A Marathon XR tyre arrived for me at work today. These tyres are the dogs testicles of the bicycle touring tyre world, but I only ordered one, as I was unsure that they would fit my bike. Unfortunately, the size 26 x 2.0 was too large for the fork on the front of my Dawes Sardar. It did, however, fit the back nicely. This will leave me with a rear wheel whose tyre is wider than the front one - not a major issue. Its just a shame that they only make this tyre in the one size. It means I have to look for a suitable front tyre now, and a foldabale one that fits both the front and the back to take as a spare.

Training tonight actually involved some cycling - which was a bonus! A couple of laps of the reservoir on the newly fitted tyre, which seemed to handle the rough track a lot better than the previous one. The last lap felt a bit tougher, which is hardly a suprise after my standard 10 hour working day consisting of pulling pallets, liftling boxes (and to be fair, talking shit and drinking coffee).

I browsed through a couple of websites today of other people either contemplating or embarking on a similar trip. Their budgets, which they consider tight, are double mine, which got me a bit jittery. Is it possible to do this trip on 10 pounds a day.... or even less if the trip takes longer than 12 months??!???!? Its kind of got to be, really.