Shake Down ...

 

 

A 'space cadet' and the 'vicar' at Chew Lake

Both bikes have been serviced, checked and are now ready for the off. We took the bikes to Kellaway Motor Cycles in Bristol (http://www.kellaway.me.uk/) and so far so good, both a few pounds lighter we took them for a 'shake down' along Chew Lake and down to Wells where we took some photos in front of the Bishops Palace. Bikes run really well, much smoother and wear their extra weight well when on the move. Only problem so far is getting used to the bulk when manhandling, that and getting into the seat with the roll bag on the back, Michael managing far better than Andrew at this point, some practise I feel will be needed. Otherwise thanks to Tony and the team at Kellaway, now time to clean, grease and protect those bikes ready for the ride to Southampton on the 21st May for shipping to Halifax.

Something to swing your leg over .. (or at least try)

'So .. if I press this it should tell us who we are ..'

It's a start .. just a couple of months to go

" .. what a strange and thrilling thing we have let loose - a very wonderful experience awaits us, if we don't lose our heads."  John Hunt's Diary, 3rd June 1953 

We have confirmation of shipping and so will be dropping our bikes off at Southampton on the south coast of England on the 22nd May, 2013. These will leave on the 26th May arriving in Halifax, Canada on the 3rd June. Michael and I will fly out on the 3rd June to Halifax. I want to make mention here of David Grist at H-C Travel who has organised all this and more, including insurances, for us. Every time we have had a query or worry David has been at the end of the phone or email and kept it calm, many thanks. We will endeavour to post links in the side panel of those, like David, who have been a help to us or gone beyond, this will include forums, blogs and parts suppliers.

I also want thank my manager at Positive Step, Sarah, who supported my application for a career break that helped make this trip possible. Positive Step is a North Somerset, UK, based Primary care Mental Health service staffed by a great team of professionals.

So, after a couple of years in the planning we are now actually preparing for the off. The bikes have had various parts bolted on to make them more likely to survive the trip, they now just have the final service to go. We have sorted all our paperwork (hopefully) and been vaccinated to the max.

Last week we fired up the Sena SMH10 for the first time, this is a bluetooth communication device which will enable us to talk to each other (and by phone to anyone) while riding along, it connects to our bike helmets. I'll leave Michael to tell you how it went:

 

They perform extremely well, sound was as loud and clear as you could wish and the signal was sufficiently strong to carry over 300 metres through a building and around a corner, and in line of sight we were still talking happily at 500 metres and 60 mph. So far they have been very easy to use. Once they are turned on you simply tap the unit to connect the two and away you go. Andrew took his ipod with him and reported good quality listening. To interrupt I simply tapped my headset and overrode the music. Either party can initiate or terminate a call like this, excellent. If they do no more than this they will do the job nicely. I intend to get mine working with my new smartphone and have telephone, music, and sat nav, via bluetooth from the one device. Very impressed so far.

We will continue to write about our experiences with this and other gear as we travel.