ONE FINAL ADVENTURE TO CLOSE THE YEAR OUT.

Was going to close this blog down having completed the Etape, however, have just decided to cycle Lhasa to Kathmandu before all the fitness I gained training for the Etape finally disappears. Not sure what is facing me as a lot of it is new to me: never cycled at altitude before; never camped before and never had three weeks without a beer before. The final one I'm not so sure about , though, as there is local beer in Lhasa but I have been heavily discouraged from drinking during the trip as alcohol encourages altitude sickness :-((

Here's details of the trip: Tibet to Kathmandu

Original plan was to spend three days in Kathmandu to obtain the necessary visas then four days in Lhasa acclimatising before heading off for the two week cycle down to Kathmandu via Everest Base Camp. Unfortunately, teh Chinese are being difficult post Olympics about visas so we now have to stay a week in Kathmandu. So now, we are spending four days cycling around Kathmandu hoping to acclimatise a bit before flying up to Lhasa for only one day of sightseeing before heading off on the cycle which is now two days shorter - we loose the rest day and the final two days have been condensed into one... so all in all, a bit tougher.

Preparation has been a bit rushed... so far, bought a four seasons sleeping bag plus fancy silk liner; two expedition mountain bike tyres ; a pretty cool rear rack and bag for putting my camera in and a polarised filter for the camera which is supposed to give better pictures of mountains, sky and lakes. But apart from that not much other prep...

With three days to go another bike maintainance incompetence story... given all the focus on road biking this year its been some time since I rode my mountain bike, so it took it out for a spin and, of course, the chain snapped. Off to wiggle for a replacement, can't be that hard to fit surely?? Reached for my chain-splitting tool, never used one before but there is always a first time. Bit fiddily but soon new chain was on the bike. Just assumed it would work so with three days to go went for a short ride with Ros. I was consious of an unusual noise coming from the chain area, but as always ignored it and hoped it would go away... it didn't and half a mile from home the chain snapped. Looks like I did not install the rivet correctly. Just got some new pins and have had another go... but not feeling confident. In the local bike shop yesterday, however, they gave me a very clever little chain link meant for Sram chains, which is a link which does away with the need for revits... got to be a good idea, I'll take it with me just in case.