingers:

Cut from the manufacturing process of turning a kitchen sieve (£4.50) into a headlight guard, bicycle pedals (free from my brothers friend - thank you it was an ingenious idea!) into footrests, aluminium mesh into a radiator gauze (£7.00 from B&Q) and the special (thpecial) front carry system. Again I think photos of this stuff would be good huh?
One finger was mine, one my nephews, Ryan.

Does Richard Branson have to put up with cut fingers or do you think he has people to cut their fingers for him?

Thats true hedonistic delegation to aspire to!

No, I like it. I like doing, thinking, making do and mending, seeing a radiator gauze for £87 and making it for £7. I know I get frustrated and frustrate, but that’s it isn’t it?

The process, the involvement the people the thoughts the ideas and encouragement are the point.

That’s what keeps us all going, isn’t it?

1 reason to continue:

Because its within reach and man is the only creature with the capacity to dream, wonder and endeavour.

Expedition Preparation Expedition Preparation

I’ve just been for the innoculations, the nurse was a bit grumpy, apparently she’s had a bad day!

She’s had a bad day!  I was about to be on the sharp end of a needle!

Although I gave her an itinary two weeks before - and we talked on the phone about it -  the day had sent her in a spin…

After talking in my calm reassuring, trying to be nonchalent kind of way we started to get into the subject at hand. You have to be calm in these situations…because if youre not…SHE’S GONNA HURT YOU!

I thought it was the proffesional thing to do, y’know put her at her ease…

We chatted about Rabies, always a winning subject with the girls I feel -
‘But you’re not going near animals that will carry rabies in your group so you’ll be ok, you don’t need it.’
‘What group?
‘The group your travelling with…’
‘Huh?’
‘You know as part of your organised tour, you will be quite safe.’
‘No, I’m going alone…’
THunK
‘MEDIC! …ANYONE …HELP…’

Well - it was kind of like that, maybe she didn’t hit the floor with capital letter quality thunk.

Maybe, well, yeah, it was actually more of a lower case impatient huff.

Seems some of the jabs need to be over three months, so time is short, actually time is negative but she came up with a plan to hurt me over regular intervals of 7 days 14 days and 28 days.

I couldnt help but notice. My history catching up with me I suppose. Details. She washed her hands like a five year old just in from digging for worms and about to have fish fingers and chips for tea, she turned the tap off with her hands and not her elbows, the design and position meant she couldnt reach that far with her elbows. Not without hitting her furrowed brow on the cupboard set anyway. She was tall enough to do it with her knees though. It would have helped my increasingly high pitched voice to drop an octave if she had used the non conformant wash hand basin and not the treatment sink to wash. It was a worry that the needles were left on the worktop and the swabs were dry. Still, not dry for long, all that blood does have a lovely hue. All this and Im not in a third world country yet!  Ignorance is bliss.

I thanked her for hurting me, nervously averted her eyes and wandered out the door. How very English I thought. I’m in mild pain and suspicious of your technical competence but say nothing, smile and mutter my thanks, knowing I have to be polite because you have two more opportunities to infect me. I got in the car, thanked my stars for air conditioning in January. Still, didn’t “really” hurt

I’m not convinced she really knows what shes doing, but y’know sometimes you just have to go with it. And that’s the point of the whole event isn’t it?

Faith - you have to put your trust in people and events, and needles of course, trust in the now…

oh dear!

Expedition Preparation Expedition Preparation