Post 35: Wales Oxford London Chelmsford (UK)

'Welcome to Wales', .... I'm sure there's a sign but we probably missed it in the torrential rain. Thankfully 'Army Surplus Gortex' is cheap and if your not too choosy about style and colour coordination then it's perfect for what we're doing. I was remarkably dry given that the Ace Cafe was our last rain free day. Alan's more conventional kit is keeping him dry too ... apart from his boots, ..... and his gloves, ... oh, and his jacket, but apart from that he's happy with the manufacturers promises of comfort and safety. Arise Mr Gortex and receive your Nobel Prize for services to motorcycling in general and old retired couriers in particular. Alan will dry out eventually, it's only water, .... get over it ;-)

On Friday evening we sloshed into Bewts Y Coed to meet a group of friends from Boxertrix, .. it was getting dark and just for a change we were running late. We pulled into our chosen campsite, 'Closed for refurbishment, Opens June 2008'. (How do you 'Refurbish' a campsite? Answers on a small postcard please). With no alternative site and with very sad wallets, we broke a cardinal rule of Poor Circulation and booked into a hotel for the night. In our defence, it was late, there was no other campsite within a 5 mile radius and as Snowdonia is a National Park, it's illegal to rough camp. At least we managed to dry out most of our kit while quaffing pints and pies in the Royal oak with a great group of guys from all over the UK, ..... however it was a shame that the hotel designers had chosen to fit light beige carpets throughout, .... hey ho.

Unfortunately for the Boxertrix crew they didn't get to see us riding our Tigers magestically through the mountains of Snowdonia but I'm sure they would have been suitably impressed if they had, ..... cough. We actually waited for the last BMW to leave the car park on Saturday morning before we even tried to start the bikes let alone wobble out before an enthusiastic audience, ...... but at least my bike started this time. We headed straight for Didcott to enjoy yet more Pie with old friends Mark and Anna before coming into London to collect our visa's for Russia, .... 'Closed All Day Sunday', ...... bugger.

I must be on holiday, I honestly can't remember what day it is. I think it must be Tuesday because this morning I had my final vaccinations against unknown tropical diseases that probably sting slightly less than the private clinics invoice, ...... 'how much, ... you said £60?', ...... 'EACH sir, ... £60 each, cash or cheque?'. From there it was straight back to London to collect our passports with shiny new Russian Visa pages while Alan was doing 'essential maintenance work' in the Poor Circulation shed, ..... nothing to do with the torrential rain then? Perfect timing really, we got the passports back with 24 hours to spare but only thanks to CitySprint stepping in at the last moment and Alan and I lightening our pockets by way too many of our English Pounds, .... but it'll all be worth it in the long ride. On the bright side, we were treated to lunch today (more Pie) at Farleigh Hospice in Chelmsford where a couple of friends, John and Joe, had come to wish us well, ..... thanks lads, but we still think your barking mad for riding so far in rain like that, ...... but it was much appreciated.

Tonight (still raining) we've been doing final preparations to the bikes. It would have been finished long before dark if Alan hadn't overfilled his sump when changing the oil. Alan, here's a tip bonny lad, when the bottle reads '5L'and your sump holds '4L', ...... don't pour it all in, .. it's ever so messy and not to mention expensive, .. but I will.

Tomorrow we head for Folkstone to camp with friends who also enjoy riding and pitching tents in dank conditions before catching the ferry to Calais on Thursday morning, ... surely France can't be this wet. 'Operation Stack, ....... what's that all about then?' Bon Soir.

www.justgiving.com/geoffgthomas

Post 34: Eskdale & Waswater (UK)

It's dark, it's cold and it's raining but we really don't care, ......... we're having the longest weekend of our lives and most other folks are probably going back to work on Monday morning. You should be jealous, we'll dry out eventually and if your going to get wet, then Waswater is possibly the most beautiful place in England to do so.

