A cool birthday cake

This is the fantastic birthday cake that Karen Watson created one fine day. I thought that since I am here doing absolutely nothing I'd show it off. It was the coolest cake ever.

Note the liquorice mtb tyres, the choc blueberry muffin boulders, and the violet crumble/chocolate mud. Awesome.

I think this is meant to represent the faceplant injury I obtained (see herpetic lesions from the first post).

Please also note:
Jelly snake suspension
Banana bike seat
Jelly bean pedals

5 and 1/2 nights to go...

Here I am, bored, in the middle of a night shift. Apparently the ward has been as busy as shite and Alec and Sam who were on before me got absolutely spanked... after drinking a cup of coffee I am feeling like an agitated Duracell bunny and have been bouncing between each ward getting jobs done with ruthless, trembling efficiency.

Transferred my speedo onto my bike today (bike computer, not skimpy bathers). Hopefully it'll work when we get to Tibet. It's wireless so at least there will be no wires for a rabid dog to chew.

I think I should get something to eat.

Jen's Passport Photo

Do you think Chinese customs officials will believe that this is Jen's passport? I don't.

1 Week to Go...

We've got a run of seven night shifts between now and our trip... Had a very productive night last night whilst getting into night mode. We ended up watching 2 episodes of Alias (thanks Anna!) and going for a run at 3:30am (we saw 3 cars in total and ran past what we thought was a car engine running; Jen thought it could've been someone committing suicide but we double checked and it was just the sound of a water pump! Very eerie at that hour...

Spent many hours fine-tuning Antho's bike, which is looking good now that I've replaced the rear cassette, the chain, and one of the jockey-wheels. I also cleaned out the bearings of the other jockey wheel, and replaced the hand grips and tightened the bar ends that were flopping around, and changed the front tyre that had a tear in it hidden under the rim. I'm learning so much about fixing bikes! Also fine-tuned the derailleurs so they are now changing smooth as butter.

Still got a bit of a way to go with Antho's bike. Jen's bike is another story. We bought some mechanical disc brakes from eBay and I put those on the other day. Dropped it in for a service and realised that front one is a bit shagged. So we're holding on with bated breath to see if we can get it fixed before we go away. Otherwise we'll just have to fork out more dosh to buy a new brake.

And we're still waiting for our bloody pannier bags! Can't wait to get them so we can actually see how much room we have for all our shite.

Better get back to some more Alias...

later,
m

Sometimes work makes us feel like doing this.

Cute?

Cute? I think so.

m.

Two weeks to go...

Only two weeks to go before we head to Tibet. It's pretty surreal and I can't imagine what it's going to be like, only that it's going to be fantastic. I always get nervous about getting there; airport stresses and baggage and bikes. It's always a lot better once you arrive where you are supposed to be.

Still got a lot of things to do. Antho's bike is still in pretty bad shape after spending more than $300 doing it up. I think I'm going to replace the cassette and chain, and perhaps the rear derailleur. Will be a work in progress over the next few days.

Well this is the first posting. We'll see if anything more comes of it. I doubt we'll get any internet access while we're on our trip.

m.