Candy Cranks

I love Japan! Wow, what a place! Its been almost a week since Tarn and I left for our 4 week cycle tour and its been truly amazing. The country side itself is not only beautiful, so are the Japanese people. They are so friendly and hospitible.

We started out trip in Osaka, made our way to Kobe and then caught the ferry across to Takamastsu on the island of Shinkoku to start out trip. Day 1, about 20km of flat road out of the city, followed by beautiful mountains that seemed to be getting closer and closer until hello 1200ft mountain pass. The temp was 38 degrees celcius, humidity was high and the sun was scorching, I thought Tarn was going to have to pour me into a bottle and stick me into a bottle cage. But we made it, and what must go up, must came down, and down we came. All 200kg of us came flying down the mountain, talk about bullet train!

A couple of hours riding and then it started to rain, and rain, 4 hours of tropical downpour before the weirdest thing happened. All these little cute crabs starting coming out of the forest. Miles away from the sea in every direction, and there were crabs on the road! Bizarre. So then we set up camp on the edge of a river, the sun came up and all was good with the world again.

The Wasp (The tandem) is doing well, no problems to report apart from some squeaky brakes. Been getting plenty attention from the locals and had many conversations using hand gestures and head nodding.

We re leaving tommorrow for the south western part of the island, so far we ve been from the top down to the southern most town of Kochi. Given the lack of internet cafes I ve come across so far, it may be a while before I can post again. Sayornara for now!

Tarn has the Tandem up and rolling, it sure is a sight to behold. It rides like a dream, although so far I’ve only been allowed on the back, “The Stoker” I believe is the correct terminology. And “Captain” (or control freak – don’t tell him I said that ) might be the correct terminology for the person on the front? We took a tandem out once before and he had a go on the back, it didn’t end well with him trying steer, break, change gears and freak out at everything. I thought it was hilarious, him not so much.
We’ve taken her out for a few test runs and it’s such a conversation starter, we get honks, whistles, cheers and smiles, even had small children wanting to sit on it. We took her to the fixed ride last night, it was great! She sure gets up some speed once you get going and we smoked some of the regular dudes that I would have no hope in hell of overtaking usually. Yeah!! (All due to Tarn and his super thighs, but I can live vicariously). So we leave for Japan on the 1st Sept for a months cycle tour and I can’t wait!

Bike specs:

- Primate Frame + Forks
- Chris King Headset
- Hope hydraulic brakes
- Thomson stems
- Salsa bars
- Brooks saddles
- Velocity Deep V’s rims
- Rohloff hub
- Thudbuster seatpost (which is awesome!!)
- Shimano Alfine cranks
- Candy Cranks chainrings
- Cranks Bros egg beater pedals
- Pete at Star Enamellers did a beautiful job of the paint

You can check out the frame in it’s various stages of its build here.

For those of you who have traveled the Gulf Islands off of mainland BC, you’ll know that there’s is something special about this group of islands. For those who haven’t had the chance, each island has it’s own rhythm, charm and quirkiness, and immediate relaxation takes hold as soon as you step foot on one of them. Things go a bit more slowly there. Here are a few random bike pics taken over the course of this summer while I traveled about a few of these charming places.
Outside of the Hornby Island Co-op. A nice full bike rack with this charming old bike, complete with somewhat sketchy kid’s seat.

Again, outside of the Hornby Island Co-op. Helpful hints for drivers and bikers alike!

Outside of a delicious brunch spot on Denman Island. A regular bike gussied up with delightful spoke cards.

In the front yard of the craft shop on Denman Island. So sweet.

I couldn’t resist. This appeared the morning after MJ died at the main intersection on Denman Island. Not sure if someone painted years ago, or if they stayed up all night after he died.

Firstly I’d like to thank everyone for their comments and assure them that I am living the gluttonous tour of my dreams. I have eaten and drunk my body weight on pintox, wine, jamon and pasteries while travelling from Pamplona, Vitoria and Bilbao. I’m now in Andorra, which is a tiny country between Spain and France. In a few days I will head into the latter which means that I will have to carbo- load with foie gras,* crossiants and brie instead.

I had an absolute blast in all three above mentioned cities, finding the sophisticated and incredibly cycle freindly. All had bile sharing programs which I now reaslise is the mark of a great city.

