Saturday, August 7, 2010

Santiago to the rescue

Julio and the rack he just installed with the bag
Today is the last day before the start of the trip. Wednesday to friday I was in the Netherlands, immigrating, setting up insurance, visiting my  parents, and finding an apartment in Groningen (success!). A few very tiring days. Yesterday I got back to Lisbon, picked up my bike, although the bags and rack had not arrived yet, and cycled to James and Trish in Carcavelos. After a very good night's sleep James and I cycled to Lusobike this afternoon to pick up the rack and bags which should have arrived today. Turns out there was a set of bags and a rack, but it wasn't my order - Julio got the set of a client who used the bags on an earlier trip to Santiago on his mountainbike. Thanks Julio, for arrangeing this, and many more thanks to the anonymous loaner whose set of bags mean that the planned departure is going through tomorrow morning. Somehow it feels that, even eleven years after walking to Santiago de Compostela with my good friend Simon, and now cycling to the shop with the english namesake of the saint, Santiago occasionally interferes when I'm planning long journeys.
This bike rack is tilted up, which means that my center of gravity will be a bit high, whereas my ordered one would have been straight, but it's a lot better than not going. It just means I have to take it easy during the first descents to get a feel for the bike with loaded bags, and also I shouldn't be trashing it about out of the saddle too much because there will be a lot of weight to 'dance' with.
Surprisingly, after filling the bags with all the gear I was planning on taking, I found out that first of all, everything fits (!) and second, I'm within the 9 kilo weight limit of the rack - amazing for someone who is not known to pack light. Maybe I'll win that 'Minke'  award (named after a very efficiently packing friend with a penchant for hiking trips across deserted places with a backpack carrying supplies, food etc, for at least a week) after all then...
Fully packed bags...ready to roll!

No comments:

Post a Comment