It's almost 9 months since I really decided: there will be a UK to HU adventure. And as they usually are, the planning and preparation were quite slow and as the 'deadline' came closer and closer I got in a bit of a panic in the rush of trying to organise everything.
Beloved Bike was transferred back to England once more in February (via Wizzair) - with the usual paranoid precautions of padding it with 15 layers of bubble foil, newspapers and clothes. Obviously I was still scared to death that she will be broken, but she arrived in one piece :) I took her for a good check up to the local guru, who discovered a couple of things what I kind of knew anyway: there was a broken part (a.k.a. thingy :) in the hub (probably due to trauma during previous flights) which caused occasional jumping between gears. Richard tried to get some new bits but apparently it was too old and it was quite a challenge so we decided to get a new rear wheel and sort out the rest of it at home. He also set up the the whole gear shifting mechanism and brakes nicely, so they work perfectly now. The Schwalbe Durano S tires were changed to the 'normal' Schwalbe Durano tires which are much more puncture-proof and there is a new bottle cage in addition to the old one plus a new saddle. Oh, and I almost forgot, the handlebar tape was changed from black to 'serious pink'. It is really cool :)
I managed to get a trailer from e-Bay 3 months ago. I needed to drive up to Birmingham and it is at least 15 years old but still working :) The special quick release system for the rear wheel was not easy to get hold of and it needed a little creative work so it would fit the bike (lacking any modern devices I needed to use the old tooth-rasping kit for rodent animals :) but eventually it worked. I also printed the flags of all the countries I will bike through, laminated them and put them onto the trailer. It took me an other 2 weeks to get the special R-clip what fixes it onto the rear axis so I only had the opportunity to test it properly last week.
The Ride for Helen 60mi (96km) race was all-inclusive weather-wise: as soon as I left the start behind the rain started pouring down, a little bit later the hurricane arrived, the roads were muddy and slippery and the signs sometimes invisible, so we did a couple of extra miles here and there. This was actually quite awesome because this way I could test the trailer-feeling on a longer ride in the worst circumstances.
The trailer and the loaded bag was approx. 10kg (the bag will be 5kg heavier because I didn't have the tent, the sleeping bag and the big lock in it). It was weird to push the bike to the start - the trailer was 1.5 times heavier than the bike. Riding it on a reasonably flat road was fun, it took more effort and time to get to the travelling speed but once I reached it, I was ok. Fortunately I tried the trailer on short distances so it wasn't a complete surprise that if the handlebar moved, however slight that movement was, there was a massive wave coming forward from the back as the trailer reacted. So just easy on the pothole-slalom..
Riding uphill is brutal.. previously only on the serpentine (in Tihany, Hungary) used gears became my commonly used gears now which was rather embarrassing. Probably didn't help that I completely messed up my eating during the race, I didn't eat in time and my muscles were starving a couple of times. When it happens, I notice that the bike doesn't want to move that much, then my legs are a bit shaky, then they cramp and it becomes totally hopeless to continue without eating and drinking. I will need to pay more attention to this on my trip because towing extra 15kg will increase the needed effort and energy a lot and it will be much easier to mess it up again. When I arrived in the finish I needed (and by 'needed' I mean: I NEEDED) 5 bananas and a Snickers to get back to the car and drive home (20min), then had a full dinner and woke up on the following day starving.
Downhill was much more pleasant, the trailer obeyed and followed nicely. The only inconvenience was that because of the slippery roads I couldn't just enjoy and give a full gas (I saw a girl go flying over the bike in a curve somewhere around 40mi) and as it happens inevitably, the downhill was followed by uphill (and I already told you how much fun that is! :) I need a little more place now take a turn with the trailer and I have to be careful but all in all it is pretty easy and obedient. I believe that it was beneficial in the wind, at least it felt like it - probably because of the extra weight being very low and not providing any big surfaces for the wind to cling to. My little flags also passed the test, all survived! :)
All in all I think it was a good test run - I believe that I managed to set a negative speed-record on 96km! :) But I didn't have a flat tire (which is rare for me in the UK), the new saddle was very comfortable, the bag was completely waterproof and I have a better idea about the trailer as well. I am still wondering how the daily 80km will make me feel with the extra weight. To be fair I thought it would be a bit easier :) But the adventure is adventure and at least it is a challenge!
One more thing:
the trailer is a real human-magnet: young and old, professionals and
weekend-riders, even people walking and driving: they all wave or
stop to have a word. It is awesome :)
I had the big
cardboard You're perfect sign previously - now my new, 'portable'
sign is ready as well :)
Only 3 weeks to
go!!!!
