When I was in rainy Montana, I longed for the dry desert. After a month in the forests of British Columbia and I dreamed of barren lands. The cold, snowy passes of Utah and freezing nights in the high valleys of Nevada and I was looking forward to speeding south to warmer climes.

While rushing along the busy interstate to Las Vegas, I pictured empty dirt tracks down the Baja peninsula, but when I got there, the corrugated paths and loose sand were not so fun afterall.

And now I’ve come south to a low land of sun, the sweltering heat and endless sweating find me once again looking forward to the interior highlands. Although I know that whem I get there I’ll be cursing the hills!

Of course, all these places are great for a while. But familiarity breeds contempt and the road ahead always looks better. Perhaps that is what keeps me moving…

I just occasionally have to remind myself to enjoy the here and now too, while it lasts. Because the here and now can only be had once and it’s a pretty darn good place to be, all things considered.

I decided I didn’t want all that a while ago.

But some conventions are harder to change…

It has taken me to the age of 30 to realise I’ve been missing out on one of life’s great pleasures.

I’m talking about chocolate for breakfast.

For 30 years I’ve eaten toast with tea or maybe cereals and coffee. That’s what everyone does. That’s what breakfast is. Or sometimes I don’t eat at all. And I’ve never considered the need for something different.

But recently I happened to eat a chocolate brownie with my morning coffee. It was there, so I ate it.

And it was delicious. The best breakfast ever!

Chocolate Brownies -YUM!!

So since that revelationary day, I’ve had more brownie-coffee combo breakfasts.

Sure, I know it’s not healthy. But when you’re cycling several hours a day, calories are to be consumed, not rationed.

And one of the best things about being an adult is you are responsible for your own actions. No longer is mum saying what you should or shouldn’t do.

Of course, if I get fat from breakfast-brownie overload, it’ll be my own fault.

But with this discovery of one of life’s little pleasures, made in my third decade of life, I am confident I will find many more over the years to come.

Getting older has it’s advantages!

5,000km and 3 months since Vancouver and I’m in Vegas.

In neighbouring countries, these cities are worlds apart.

Vancouver is a modern, cosmopolitan city with high-rise offices, chic cafes and a buzzing life on the streets. It has green parks and a laid-back atmosphere.

Vegas stands alone in the desert. High hotels, casinos and bars concentrated on The Strip with their flashing neon signs and 24 hour doors. Beyond that is a sprawl that festers, feeding off this fabrication.

But the best bits of the trip, are the bits in between… In between is rural British Columbia and small town America. In between are thick forest, towering mountains and open plains, winding rivers and barren deserts. A bit of everything and all a whole lot better than either city.

It’s been Indian summer heat in the  Chilcotin, where water runs cold and bears roam free. It’s been wet, waterlogged and muddy in Montana. It’s been endless hills and long valleys in Idaho. And high desert in Nevada where the coyote calls through the night. It’s been snowstorms and freezing nights on Utah’s winding roads through red rock canyons.

Now it’s into southern California and the road to Mexico.

And I can’t wait…

As usual, if you want to read more about thecycle trip, see my website Helen’s Take On…

But the best thing about making plans is changing them. Sponteneity is the key. Especially on long trips. When life on the road is getting monotonous and dull, or just plain hard, that is the time to change your plans. Suddenly you will find enjoyment and a new interest.

Muddy Feet!

The original plan, for my latest trip, was to bike the Great Divide Mountain Bike Route. But it seemed a shame not to see more of Canada before starting. So we added on a bike loop of Vancouver Island and British Columbia. A mere 2,000km extra! We knew we were already starting late in the season, but by the time we arrived in Banff for the start of the GDMBR, there were far more cold and rainy days than sun-filled ones.

Gravel roads of the Great Divide

We had a fun few days after leaving Banff, but both of us were looking forward to getting south as fast as possible, just so we could get to the better weather. And that just wasn’t fun. So, sat in a small cafe in Eureka, Montana, drinking coffee, delaying leaving…. one of us jokingly said, ‘why don’t we head to Idaho instead of Wyoming?’ and the other said, ‘Well, why not?’ This would mean no longer following the Great Divide, but it would mean heading to Boise where we could meet and stay with other cycle tourers. The idea of having somewhere to stay for longer than one or two days, was a big draw. In six weeks, we’d had only six rest days. We were both tired of cycling.

