Got to Basel

Well, you just have to hand it to the Swiss. Having slightly stressed about where we were going to put the bikes together and get rid of the boxes, we need not have worried. Right by the carousel was a little station complete with giant bins for cardboard AND an automatic tyre pump that all you needed to do was set the pressure and press a green button.

Other potential stress points were

1) Would all the bikes fit in the taxi? Answer - yes, but only after plan C was put into operation which involved folding over the back seats and me sitting in front of them hoping that the driver wouldnt have to brake suddenly.

2) How much hassle checking in the bikes and bags? Answer - actually none at all. Check in staff had seen it all before, so not even the proverbial eyebrow raised.

3) Would it all the gear arrive in one piece? Answer - obviously yes, but actually very impressed with the robustness of the “Chinese shopping bags” that I had purchased of eBay.

No pump required

Fully assembled - I reckon this took about 40 minutes for both bikes, including clearing away all the rubbish.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

A rest day, a new use for our folding bucket and chips guilt.

Image
We had preplanned to have a bit of a rest /admin day in Breganz. So luxuriating in not having to pitch the tent, we headed into town to do some food shopping early, as being Austria shops actually close early on Sundays. Had coffee in the supermarket coffee place. Got some strange looks as I went in, as I was looking for a powerpoint and therefore was scanning low down all around for the ideal table to sit. Having said that the locals were just as odd, with one elderly gentleman having the breakfast of champions - two cans of lager. The other odd old woman sat for the entire time with a half drunk glass of orange juice. What was remarkable about her however was her hair. This was dyed jet black, but cut to the shape of a cube, with a totally flat top and square sides. Presumably an important tool for her coiffeur beyond a hairdryer would also be a spirit level and a protractor. Unfortunately later on in the evening, Sian started to feel a bit sick, and later on , shall we say, h...
Read more

Waiting for a Typhoon to pass.

Image
A bit of a long one folks, so hang on in there! We are currently in Kyoto awaiting the passing of typhoon Talim which should clear by Monday. Currently raining, but we are holed up in a lovely   new Japanese style guesthouse about 2km from central Kyoto. So the picture to the left is checking in the gear in Tokyo's Haneda airport. Which should have been a straightforward affair, which to be fair it was until we got a call back once we got through security. A very apologetic JAL lady escorted us back through security where we had to open the bike boxes to show an official. Apparently the x ray scan had showed up something containing oil, which I suspect might have been the multispeed Rohloff gear hub. Anyway, they were satisfied, and the same JAL lady, still apologising profusely ( such is the Japanese way) escorted us back through security, and then bowed deeply to us before disappearing. On arrival at Osaka here. It look us about 2 hours from getting the stuff off the b...
Read more

Vietnam, the best coffee shop in the world and the end of this adventure

Image
Well, as the saying goes, all good things have to come to an end and I am sitting here in Bangkok airport waiting for our flight back to blighty. A brief summary of what we have done now follows. We've been following the coast south from Route 9 - the old border between North and South Vietnam. Stayed a couple of nights in a place with it's own private waterfall. Another heroic route planning failure. It's not obvious from the photo, but that path is pretty steep and very rutted. So off the bikes and push - not easy in the heat! Sorry Sian..... The main coastal route in Vietnam is the Q1- and it has a bit of a reputation on the web as being the highway to hell! This in fact is it - whilst it is busy and you don't want to be on it all day, it is no worse than any of the other main roads we have been on. Generous hard shoulder and a lot of the time a central reservation ( thus stopping some of the crazy overtaking manoeuvres that you get otherwise)....
Read more