And so the countdown begins......

Only 14 days and I will be leaving for England to begin the journey.  However in only 5 hours I will begin a "Day in the life of ....."  A test ride from Cape Town to Stellenbosch (65kms) covering the average distance in a day that I will ride on the Via Francigena.  I will then camp overnight in my new tent and sleeping bag and, if the weather holds, ride a similar 65kms on Friday , camp again in Stellenbosch and then cycle back to Cape Town on Saturday.  Scary though, the weather forecast for Saturday is cold, heavy rain with snow on the mountains and 65km hour winds - maybe I'll ride home on Friday - what do you think?

So tonight (Wed 08 August)....I packed

I took pics so you can see just how much I need to carry - not all of it for the DILO but I do want to replicate everything that I may need or do in Europe.  Look at the stuff I am taking....

I have to fit all of that into my 3 little pannier bags you see at the front of the picture

So here is the bike - as I normally ride it - all sleek and ready to roll

And here it is - very, very heavy.... packed with all that stuff!  I have a feeling that before I leave for Europe I might just trim it down a tad ;o)

Doesn't look like much I know - but think of the ALPS!

Follow me on Thursday 09 August on this blog and on Twitter:  @ElredL  and see how my trial ride goes.

And remember: Please consider donating to FTH:K.  We had a great interview on SAFM on Tue 07 August. I'll find a way to post the MP3 it iswell worth a listen if you want to know more about FTH:K (which, by the way, means "Straight Talking") of course you can always visit their site www.fthk.co.za.

Thanks to Karen Key for having us on her show.  Hasta la vista - I have a long hard day ahead