The Tigers are heavy but they've actually handled quite well so far. I've currently got too much weight over the rear of the bike and the front end feels quite vague (it didn't feel great to begin with) and in slow filtering traffic it's an absolute nightmare which is a good excuse to keep well away from the beaten track.On the motorways they're amazingly comfortable and in the interests of saving the bikes and therefore money, we're taking it easy and averaging over 55mpg. We came over Hardknott Pass with the front wheels constantly pawing the air, .... but with a little weight adjustment they'll be just fine. Off-Road the Anakee tyres feel just like normal road rubber and it will be interesting to see how they cope with anything rougher or wetter, but then it will be more interesting to see how 'We' cope with that too. On the plus side, with all of the luggage on the bike the suspension is so compressed that I can actually touch the floor with both feet. If we do go to the Nurburg Ring next week, ..... then it's definitely a case of 'Luggage Off' before doing any serious laps.

We've got great friends with us; Daz is here for another day before riding off to Whitby whilst Steve and Nicky Kelly have driven up with Alan's phone and have just presented us with a 'Poor Circulation' cake. Tomorrow we'll ride down to Wales and meet up with a group of guys from Boxertrix.com and in the meantime, .... we'll eat pie and raise a few glasses to those who can't come with us, ...... Cheers.

www.justgiving.com/geoffgthomas

Post 33: St Teresa's Hospice Darlington (UK)

Despite the torrential rain (we're still in England), we made good time up to Darlington for our 'Official Send-off' from St Teresa's Hospice at 11am. The staff and a few close friends we're there to wish us well and send us on our way. We parked the bikes without dropping them, exhausted the hospices supply of HobNob's and then did a radio interview with BBC Radio Tees outside in the pouring rain with the Tigers in the background. (Yes, ..... me and Big Al actually on the radio, .. I hope they captured our best sides).

With the formalities over and Scotland beckoning, we boarded the bikes for the essential footage of our departure and ceremoniously set off into the gloom. Hey, ... this is 'Poor Circulation', it could never be that simple. During the radio broadcast they'd asked me to keep my bike running for 'background effect'. When we were finally ready to leave, ........ my battery had other intentions and the bloody Tiger refused to start. I should have been embarrassed, I should have appreciated the concerned looks on the faces of all present, .... but all I could do was roll on the floor with laughter and wonder what could possibly go wrong next. Here I was, convincing the grown-ups that I was ready to ride around the world and I couldn't even get out of the hospice car park. Several telephone calls secured me a replacement battery, ..... not as you might expect from Triumph, but from White Brothers (Honda) Ltd, in Northgate, Darlington. A quick jump start from a nearby car (It refused to bump-start despite the best efforts of 4 delightful nurses pushing me, ... but I enjoyed it) and a short ride to the bike shop saw me take possession of a new Battery, ....... at 'Cost'. Many thanks to David Burrell and all of the staff at White Bros for keeping us on the road.

It's still raining, we're three hours behind schedule and we've been warned that petrol stations further north are already rationing their fuel in anticipation of the pending refinery strike, ..... and we were worried about petrol supplies across Russia. Anyway, ... it's now day 3 of Poor Circulation and we've just decided to skip a whole country, ..... but Scotland's Gain is our Loss and we promise to do it on the way back.

A short hop to Croft in order to collect something of vital sentimental importance (which will be explained in full once we've safely entered America) and we head for the Penny Garth Cafe in Hawes. More saturated fats and caffeine (do you see a pattern developing?) and Alan discovers that his mobile phone is still at Squires. Daz volunteers to ride back and collect it (top bloke), but we've seen him ride and decide that it's far safer for everyone concerned to have it collected by a proper adult. Long story short, in the absence of the adult, Alan's brother drives from Braintree to Squires where he is fed with free coffee and pasties and brings the offending Nokia to Boot in Eskdale where we're enjoying free camping courtesy of Hollins Farm Campsite and quite possibly the finest Steak n Ale Pie in Blighty courtesy of the Boot Inn, ..... life really doesn't get much better than this, it's even stopped raining.

www.justgiving.com/geoffgthomas

Post 32: Squires Milk Bar (UK)

We were due to meet an old friend Darryl Booker (Daz/Moggy) at Squires before riding onto Whitby for our first night under canvas. Reliable as ever, Daz arrives as planned at 1pm, ...... unfortunately Poor Circulation were still approximately 200 miles south and beginning to understand why everyone had advised us to take at least a full year in the 'Planning Stage'. Eventually we found some extra bungee's, stacked the bikes high and wide and headed north to meet him. We're not totally thoughtless, ... we did keep him informed by text and invented a whole list of reasonable excuses for our tardiness. Unfortunately, as Daz was at the beginning of a weeks touring, he'd switched off his phone to conserve the battery, ... oops!.