However, what impressed me the most were the people especially the cyclists- everyone I met was incredibly generous and helpful. In Pamplona some bike mechanics refused to take money for a map holder- then one tried to kiss me…  Also I recieved plenty of offers of free accomidation.

On the road I saw plenty of pretty serious looking cycling teams. Whenever they passed me they’d yell “aopa!” (go – I think) or “muy bien!” (very good). Some teams even pumbed their fists on the air and clapped when I passed. It was very encouraging and I felt as though I was in the tour de france. Others  joined me for legs of the journey- patiently conversing with me in Spanish, shaking my hand as they left.

In Australia the only encounters that I can with roadies similiar to this is when one yelled at me to get out of his way on the Sydney Harbour Bridge.

What can I say but “aopa euskaldunak!” (go basques!).

Infact, I like the region so much that now I don’t know who to support in the tour de France. I bought an Australian jersy (in Bilbao of all places) and feel that I should wear it in support of the Australian riders especailly Cadel Evans ( pronounced Ka-del A-vauns here). However I’d like to show my appreciation to the basque people by wearing my euskadi cap. Another option would be the controversial basque jersy designed by Dario Urzay -

If you squint it looks a bit like a king of the mountains jersy… or a murder scene.

A final option is a shirt specially made for me by a very generous (and extremely high) couple that I met in Bilbao. It is loaded with E.T.A symbolism as well as some other images which I can´t quite decipher.  I wish I could upload photos on this computer  to show this option as it´s very “unique”.

Stage 10 of the tour goes through Andorra so everyone here has Tour fever. Symptoms include driving a very expensive bianci road bike to the site, donning a (tight) team kit, and taking the road bike for a token lap of the camp ground. I am brimming with self righteousness as I actually rode here ( sort of).  Still, it´s a big day tomorrow so I should probably choose an outfit, have an aperitif and get some rest before the big day.

Vivez-le!

*Sorry vegeterains

That’s Japanese for Hello! Nice to meet you.

I started my first Japanese lesson with Aymui, a super cute student from Osaka in preparation for my cycle tour in September. I’m starting to realise I probably should have given myself more than 2 months to get any sort of a handle on the language. Tarn – Primate Frames is currently building a tandem for our trip. We plan to go to Kobe, Osaka, Nara, Kyoto and finally Tokyo where the Cycle Messenger World Championships are being held, I can’t wait!

So far I’ve learnt how to say “I am vegetarian”, “Do you sell chocolate?” and “Which way to Tokyo?” so I think I’m pretty much set. We’re going to be cycling and camping. I can’t say I’ve had a lot of experience camping, I’ve done it once or twice and I must admit I wasn’t that thrilled. One time involved lots of rain and leeches, (what the hell ARE those things, their mouths open 3 ways like a Mercedes Benz logo, shudder), the other time involved lots of hippies and sketchy ravers singing and dancing naked around a fire.

I’ve been informed I’m allowed to bring 2 cycling outfits and that’s it, wear one, wash one. “What about my stuff? Camera, books, sketch pad, jeans, long gloves, short gloves, laptop, cosmetics, array of hats and sunglasses?” I’m allowed one pannier, one very small pannier. Yikes. At least when I get to Tokyo I can shop for some new clothes and gadgets. YAY! I love all things Japanese, cute and electronic, I’m gonna go nuts.

Some pics of the tandem design and the frame build so far. Not my favourite colour but I figure as Tarn is building he should probably pick. It’s gonna have orange deep V’s and w have ordered some brooks saddles, mine has suspension on it as apparently the biggest cause of fights on a tandem is the person on the back coping all the bumps and potholes. I’ve already experienced this and it aint fun. As you can’t see what’s coming up, you can’t brace for it and you end up having a pretty bumpy ride.

I spent a week in May on Salt Spring Island, participating in an internship at the Gulf Islands’ Spinning Mill, located near Ganges on Salt Spring Island. The ferry and transit system is such that I was able to easily use any mode of transportation to get to my destination. I chose my mode by taking into account energy levels, amount of gear loaded on my bike, weather conditions (rain!) and of course, whether I was running late (usually I was…).

