After a few days of replacing various worn parts on my bike, making sure it goes again & giving it a good clean (maybe it will get through quarantine with less mud on it) – the bike is packed up in its bag for the first time in two months. The big question is – can I fit a suit in there too without damaging it (the suit, not the bike)? I sure hope so, because I don’t want to wear a suit for close on twenty-four hours.

All this of course is in preparation for next week’s departure to Europe. The trip has been prompted by my cousin’s wedding in Italy (late June) – which is a great reason for finally packing up my bike & myself for six weeks to have a look at what the UK & small parts of Europe has to offer in the way of mountain-biking & sights. The basic outline is depart for London next Wednesday; one night in London then off to Basel, Switzerland for the weekend with a uni mate (coincidentally, one of the Euro 2008 quarter-finals will be on in town that weekend – should be good, not that we can afford tickets; back to London for a week of visiting friends & probably a lot of museums; eight or nine days in Tuscany for the wedding; then back to Britain for a road-trip up to Scotland & down to southern England with my parents.