So we started on the basis that the sooner we get behind, the longer we have to catch up and to my mind, ... that's actually quite logical. We decided that as it was getting dark when we arrived at Squires we'd pitch tents and spend the night there. A good plan indeed, supported by copious quantities of local ale and some of the rudest saturated fats this side of the Pennines, .... gorgeous. Hats off to the bikers at Squires who all seemed to have covered more miles than we had and looked in general a hell of a lot better for it than we did, ... tough breed theses Yorkshire folks.

www.justgiving.com/geoffgthomas

Post 31: Ace Cafe London (UK)

'Do not let what you cannot do interfere with what you can do' ....... John Wooden

I'm not sure if I ever truly believed that this day would arrive, 'Departure Day'. Given another month of planning and we would have been better prepared, but sometimes you've just got to go with what you've got.

We were due to be at the Ace Cafe for 7pm but arrived fashionably late for The Riders Digest magazines national launch. At least It started well for Harry Hill who will be pinning next years BAFTA hopes on footage of my collisions with firstly a traffic cone and secondly an Aprilia 250 on entering the Ace car park. A big thanks to Julian of Boxertrix.com for catching the Aprilia in mid-fall and thus preventing the predictable comedy moment where a line of 9 motorbikes prove Nixon's domino theory to be correct. (Apologies to the Aprilia owner; no damage, ...... and when I say 'Comedy Moment', of course I mean for everyone except the owners of the actual bikes involved). Personally I put my crappy riding down to 'Stage Fright' and not to the fact that I am indeed a 'Crappy Rider'.

To our surprise, Alan and I were ushered to the VIP enclosure where the Tigers took pride of place. No sooner had we parked the bikes than Mark Wilsmore; saviour and owner of the Ace Cafe since 1996, appeared with sausage sandwiches, hot coffee, Ace Socks and the offer of free food for the evening. He then posed for photographs with the bikes. Now, some of you may never have visited the Ace Cafe, .. a few may never have heard of it, ... but Mark Wilsmore asking to pose for pictures is akin to Valentino Rossi asking for our autographs, it shouldn't happen to blokes like us. (With respect to the future trading prospects of the Ace Cafe, I convinced Alan that the offer of free food for the evening was in fact, ..... a Joke).

Given that The Riders Digest we're involved, we expected a few people to be there, but the level of interest was truly staggering. People that we had never met seemed to know who we were, where we were going and why we were doing it, we even had John Chatterton-Ross, a UK director of the FIM (Federation Internationale De Motorcyclisive) waiting to interview us about the trip. For two blokes who have made careers out of being invisible we really didn't know how to react, ... we were honestly overwhelmed.

Many thanks to everyone for the words of support, .... the Mars Bars, the donations, the Euros and the level of encouragement, ....... next stop Squires.

poorcirculation@hotmail.co.uk

www.justgiving.com/geoffgthomas

Post 30: 'Departure Day'

'I should write something profound and inspirational here, ....... but I'm too shattered to even think' ....... Blue88

It's 21st April 2008, Queen Elizabeth's Birthday and Departure Day for Poor Circulation. Tonight we'll head down to the Ace Cafe at 7pm for The Riders Digest 'National-Bash'. It'll be the first time we've ridden the fully loaded Tigers through London and it's going to be a whole lot of fun trying to negotiate rush-hour traffic. The loaded Tiger's are wide, so wide that they appear on Google Earth and each pannier has it's own independent postcode, ... 'A406 Frustration' here we come. It's a bit of a fraud really as although we'll have all of the camping kit on the bikes, .... we're actually returning to our respective homes for a last night of comfort.

