Tuesday 7 May 2002 - London

Departure day, at last!

After what seemed a lifetime of planning the big day has finally arrived. All the hard work we have put in seems to be paying off at last. All the modifications we hoped to complete on the bikes on the last few days has been finished (weld larger side stand plates, brake pad changes, etc.) though Damian and Dominic had their work cut out in the last day with a few hiccups.

A great big thank you to all who were involved in the organization of this trip. A special thank you to Karen, Rulan, Andy, Kelly, Clive and Mandy. Your hard work is greatly appreciated in making our trip a success.

Clive and Mandy - thanks for the top t-shirts!

We will be heading over the channel today and entering France at Calais hoping to be somewhere close to the German border tonight via the Alps. From there some lovely scenic roads heading toward Munich to pick up our carnets on Friday and then down to Italy at the end of the week.

We look forward to all communication we receive out on the road from today but please accept that we only respond after a few days. We will try our best to respond to all mails received.

Thursday 14 March 2002 - London

Damian has finished his contract IT work and is concentrating his efforts on the web site and trip promotion. Dominic and Gary will finish work at the end of March and be handed a big "to do" list for April. In the meantime, evenings are filled with Internet researching and gathering vital information for the trip. The web site is beginning to take shape as we prepare to approach our potential sponsors.

The remaining work still to be done on the bikes includes:

• upgrading the rear shocks to the Öhlins gas/oil type; both the front and rear
• full service before we leave on a test run
• change tyres, chains and sprockets
• fit the autocom communication systems
• start the paperwork for our carnets (temporary vehicle importation documents)
• start the visa process: India first, then Pakistan, then Iran and only in that order!
• rebuild (software reload) the small laptop which we will be taking with us.

We are in the process of ordering and arranging dates to have the required work on the shock absorbers done. A complete Öhlins rear unit is on order and will be fitted by ourselves in mid April. The front shocks will have harder, stiffer springs fitted and the oil changed to a higher viscosity. This will improve the handling and reliability of the bike.

We will be doing a 3-4 day test run towards the end of April. This should simulate our departure day (bikes equipped and fully laden) so we can identify any outstanding problems or areas we can improve on.

All 3 of us are in the current process of having the various mandatory and optional inoculation injections. This process takes 3-4 weeks to complete. We started the vaccination process with three months to spare, allowing for mandatory gaps between various injections.

Damian will be putting on a suit and tie to approach some sponsors next week. So this weekend we'll have to take some more "portfolio" photo's to upload onto the web site Our web site is our CV.

Two other travellers, David Broughton and George van Waldburg, are also leaving London on a similar adventure, around the time we are leaving. We'll be meeting up with them in early April to make contact with them and exchange ideas.

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