So we ordered another coffee, dug out the map, replanned our route. In twenty minutes we went from tired and unenthusiastic to raring to hit the road.

Welcome to Idaho

We are now in Boise, Idaho state’s capital; the biggest town since we started the trip. It was the right decision. It was a beautiful journey here and now it’s time to dig out the maps again and plan ahead.

Beautiful Horsehoe Hill, Idaho

Next up is Utah and Arizona. Let’s hope we pass through before the snow arrives!

The Great Divide will just had to wait for another time, when I can leave earlier in the year.

(if you would like to follow my journey, you can do so on my blog, Helen’s Take On…)

I’m a little bit in love with this epic video: of 50 no-handed bike moves. They start off with the beginner (just one hand) and progress to the absolutely brilliant ‘Tony Blair giving a speech’. A guaranteed smile if you’re stuck indoors today.

- The Girl Outdoors

With the cost of fuel ever-increasing, the financial benefits are one obvious advantage. Although with such a short journey, it’s a modest fuel saving, it would add up to an annual saving of over £500 and that doesn’t factor in the reduced cost of maintaining a bike. It is of course the environmentally friendly way to travel too.

Commuting to Work

Surprisingly it doesn’t take any longer to get from home to office when you take into account, when driving, the time it takes to find a parking space and walk from the car. Thankfully there are facilities so I can shower at work, as I wouldn’t particularly wish upon my colleagues a faint odour of my sweat permeating through the air-conditioned office!

There are then, of course, the health benefits of regular exercise. So if you’re looking to lose weight, the 45minutes a day of exercise it takes for the round-trip is a great help. And if you’re not, you can indulge in that chocolate bar without feeling guilty – that’s what I usually do! Either way, it keeps you fit.

Because I am now regularly cycling to work, I don’t need to spend my evenings exercising. No runs and no gym. And that, in my opinion, is the greatest reason of all. I hate the gym and now I have more time to plan the next big trip – biking the Great Divide.

My touring bike is all fixed now ready for the US tour, so I’ve been using this bike to commute. It has the racks on already, so I just stuff a pannier with a change of work clothes and my lunch and I’m off (shower kit stays at work).

I have my flight booked, somewhere to stay when I arrive, my bike is repaired and ready to ride and I know the route I’ll be cycling.

But there’s plenty more to sort out…

Like any holiday, I’ll be needing to get travel insurance. Negotiating the myriad of insurance companies and trawling their terms and conditions to find one company that will cover a long cycle-touring trip is always a chore. Generally, travel insurers aren’t keen on cycle tourers and often won’t provide cover, or only on an incidental basis, or they add on a massive charge as they consider cycle touring a high risk sport. Forget trying to get your bike insured (it’s easier to add it to your home insurance). Just stick to the essential accident and medical cover.

There are plenty of long-term cycle tourers who don’t bother with insurance – Of 25 asked by the Travelling Two, a third don’t.

I used American Express for my 2-year Africa tour. It was the only company that would provide cover for 2-years cycling in Africa. I checked out at least 20 other companies. Fortunately I never had to make a claim. Was it a waste of money? Chances are, in many of the regions I was travelling through, if I had got seriously ill or had an accident, there would have been no fast rescue service. Had I needed to go to hospital, treatment would have been relatively cheap and probably I could have covered the costs myself. I probably would have tried to avoid hospital anyway. I carried a comprehensive first-aid kit and may well have been better equipped than some of the local hospitals. Having the insurance did give me peace of mind however. It was there if I needed it. But if I was doing the same trip again, I probably wouldn’t bother.

But that was Africa. And this next trip is to the States. Medical care in the US is excellent. But excellence comes at a price. This is one country where I would definitely get travel insurance for. And just to prove my point… the last time I went to the US, I spent a couple of days mountain-biking and fell off. Fell off, over the handlebars, face-planting onto the trail with bike flying off into a nearby bush. I hurt my leg and my friends had to call the emergency services. Six hours later, having been stretchered off the trail and I arrived at the hospital, high on strong painkillers. The bill, which came to a few thousand dollars, was paid for by my insurers (STA Travel).

So the search for insurance continues… at the moment I’m heading towards World Wide Insure, but I need to read the small print first.

But craziness, like many things, is relative.

So that when you’ve just cycled 25,000km through Africa, the idea of cycling 4,400km through the US, seems like a holiday.