On Sunday I added the poorcirculation@hotmail.co.uk eMail address to the Blog and Website and the response from well wishers has been amazing. Although we sit and pour out drivel onto these blogs every few days, it's a strange feeling to know that some folks actually take the time to read them, ...... but many thanks to those who have sent messages it really gives us a major boost when we're both totally knackered.

On Tuesday we're heading up to Darlington in County Durham ready for the departure from St Teresa's Hospice on Woodlands Road at 11am on Wednesday 23rd April. This was to have been our original departure point, but as with many things, ...... we've changed the plans as we've gone along. We're now leaving the Farleigh Hospice in Broomfield, Chelmsford at 1pm on Tuesday 29th April before heading down to Dover for the P&O ferry to France. I don't think I'll feel as if we've started our journey until I start riding on the wrong side of the road, ... so hopefully I'll remember to do that ;0)

We're due to collect the passports with the Russian visas on the day that we head down to Dover for the ferry. 'Real Russia' assure us that they will be ready on time and there is absolutely nothing to worry about. That's reassuring and what else could possibly go wrong?, ....... a fuel shortage while we're in Scotland?, .... never.

www.justgiving.com/geoffgthomas

Post 29: 'Kick me I'm dreaming'

'I just got a letter from the bank, .... I'm overdrawn mate, ... the money's all gone' ...... Alan Kelly 18:09 Hours 16/04/2008

At first I laughed, ... but then I realised that he wasn't joking. Just when we thought that all of our bases were covered, the unexpected problem rises from nowhere and bites us firmly on the arse. The biggest problem we've had to overcome this far is a 'Lack of Money', ....... Alan's telephone call on Wednesday evening suggested that the new problem might well be 'No Money' at all. He'd returned from work and opened a letter from his bank stating that as he's such a valued customer, they'd refunded the £30 fee for going overdrawn on his current account. Err, .... which 'overdrawn' is that? He reads further only to find that the majority of Poor Circulation's budget had transformed overnight from an almost reasonable wedge of cash into a nasty looking overdraft. I have to say that it wasn't the best news I'd received that day and to suggest that Alan's gander was at vertical, .... would be the absolute truth. In the interests of any younger readers I'll save you from the actual language used, ..... but it's fair to say that ears would be burning down in E14. Looking on the bright side, Alan may have been 'Robbed', but the genuine cheque that finally sent him into apparent overdraft had been payable to me and the funds have already cleared, ... I'm alright Jack.

Back in March, Alan had lost £250 from his current account. His bank identified that it wasn't withdrawn by him and agreed to make a refund and replaced his bank cards etc. Following that incident, the news that his handsome Credit Balance had transformed into an ugly Debit Balance really wasn't what he wanted to hear. It didn't help that the bank in question had no 'Call Centre' or any other way of resolving the problem until 9am this morning. I guess he's had quite a restless night, probably hoping that he'd wake this morning to find Bobby Ewing back in the shower and that everything in his world was once again peachy.

I'd like to tell you that it's simply an error based on the way that his various bank accounts are interlinked, ... but as he's now stranded on the M11 (Road Closure) I'll simply have to hope for the best. I telephoned him earlier, .. but I think that he's exhausted the charge in his mobile phone, ........ and all of the charging leads are sitting in my panniers (Ooops). I'm confident that we've identified what happened, and that Alan's money is still all there, ...... but if I was in his Frank Thomas Aqua's, .... I'd be panicking too.

I'll add to this 'Post' and let you know what the eventual outcome is, but surely, ........ nothing else could possibly go wrong.

UPDATE: Bank Error in Our Favour, .... Collect Passports & Advance to Go :-)

www.justgiving.com/geoffgthomas

Post 28: 'Team Haphazard Reunited'

Alan and I have received some great news today. From May 1st 'Team Haphazard' are going to be reunited for a few days in Europe. This will be the first time that the four of us have ridden together since the Nick Sanders Moto Challenge GB in 2004.

Mark Wallis and Lee Crahart, both seasoned bike travellers are joining us for our journey through France and Germany. It'll be great to have them with us but a word of warning to their wives, ........... hide their credit cards if you expect them home anytime this year.

