Of course there is the small matter of getting to the start line first. One of the original plans was to ride to the south coast of England and then catch a ferry to the Norhern Spanish coastal town of Santander. From there it would be train down the entire length of Spain down to Tarifa with multiple train changes. On the positive side was that I would not have to dismantle my bike and basically go “as is”. Negative was both time and money. A two hour flight and £150 versus four days of bike-ferry-train-bike totalling about £400. The romantic in me said the latter and the time and bank manager said the former.
Dismantling something is always easy and fun. Let’s face it most of us have a destructive streak that needs satiating from time to time. Take my bike for example. Two Allen keys and 30 mins later the seat is off, so too the handlebars, wheels, derailleur, seat post , mudguards and pannier framework. Another 30 mins later it’s all bubble wrapped and ready to be put into its bike bag.
Putting it back together may prove to be somewhat challenging. Bookmakers have it priced “odds on” that it will take longer than 90 mins and that there will be a spare bolt or screw left over once I think I am done.