Tacoma

I am staying at Marcy's house, which is just beautiful - especially as when I saw it last year she was just putting an offer in to buy it - and I was quite worried by how grim parts of it looked!  However the last few days I have spent mostly trying to get organised for my cycling trip later in the summer.  First step, buy a bike, second step buy a map - easy, one would think!
I have been to five different bicycle shops with little luck - road bikes can't deal with the load, mountain bikes are too heavy and clunky, I couldn't find a comfortable hybrid like my bike at home, and what was sold as a touring bike was either something that looked like a camel, or something made from a similar substance to cast iron, which may have been suitable for a police man seventy years ago.  I already have 12 kilos of stuff excluding food and drink, I don't really want a bike that weighs as much as me. 

I was seriously considering trying to ship my bike from home, I was getting that worried, when I finally found something which I hope will be perfect.  (It was of course more money than even my negative prediction had been so I am now feeling rather broke.)

It has drop handlebars - really comfy, I am won over already; peculiar gear leavers, cleverly hidden behind the breaks, and Naomi, you will be amused - I deliberately bought toe straps.  I figure with over 1000 miles to go I need all the help I can get. 

Maps - Thank you Ordinance Survey!  You are the best organisation in the world, I had never realised how unusual and how lucky we Britain's were having complete coverage with topographical information, natural and man made features available in two different scales.  America does not have this, and in fact no one seems to appreciate that as a cyclist I may need to know whether to stop at this campsite or how far and how many miles it is to the next.  I have not yet managed to solve the map problem, and I am slightly worried I may have to travel blind, rather scary.

What is even funnier though is the gear shop here is amazing - it is palatial, like twice the size of a large supermarket, and they sell everything, canoes, kayaks, bicycles, climbing gear, walking kit, camping, you name it, they cover it (or appear to) They even have a dirt track outside to test mountain bikes on, a climbing wall to test climbing kit on, and a large pretend terrain thing to try walking kit on - yet they can't do a decent map!