(If your wondering about the silly pose in the photograph, ... join the club)

www.justgiving.com/geoffgthomas

Post 27: 'Size Really Does Matter'

'Mistakes are a fact of life, .... and in some cases the casue' ......... Anon

It's actually a lot bigger than I thought it was. Unfortunately, I'm referring to Russia. We've been planning our route by concentrating on various 'Road Maps' which all seem to use different scales and don't reflect the true distances that we'll be travelling. For example, our map of the UK is exactly the same size as our map of North America but if they'd printed them using the same scale, the USA map alone would fill a large room. Now that Alan's sold his soul and bought a Garmin Satnav, his world's become encased within a 4" by 3" screen and that distorts the perspective of distances even more. Looking at the map to the left with Russia conveniently highlighted in red, ..... you begin to get the impression that it's quite a long shlep from West to East. Even if the roads are far better than we expect, it's still going to take some time to ride from Sochi in the west to Vladivostok in the far east. Then once we arrive in Vladivostok we'll need a degree of flexibility in order to arrange our exit to either Alaska or Japan before our Russian visas expire. We'd always planned on obtaining 3 Month Business Visas which would allow us to ride through and explore Russia without having to break our backs completing high daily mileages a'la Long Way Down. A Great Plan, ...... but unfortunately, ... Crappy Execution. (No change there then).

In my defence, I've never visited Russia before, I don't speak any Russian and the Cyrillic Alphabet is a bit of a bugger to learn. Add to that the fact that whilst I've had some limited experiences with Russian Websites, .. the particular Russian Visa website that I was using on Sunday evening didn't have the usual number of helpful pictures. However, I'd previously used the website to discover that we couldn't apply for the visas until 45 days prior to their commencement date and I'd already managed to find a solution to that little problem. I'd then worked out a cunning plan for getting our passports to and from the Russian Consulate in time for our departure from Dover on May 1st. It was all going so amazingly smoothly, ..... and then I moved my mouse over the icon and clicked 'Send' on the first visa application. It was 8pm on Sunday evening, an 'Error Message' flashed annoyingly on my screen, it had all gone horribly wrong and I had another 12 hours before I could contact a responsible adult for guidance. Unfortunately, following a night of restless panic, I made my frantic telephone call on Monday morning only to find that my 'Responsible Adult' was actually away on vacation, ..... bugger. I'd overlooked a little detail in the 'small print' and was short of two documents for the visa applications. Further adding to my defence, I'm dyslexic and within the visa companies service schedule the word 'including' could easily be confused with 'excluding', .... cough.

To cut an embarrassing administrative omission short, a familiar organisation leaped to our rescue and saved the day for Poor Circulation. (This adventure is beginning to resemble my daughters primary school homework: 'Is this your own work Miss Thomas?, ........ 'Of course Sir'). All praise to CitySprint, ..... the worlds favourite worldwide logistics organisation. They provided the responsible adult necessary to pave the way for the acquisition of two beautiful three month entry visas for Mother Russia. The timing is still going to be very tight, but if my memory serves me well, 'tight' is not always a bad thing.

www.justgiving.com/geoffgthomas
http://www.citysprint.co.uk/

Post 26: 'April Fool,... or not?'

'Nothing in life is to be feared, it is only to be understood'. ........ Marie Curie

Well, .... I understand that with one week to go before departure, I'm bricking myself with fear. In 5 weeks time when we've just blagged our way across the border and into Russia (Still no Visas) I'll be telling you how confident I've been from the very beginning, ... but until that time I think I'll remain in fear mode. If I'm rational about it then there's actually very little to fear, but then If I was rational I guess I wouldn't be buggering off around the world in the first place. Alan's hacked off because I've already finished work and he doesn't leave his job until next week. Come the weekend he probably wants to morph into a sofa but he knows that there's still too much left to do. At least now he understands how I used to feel when I was dispatching all week and then frowning at the suggestion of a weekends 'Pleasure Ride'.

