August 13th – 18th
With the two bikes tuned up from last week, Louis set about giving them a proper testing. He used them for his commute, which at its shortest is a 20km ride.
First to be used was the Emelle Cougar. Louis was pretty pumped in announcing that he was 3 mph down on his usual commuter bike, but still managed 20.7km in 50 minutes, giving an impressive pace of 25 km/h.
He boldly claimed that we’ll easily get another 1 mph from changing the mountain bike tyres to slicks.
On August 17th he set another PB! Powering out 44.49km @ 25.91 km/h! Phwaaaa!
At that speed we’ll have to start thinking about sorting out our visas for entering Asia on the trip.
However, on August 20th, I got the following message:
“Bad news mate”
And then a photo.
The crank arm and pedal fell off on day one of test riding the Raleigh.
“No idea how you rode that” was all he could say. As I’d ridden the Raleigh around and thought it was a fine steed. Clearly I was wrong.
Louis had to ride 8 miles into his work with just one pedal. Luckily he had a toe clip on the remaining one. No idea how he managed it, impressive stuff. “my right leg is PUMPED” was his main takeaway.
He barely got 5 minutes down the road before it fell off, which is why he was so surprised that I was able to get around on it. He must pump out a lot more power than I manage to.
He reckons that the threads have been ruined. It could be a serious setback.
But then, the next day on August 21st there was a barrage of news. First, our new 2-man, lightweight backpacking tent arrived. Louis wondered what had been delivered at first, possibly it was just a bag of air as its so light. But then he worked it out. He then told me he’d acquired another steed today at work. He’s going to see if it rides any better, but the initial assessment is that it’s heaps lighter than the elephant esque Raleigh.
I tried to get an update from Louis about this new bike he’d managed to obtain. But, by Friday the 23rd all I’d found out was that he didn’t have time to get in a test ride and he was nearly going to miss last entry into a weekend-long festival.
How did he get this other bike, does it work, will we have a trike, all things that only Louis knows…
August 26th – September 1st
We finally got some contact back with the chief engineer. A solitary message at first: “sorry man been off grid. I need to get back on the bike build, dropped the ball a bit”
Then finally we got some information about this mysterious new bike. He said that he’d got a new bike from someone at his work as they had heard that he was on the lookout for bikes.
He also says he may have injured his big toe, could be debilitating for the trip.
I didn’t really take this part as serious. Once when we were both motorbiking through India I had a little tumble off the bike on a mountain pass. I think the helmet saved my life, or at least my modelling career. My big toe was pretty sore after. Louis told me not to worry about the toe. We were more worried about the open wounds and infections in the Indian countryside. A month later, back in England I went to a Dr and he clarified that my toe was certifiably broken and there wasn’t anything he could do now. It’s been crooked ever since. Going on 8 years. Alas, I digress.
Louis was then away for the weekend so limited progress was made. A touch worrying with us starting the adventure within 2 weeks.
September 2-8th
After the week off, Louis is back with a bang. Putting the hours in after work each day til late. Next job was to get 3 wheels centred and rotating true, not off kilter. So that the brakes actually work.
By Thursday the Emelle Cougar was perfect and ready to go. Back wheel trued.
1:30am on Sunday morning I get a message “got 3 wheels straight and sorted now”.
Now I believe he’s ready to weld. What a rollercoaster it’s been.
I’m returning to the UK very soon. Thought it would just be for the finishing touches, like screwing a bell on the handlebars, but it sounds like there won’t even be a handlebar to put it on yet.
The start date is now less than a week away. There is no trike yet and the bikes are currently broken down into more pieces. However, I have unwavering faith in Louis and that it’ll be ready. He has no doubt it will be, and that’s good enough for me.
We’ll bring you the final updates this week before we set off!
