Francesca on August 3rd, 2009

It’s been over a month since I left my job and time is ticking down. Since I left, I’ve spent two weeks in the Cascades (trip reports to follow) and summited Mt Shuksan and Mt Rainier.
I’ve received and sorted mounds of gear and decided against carrying more than the essentials. Dragging 50lb packs up two [...]

Continue reading about Update: less than two weeks until D-day

Francesca on February 28th, 2009

Inspired by Helen over at Take On Africa (who’s clearly a much bigger badass than me since she’s going all the way from UK to South Africa) who posted her gear list for her upcoming Africa bicycle expedition, here’s an initial list of what I plan to take.
Bike Stuff
Bike - Surly Big Dummy long tail [...]

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Francesca on February 27th, 2009

Wow - that was lightning fast. When ordering through the employee purchase system I’ve come to expect long-ass delays but the YAWP arrived in exactly one week. Fabulous. Not so fabulous was the end of my brilliant plan to build the bike myself. The shop manager nixed it. Damn. I was really looking forward to [...]

Continue reading about Big Dummy Arrived!

Francesca on February 18th, 2009

Went to Revolution Cycles on Saturday and got a professional fitting done. It was a bit pricey at $150 but considering the money I’m dropping on this bike, I wanted to make damn sure it fit well. Once the bike arrives and I build it up, they’ll help me adjust the relevant bits to achieve [...]

Continue reading about Big Dummy Ordered!