We've both had problems with the Triumph alarm systems this week. Alan's alarm was sounding all day while he was at work and he came home to find a flat battery and some very angry neighbours. After charging his battery things returned to normal but it's still a worry if that happens again when we're in the middle of nowhere. For me, I stopped for a brew in Croydon and the Datatool system wouldn't disarm. Hopefully it was just a dogey battery in the alarm fob which I've now replaced. Triumph were very 'Helpful' with their advice (if not with their discounts, ... non-subtle hint) and once we get out of western Europe, we're seriously thinking about ditching the alarms completely. It's a weird thing, but we worry more about crime in the countries with the highest standards of living, .... but then I guess a stolen Triumph Tiger in Mongolia would stand out a little more than it would in central London.

Ever the optimist, I decided to get a new MOT certificate on the bike this week. The current ticket is valid until July 2008, so I guess I'm working on the basis that I'll eventually get the Tiger back to England and be able to ride it legally. The fact that the Tiger and it's luggage will represent the sum total or my worldly goods means that I should pay it a little more respect and at least bring it home in one operational piece, ....... so I will at least try. Apart from the bike and my tent, I'll be homeless when I return, but that's not really a Big Issue at the moment.

We still haven't worked out how to cross the Atlantic for our triumphant return but I'm sure we'll find a way. There's no point in even trying to plan that part of the trip now as things keep changing on an almost daily basis. This week two of the three weekly ferry crossings out of Vladivostok have stopped operating. Thankfully, the service we intend to use in the absence of direct flights to Alaska is still running, .... so fingers crossed we'll be OK.

On Tuesday I got a telephone call from a television production company who claimed that they wanted to film Poor Circulation as part of a documentary for ITV. I checked the diary, ... and yes it was April 1st. However, ... they've been in touch since and apparently it is a serious demonstration of interest, .... so I'll get my people to talk to your people and we'll keep you posted.

www.justgiving.com/poorcirculation

Post 25: 'Nothing Left to do, ... but to Go'

'Beer, the cause and solution for all of life's problems' ........ Homer J Simpson

Considering that I'm not a 'Big Drinker', beer seems to have played an important role throughout the planning stages of Poor Circulation. I was under the amber influence when I first informed The Riders Digest of my plans and thus committed myself to the journey, Alan Kelly was halfway to oblivion when he finally decided to come along with me and it was the same bravery juice that allowed us to ask for most of the free goods that have made this whole enterprise possible. All praise to the ale.

The picture to the left was taken a few weeks ago and since then things have moved along at pace. Thankfully excepting several stitches in my head and a few more injections in my arm, .... the news from Poor Circulation HQ is all good. We've just had our travel insurance accepted on standard rates by Worldwide Insure, .... last night some 'Geordie Bloke' donated £100 to St Teresa's Hospice via my charity page, ...... a neighbour is taking the remaining half of a Suzuki Bandit off my hands and the old BMW has just passed its 'Reserve Price' on eBay, .... life really doesn't get much better than this. (Sadly the money form the BMW sale isn't mine to keep, but I guess you can't have your K75 and eat it). Apart form obtaining the Russian Visas, everything else that we need to do before departure is simply Garnish and not Substance. I've basically packed up my apartment and the few things that I haven't sold and want to keep for my eventual return will go into storage just before we leave. For the first time in years I feel that I now know exactly where I am. I don't mean this to sound poncy, but looking at a loaded bike, a plastic wallet filled with documents and two suitcases containing the remains of my life makes everything seem so clear. I've even worked out that after I've packed the clothes that I'm using on the trip, I can wear my remaining wardrobe on a 'total loss' basis and thus avoid any laundry before we go, .... Result.

Things can still go horribly wrong and I'm sure that lots probably will, but we've done everything that we can in the time that we've had to make this thing work. Basically, we are both totally knackered and need a decent holiday to get over it. This weekend, as ready as we ever will be, we'll take it easy and no doubt raise a glass or three to those who've helped us this far and to the biking friends who knew of our plans but who are sadly no longer around to wave us farewell: Russel (CitySprint), Beef (Bowes Wino's), Eric (Bowes Wino's), Peter (CitySprint), Big Sev (Bowes Wino's) and Eon (Boxertrix).

www.justgiving.com/geoffgthomas

Post 24: 'Snow Stops Play, .... again'

'The ability to quote is a serviceable substitute for wit' ........ Somerset Maugham

