Two and a half days more to go then we're off!

I'm not sure if time flies when you are having fun but the days are going so quickly and there is still a lot to be done.

We had a packing ritual last night. All our stuff that are going with were dutifully laid down on the bed and agreements were reached on who is taking the dual use stuff like toothpaste and shower gel. Everything fitted into two panniers and although it is tight, everything is necessary.

I'm taking the absolute minimum.

1. Two sets of cycling clothing - one on me and the other one spare
2. One set of evening wear - a lightweight pair of cotton trousers, a thin fleece for the cooler evenings and a T-shirt which is still to arrive in the post from one of our sponsors
3. One pair of lightweight shoes - I thought of taking flip flops but my mechanic said no. I need better shoes when I'm walking to the pub.
4. Toiletries - all in miniature versions. I have been collecting them for about 4 months now and need one batch for the first 6 days until we get back to home base and then another set for the second leg of the challenge. Also miniature versions of make-up! Well at least a lippy and a small mascara. I need to look a bit better in the evening.
5. Electronic equipment and accessories like cables to connect the Garmin and camera for downloading; a SD card reader; my solar charger with all the little nozzles and the cables (quite cute and compact)
6. First Aid kit including Deep Heat and Chamois Cream

Stuff that is not yet packed but also need to go is a cap for days when it is safe to cycle without a helmet and it is sunny as well as a small amount of washing powder. I've tried using squirty soap whilst in Shropshire and it wasn't really nice...

The bikes went onto the stand last night and new brake blocks were fitted to my Vita and the other bike was given a oil treatment to stop a click in the pedals.
I've managed to secure a couple more sponsors which will send me some stuff. Hopefully they will arrive on Wednesday. I've also called our local orthodontist - Overleigh Orthodontics who has agreed to sponsor us a couple of small tubes of toothpaste each. This sounds rather strange but if you feel the weight of a normal sized tube and you have limited space and weight you will understand that every gram counts!

Everything electronic has been put in place ready to blog, update and upload. I have linked my Flickr account to my blog and my phone, I have set my phone up to email blog updates through and the GPS tracking is also ready to be activated when we leave. Another little nifty app, called 'Socially' works very well to update both Twitter and Facebook at the same time. NO reason for not updating my position!

So the countdown continues!

Happy cycling!