Rainy departure day: I combined biking with riding the bus to get to the Tsawwassen Ferry Terminal outside of Vancouver. Note to very effective, yet supremely unattractive grocery bag seat cover. My panniers are staying warm and dry in the bus shelter.

Ferry from Vancouver Island to Salt Spring Island: Bikes are allowed on BC Ferries and usually are loaded first and unloaded last. My bike is tucked up on the far right by the life preservers.

I rode straight to the Gulf Island’s Spinning Mill to meet Charlotte and Sylvie and start my internship.

For the fibre nerds: the carding machine at work

Charlotte the baby Angora goat (only a few weeks old).

Bike shop on Salt Spring Island in the main town of Ganges.

Community shuttle bus on Salt Spring Island offers a bike rack just like the ones on larger city buses.

End of the trip: Navigating between the tour buses to park my bike on the big ferry from Victoria to Vancouver.

For a while I had harboured fears that my boyfriend was a sadomasochist – at least in relation to cycling. These beliefs were founded in Marc´s enjoyment in climbing mountain passes, his insistence on carrying as much weight as possible (hence pack horse name) and his excitement over the fact that we were riding in 38 degree heat.

He has also used the phrase “you need to break through the pain barrier” more times than I care to mention. He pushes himself, and myself (too) hard. Although I don´t judge his perversion, I don’t share it either. This is a holiday after all and for me 150km days through multiple mountain passes with no rest days isn´t my idea of a good time.

After one particulary hard day, my knee protested and I knew that I had to cycle on my terms – not his.

So I’ve decided to go it alone. If Marc wants to punish himself he can, I´ll meet him at then end. In Spain the phrase ¨To ride a bike¨translates loosely as ¨to take a stroll with a bike” and this is how I´m looking forward to doing it. So I’m heading to Pamplona, Vitoria and Bilbao, stopping for pasteries whenever I want. I´m excited and nervous about the possibilities thay go with cycling man-free.

In the first few weeks of riding I am feeling that cycle touring is a lot like giving birth in that you forget just how painful it is. Also, in my case, both result in hospitalisation. Above is an “artists” rendition of me in the emergency department of the hospital in Olot. I apologise for the quality – but the steep prices of internet cafes restrict me from photoshopping / proof reading. At the time I did not have the where with all to take a photograph – so the drawing will have to do.

Yes Spain is hilly, and yes my desire to ride around it was driven by the allure of cheap things other than they Pyranees. I can´t help but wonder if I have bitten off more than I  can chew.

Other obscenely fit cycle tourists that I have met so far make comparisions between climbing hills and some type of meditation- claiming that all you need is the right psyche. “You need to have strength here” one said while pointing to my head. That´s a relief because I certainly don’t have it in my legs.

Bikes are everywhere in Barcelona, thanks partly to the rent a bike scheme.
As this photo reveals cycling fashion in Barcelona, differs from that in Australia- mainly in the area of practicality. Here female cyclists seem to favor style over… well lycra. Harem pants (or poo catchers as they are known in Australia), heels, frocks and just about anything likely to get caught in the spokes are a popular choice. Helmets are not.

Wearing spd shoes and nix I cant help but feel very conspicious as a tourist- not to mention dorkey. I desperately hope that camper make some cleat recessed mary janes.

Hi, My name is Annabel and technically I´m a vagrant.

Until recently I had a cushy public servant job in the arts and rode a fixie around Sydney. I´m not really an outdoorsy type yet I´ve thrown it all in to cycle around Europe.  My two previous experiences of cycle touring have been mixed.  Both were around Australia´s wine growing regions,  because for me bikes and wine seemed like a good combination. However halfway through both tours my ex boyfriend decided to adhere to a strict tour de france style training regieme (and regimented G.I diet) while on the road. This detracted somewhat from what I had planned to be a leisurely/hedonistic trip through parts of Australia. Afterwards I was  ambivalent to the idea of cycle touring.

However a few years on and a new spunky* Canadian boyfriened in tow, I decided to give cycle touring another go. This time I´ll be going around Spain, France and Italy. I´ve packed my life into two Panniers and a handle bar bag and have bought a red camping dress. (Such things exist)

I´m ready for anything.
Will I survive the Pyrennees?
Will I still be on speaking terms with the Canadian in three months time?    and
Are nix “hot or not” in Paris?
stay tuned…

*in Australia that means good looking