But when I mention that I’m going to cycle the Great Divide Mountain Bike Route, an off-road route that crosses the continental divide some 80 times, and I’ll have to pedal or push up so many hills that by the end I will have effectively scaled the height of everest 7 times…. people still say I’m crazy.

But even I have my limits, and the borderline for craziness to me is cycling that same 4,400km route as a non-stop race. Yes, that’s 4,400km with all those hills, cycled in about 3 weeks. Now why on earth would you want to do that?! Well, several people do want to do it. And they do….

Well, actually I do understand – it’s for the challenge, to physically push yourself to the limit, to see what your body can withstand and it’s to satisfy the mildly masochistic nature that lies within some of us and drives us to undertake such seemingly pointless trials and adventures.

The Tour Divide, the race, is currently underway. It started on the 10th June. Of the 66 riders who started, two have already finished and 14 have dropped out. The others are still racing. The winner made it in just 15 days! (I shall be taking much longer…)

You can follow the rest of the crazy racers on the Tour Divide website (www.tourdivide.org) and see a map of the route which I’ll be following later this year.

The craziest of all, have to be the three men on single speed bikes. I have no idea how you cycle up the hills with only one gear. I’m just glad I don’t have to!

So for the last few weeks I’ve been without the use of the bike (although fortunately I have a moutain bike too, which is getting well-used instead). Time to get it fixed. First I took the back wheel over to SJS Cycles, where Dave had a quick look at it and said he could have the hubb all fixed up in half an hour. And sure enough, after half an hour, I walked out of the shop with a replacement hubb, and new sprocket fitted too. Very impressed. I also stocked up on three Schwalbe Marathon XR tyres.

Yes I know a bike only has two wheels! In any case the tyres that took me through Africa still have some life in them. But Schwalbe no longer manufacture these tyres and there’s just no other tyre that will stand the test of touring time. These should keep me on the road for a while longer. My legs are bound to give up before the tyres give out.

But the rest wasn’t going to be quite so simple. Simply because I’ve decided to fix the rest of the bike myself.

I thought I had the spare parts I needed. And so on Sunday morning, with multi-tool, pliers and a good supply of WD40, I set about taking off the old parts that needed replacing. On closer inspection, this turned out to be most of the bike bar the frame, wheels and new hubb.

My touring bike - mid-repair

Having removed several layers of bike oil and grease from my hands and body, the afternoon was mostly spent on the internet searching out the replacement parts I need… brake cable set, gear cables, headset bearings, chain, chainring, a new twistshifter assembly and the only part that sounded remotely interesting which was the ‘noodles and boots’ (and they’re nothing but small bent metal tubes that the brake cables fit through).

So until I get the new parts through, the rack is on my mountain bike so I can head off to the hills at the weekends. In the meantime, my trusty tourer is scattered about my room in several rusty or dirty pieces.

I think I forgot to mention – the next tour I’ll be cycling the Great Divide from Canada, through the USA, to Mexico. You can read more about it on my new website, Helen’s Take On…

And over the coming weeks I’ll be posting more on the Togblog about how the preparations for the trip are going.

I have been amazed by the wildlife I have seen throughout Zambia, Botswana and Namibia. And I didn’t even have to go on safari to see it either. Elephants, lion, buffalo, wildebeest, zebra, crocodiles, hippos, impala, kudu, oryx, springbok, bat-eared foxes, ostriches. My camp has been visited by hyena and jackal too, but in the first case I didn’t get out my tent to see them and the second time I was out when the jackal stole my food.

My main concerns were from elephants on the roads as they don’t seem to like bikes. If I failed to see them (for big animals, they hide very well) I would be so close when they finally smelt me that they would get upset and flap their ears and raise their trunk and turn to face me. I’d pedal furiously before they thought about charging. And then there was a lioness on the road, which I thought it prudent to get a lift past!

Victoria Falls on the Zambia/Zimbabwe border is fantastic and the scenery of Botswana – the salt pans and Okavango delta – and Namibia – plenty of desert – during the rainy season with all the plant life in bloom is simply stunning. So southern Africa has been like a holiday from the challenges of travelling through central Africa. Although the last couple of weeks were tougher with the corrugated gravel roads, strong headwinds and incessant flies.

But now I’m just a few days away from the border of South Africa and only about 1,000km to Cape Town, my final destination.