Wade & got our injections the other week- what an experience! Wade, who’s very well travelled, only needed a small handful of injections to bring things up to date. I, on the other hand, having only travelled through Canada & The States had to get the ‘hamburger with the lot’. I’m now immunised against Yellow Fever, Rabies, Typhoid, Meningitis, Hep A & B, Influenza and Malaria. The Rabies immunisation was contentious: at $300, it doesn’t offer you total, or even partial immunisation. The treatment for a non-immunised person is, within 72 hours of an incident, to locate and receive a rare blood product which my travel doctor told me I’d be crazy to get in Africa (even if I was lucky enough to locate some) due to the risk of HIV or Hepatitis contamination. So, this would mean that upon being bitten/scratched etc by a possibly rabid animal, or one of the other guys, I have 72 hours to get myself to an international airport and fly to UK/Europe and receive the blood product, and then resume my trip when possible.
For an immunised person (me!), the 72 hour window still remains, but the treatment is a more widely available pharmaceutical product without the risk of contamination. Being possibly the unluckiest person on the face of this earth, I figured it would be best to wear the $300 expense and get the immunisation as I’m sure that I’ll fall victim to something. And, if by some fluke, I make it to South Africa unscathed, I’m going to find a rabid monkey and fight it, just to get my money’s worth.
The injection experience was quite entertaining with Wade, while getting his injections, screaming “OWWW, That is THE MOST pain I’ve ever felt in my life!!” with me laughing and shaking my head out in the waiting room at his attempts to razz me up for turn in the hot seat.
Injections aside, my bike is ALMOST finished. Well, it’s finished, but I’m changing one or two things before we fly out. I’m thankful that I got my bike finished as early as I did and have had the opportunity to test-ride it as much as I have had as a lot of bugs have been ironed out. At about 1 or 2 weeks before departure, I’ve got to take the bike apart, clean EVERYTHING (for customs) and box it up ready to fly. I’m not looking forward to rebuilding my bike somewhere on the sidewalk outside Cairo airport with 3 other guys. What a spectacle that’s going to be.
I’ve had the last week off riding (and loved it). Work’s getting intensely busy and with the 10+ hours of commuting each week combined with minimal sleep, it was all just getting a bit much. So I had 1 week of sleep-ins, relaxed train travel and reading. I got back on the bike today and thoroughly enjoyed my ride into work (especially on this incredible morning!). I didn’t even mind getting a puncture at 7am!
Being acutely aware of the risks associated with cycle commuting, I’ve become hyper alert and paranoid about accidents between now and departure. The last thing I want is to miss out on some/all of this trip after all of the work and effort that’s gone into it just to get to this point. I’ve decided to back off the speed on my commutes to and from work in the hope that the more relaxed pace reduces risk of incident. Fingers crossed for a safe 6 weeks. This will officially be the most effort I’ve applied to one single goal and I really, really want to pull it off.
On the website side of things, i've created a twitter feed on my homepage which the whole team will have access to and will be updating now and while in Africa. I don't actively use twitter at the moment but figured it's a simple & effective way to give mini updates to a lot of people. Follow us @ridetocapetown
For an immunised person (me!), the 72 hour window still remains, but the treatment is a more widely available pharmaceutical product without the risk of contamination. Being possibly the unluckiest person on the face of this earth, I figured it would be best to wear the $300 expense and get the immunisation as I’m sure that I’ll fall victim to something. And, if by some fluke, I make it to South Africa unscathed, I’m going to find a rabid monkey and fight it, just to get my money’s worth.
The injection experience was quite entertaining with Wade, while getting his injections, screaming “OWWW, That is THE MOST pain I’ve ever felt in my life!!” with me laughing and shaking my head out in the waiting room at his attempts to razz me up for turn in the hot seat.
Injections aside, my bike is ALMOST finished. Well, it’s finished, but I’m changing one or two things before we fly out. I’m thankful that I got my bike finished as early as I did and have had the opportunity to test-ride it as much as I have had as a lot of bugs have been ironed out. At about 1 or 2 weeks before departure, I’ve got to take the bike apart, clean EVERYTHING (for customs) and box it up ready to fly. I’m not looking forward to rebuilding my bike somewhere on the sidewalk outside Cairo airport with 3 other guys. What a spectacle that’s going to be.
I’ve had the last week off riding (and loved it). Work’s getting intensely busy and with the 10+ hours of commuting each week combined with minimal sleep, it was all just getting a bit much. So I had 1 week of sleep-ins, relaxed train travel and reading. I got back on the bike today and thoroughly enjoyed my ride into work (especially on this incredible morning!). I didn’t even mind getting a puncture at 7am!
Being acutely aware of the risks associated with cycle commuting, I’ve become hyper alert and paranoid about accidents between now and departure. The last thing I want is to miss out on some/all of this trip after all of the work and effort that’s gone into it just to get to this point. I’ve decided to back off the speed on my commutes to and from work in the hope that the more relaxed pace reduces risk of incident. Fingers crossed for a safe 6 weeks. This will officially be the most effort I’ve applied to one single goal and I really, really want to pull it off.
On the website side of things, i've created a twitter feed on my homepage which the whole team will have access to and will be updating now and while in Africa. I don't actively use twitter at the moment but figured it's a simple & effective way to give mini updates to a lot of people. Follow us @ridetocapetown
RSS Feed