I'm not one for believing in conspiracy theories, but snow at Easter and again this weekend has thwarted our plans for testing the camping equipment. We know that everything now fits onto the bikes, ... but we've got to work out how to get everything on and off the bikes in a reasonable amount of time. Getting it 'off' is not a problem, ... it's the 'back on' part that's proving to be impossible. Being unable (or unwilling) to test these things properly is not a show stopper, but it's certainly bloody annoying. When my sleeping bag arrived, it was in it's own neat carrying bag and looked tiny. I guess I'm no different to any other kid receiving toys, ... I had to try it out. It works fine, ...... but even in the comfort of my home I can't get it back to anything like it's size on arrival. If the tent I'm taking works on the same basis then we'll need a third Tiger to carry the unpacked kit. On a brighter note, I've only got 11 more vaccinations to go and I'm now sporting 7 stitches in my scalp, ..... not too comfy even with a flip-front helmet.

All of our spares and equipment have now arrived and this week we'll put K&N filters on both Tigers, fit the bar braces and work out exactly how to keep all of our electrical equipment fully charged from the bikes system. Theoretically it should all work, .... but I've always been more of a practical kind of bloke and wont trust it until I've actually seen it in action. At the moment, it just looks like a trendy but unappetizing platter of black spaghetti hanging from a Krauser topbox ........ and why oh why does every piece of rechargeable electrical equipment require a slightly different connector?

The hot news from Eastern Russia is that from 15th July, air passage from Vladivostok to Alaska will be available, .... at a price that is still to be declared. The window for flying out of Vladivostok closes on September 15th which is fine as our Visas expire on August 31st. Should we be unable to fly from Russia to Alaska as planned, we still have Plans B and C to fall back on, both of which are actually a lot more fun than Plan A, ...... so the uncertainty isn't exactly stressing me out.

I've just heard the news that another biking colleague has died this weekend whilst riding in Southern Spain, Eon Carlyle (1951-2008). Our thoughts are with Eon's family up in Yorkshire.

www.justgiving.com/geoffgthomas

Post 23: 'CitySprint, .... they deliver'

'I mentioned early on that I recognize there are hurdles, and that we are going to achieve those hurdles' ..... GWB

I should really apologise for using so many 'Bushism's' in my opening quotes, but they're such a rich source of appropriate material that it would be foolish to ignore them. Anyway, as they probably say in Texas, ..... you don't take hamburgers to a steak supper.

When we set about bringing all of the elements of Poor Circulation together, we wrote 'Begging Letters' to various companies asking for small contributions by way of 'Kit' and 'Spare Parts'. It was the only way that we could possibly achieve our objective of riding around the world on such a limited budget. Our lack of money was indeed a major hurdle, .... but it was a hurdle that we knew we could eventually achieve. This approach has been amazingly successful and over the past few weeks packages from various organisations have been arriving in a constant stream. The generosity of the many mostly small organisations has amazed us. Alan and I are not 'Ewan & Charlie', we can't promise that donor's will achieve record sales on the back of our efforts or that we'll convert a new generation to Adventure Motorcycling, but never the less they've supported us. The really humbling part in all of this is that none of our 'Supporters' have asked for anything in return; No Publicity Shots, No Bigging-UP of Products, not even a request to mention their support in our various media millimeters. We will of course give credit where credit is due but we'll also be honest about the things that work well, ..... and those that fall short of the mark. Sure, the majority of our begging letters probably ended up in 'File 13', like the cheeky request for free fuel from BP, but if you keep your expectations low, you'll seldom be disappointed.

Obviously we have to carry everything that we'll need with us on the bikes. We've tried to minimise what we carry by researching what we'll actually be able to purchase at various points along the way. It is a given that things will break and parts will wear out and where possible we have planned for this and are taking a limited amount of spare parts with us, .... but there are limits. However, CitySprint have agreed to support us by doing what they do best, ... worldwide delivery. By providing us with a 'Contact Point' in London, we now have the comfort in knowing that whatever parts we require, and wherever in the world we are, CitySprint will get it too us and keep the wheels of Poor Circulation turning. I've convinced Alan that CitySprint's offer of help doesn't quite stretch to delivering Steak Pies to regions where Cabbage and Pork Fat are the only menu options, but knowing that an emergency replacement tyre or a fuel coupling bayonet are only an email away gives us a much greater sense of security and a far better chance of success.

