Chapter 2

CHAPTER 2

 

GETTING READY

 

My training bike.

 

Once I had made up my mind and decided this was what I was going to do. The next stop was preparation. I wasn’t as fit as I thought I was or needed to be to take on this epic journey, Vancouver to Mexico 2400 miles. I wasn’t really sure either how long it would take me. Oh, I had an idea but that was not enough. I found out that they won’t let me into America unless I have a return air ticket booked. So that was problematic and needed to be sorted.

What to take? How much could I carry? After all, I had never done this before , I hadn’t free-camped since I was 16. I had a lot of work to do.

I need to start with bikes and bags, pannier bags. What type of tent and sleeping gear. Was I cooking? If so how and what was the best thing to get. Practicality and weight were the priorities. Research was the way to go.

First I got a two man tent. Not that I was expecting company. But a two man would give me a lot more room to store stuff inside and to move around. Ease of assembly was the other issue with the tent and the Vengo I eventually got was quite simple and was totally sealed with a sown-in groundsheet to keep the little fellas out. 

 

Its 11 days to go and I am still preparing my trip.  Return flight is booked I’ll sort the return when I get my feet firmly on the ground and have a better idea of my progress. I am making lists of all I might need to carry. I know it’s going to be largely trial and error with some gear.

Going through forums and reading up on touring stuff is very helpful but there is only so much you can accomplish on the internet. I have really no idea what to expect but I soon will.... !! Researching touring bikes to decide which one to do the trip on is a little more difficult. It will be my most expensive purchase so it needs to be right. Going to be my steed for the whole trip so I can’t be let down. I intend to buy it in Vancouver. So finding a well-supplied bike shop is important too. Checking out bike shops in Vancouver and planning my route out of Vancouver is the next thing on my list. For my blog I decided on a small Acer solid-state laptop. It will take a lot of abuse, not having a hard drive.

My training is moving ahead too. I am adding up the miles and increasing my distances as the days click down. I’m not too concerned if I’m not as fit as I should be. I am not chasing anyone, I have no one that I have to keep up with. So I can and will get fitter on the road as I ride out. But nonetheless I must get some distances in. I have a mountain bike to train on because I will be carrying 4 pannier bags, a tent, a ground mattress and a bar-bag with a mini computer so I need to be pushing this heavy bike. I am enjoying riding a bike so different from my much lighter road bike. 

I decided to have a night in the tent just to see how all would practically work out. Iron out some of the glitches, things I might encounter when I’m away. Better to find them out before I go. I picked a nice night in the back garden and set myself up complete with sleeping bag, sheet bag and the rest. All worked out ok till about 3 in the morning when I woke up freezing cold and had to retire back to the house. I told myself it would not be that cold in Canada in September. 

One day to go now and I’m ready. All packed up and raring to go. Its Sunday morning and I’m out of here on a 3pm flight on tomorrow, Monday. All my gear is laid out in the jeep ready for the off and I left it unattended in a carpark while I do some final goodbyes.

I returned to find disaster! 

Jeep broken into! Everything! GONE! except my tent!

My passport, drivers licence, all my clothes, my sleeping bag and laptop. All gone!

What am I to do now?

 

 

 

 

 

 

No time to be losing! Laptop? Bought a new one. Passport was the most important thing. Without that I was going nowhere. Sunday night rang Foreign Affairs. Yes they were working! Told me to front up to the passport office first thing Monday morning and apply for an emergency one. Same with the drivers licence . Although less important , this was required in case I needed to drive myself in an emergency. The rest I could buy when I got there. This was starting to look doable.

First thing Monday morning I'm outside the passport office at 8am. Into the passport office soon as it’s open. First in the queue. Forms filled up. Can I see your birth cert, please? 

Oh my god!! Didn’t know I would need it! Not going anywhere without that sir!

Born in Belfast and not having needed that in the recent past, I did not have a copy at home. And anyway there was no way to make it there and back in time for my flight. I decided to call Births, Marriages and Deaths in Belfast for help. When I explained my predicament the lady was more than helpful. I transferred the fee on my credit card, got the fax number of the Passport Office and the kind lady agreed to bypass some regulations and faxed a copy of my birth cert to Dublin. After an hour of nervous wait, face pushed up against the glass watching a distant fax machine in a busy office and hoping that this fax is mine. Which, eventually it was mine. Some bureaucratic clap trap in Dublin and eventually I had my emergency passport. Clutching it tight I ran to the Taxi rank. It was now 1pm, flights at three. My wife had gone and done a similar wait at the motor tax office and had got my emergency drivers licence and was hot-footing it to rendezvous with me at the airport. 

Check-in was the first thing. As I fronted up to the desk the first thing I hear is “Sir, your flight is delayed by at least one hour.” That was my first bit of relief all day. I can go, relax, have a pint and unwind. The fact that I have no luggage causes a few eyebrows to be raised. But I don