To those who've supported us by providing parts and services, ... and to those individuals who have donated directly to our respective charities, ..... we THANK YOU.

http://www.justgiving.com/poorcirulation

Post 22: 'Hidden Costs, Obvious Benefits'

'Either write something worth reading, or do something worth writing'. ....... Bejamin Franklin

To be frank, .... there's nothing much to write about at the moment. Things are happening, but nothing of interest to anybody with a life. It's the mundane time and energy sapping processes of last minute planning and sorting out the loose ends created by leaving your home and family for six months that are driving us crazy. Departure is so close that we can taste it, but there are still lots of dung heaps to vault before we can finally place 'Responsibility' into the 'Pending' tray and bugger off around the world. I'm now into my second day of last minute travel vaccinations. So far I've enjoyed Hepatitis A, Hepatitis B, Rabies, Tick Borne Encephalitis, Polio, Tetanus, Diphtheria, Tuberculosis and Typhoid. Some of them are '3 Course Inoculations' so I guess that's quite a few more injections before we leave. Thankfully, the only stinging is in my wallet, ... but boy does that sting. I entered the private hospital in Chelmsford marveling at the difference between this and the more familiar NHS variety, ...... I left understanding who had paid for all of that splendor. Thankfully, the NHS will cover all but the Rabies and Encephalitis vaccines, but these two courses still account for 20 days of our respective budgets.

Earlier in the Blog I mentioned that we'd secured travel insurance through Worldwide Insure, ... but now they've come back and asked for a detailed itinerary and I'm reliving the nightmares of when I first approached the tourist authority for China. I hope that it's going to be alright. If for any reason it goes horribly pear-shaped, then it's getting a little late in the day to arrange alternates.

Early in the planning stage for Poor Circulation I approached Marmite (Unilever Plc) to see if they would be interested in seeing how the people of Eastern Russia and Mongolia would react to impromptu 'Love It? - Hate It?' taste tests. Unfortunately, ...... their silence spoke a thousand words of rejection. My new plan (always have a back-up) is to do the same using proper 'Liquorice'. I don't mean the liquorice allsorts kind, ... I mean proper man's liquorice, the kind that used to be in the black variety of 'Sports Mixtures' until they wimped out and went all blackcurrant on us. Apparently all proper liquorice comes from the Pontefract area of Yorkshire which we'll be passing on our way up to Darlington. We'll take some liquorice sweets along with us and test the reactions of the people that we meet. Alan thinks I'm one stop short of barking (I guess that's East Ham or Upney depending on which direction your traveling) but for me it's just any excuse to interact with people along the way. We'll see some fantastic places and the photographs will look amazing, .... just as amazing as every other photograph of the same thing, but it's the people that we meet that will make these things truly memorable.

Back in the days when I had hair and seemingly spent most of each year travelling, I was visiting the Pyramids in Giza, suffering from travel fatigue and as usual, got chatting to a local rogue, in this case it was Ahamed. He convinced me that climbing to the top was 'this years thing' and so the race began. Following a brief but expensive interface with two officers from the tourist police we rode back to Cairo and got wasted together at a bar in the Marriott Red Fort Hotel overlooking the Nile. Later in the evening, the two 'off duty' officers joined Ahamed and myself along with another of their friends who claimed to be a retired army general who was now trading as an independent arms dealer. We all ended up at the Heliopolis Hotel close to the airport, knocking out shapes to Donna Summer and Black Box with some amazingly agile and hedonistic flight attendants. The rest as they say is history, ..... the Pyramids are still there, (though the Heliopolis Hotel actually burned down the next evening) and still very much the wonder that they always were, ....... but that evening on the town with four of Cairo's finest will never be repeated, ...... you simply had to be there. Hedonistic Flight Attendants apart, the Ahamed's that we meet along the way will make Poor Circulation different form all other holidays or adventures, ...... but only if we're brave enough to start a conversation.

http://www.justgiving.com/geoffgthomas

http://www.poor-circulation.net/