Shockingly, our gifted Bike Whisperer decided that he would no longer be our mechanic and tutor, simply because I have filed for divorce. (My solicitor said I can't have the house, all the money, all the bikes, the tools, the cat AND force him to remain our mechanic until after our trip. Whats HAPPENING to the world?!)

Anyway - the XT Girls therefore, require the services of:

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Its ok lads, i'll take one for the team.

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Sorry girls, can't stand cats. Now if that was a dog......

Uhm. Sorry. Forgot. No hairy chests.

(unless you're willing to let us wax it)

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hmm...yea ok. I dont like hairy armpits, so can I do yours?

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Hey girls! Sorry to hear about the loss of your bike whisperer - damn shame. And now I am one of those annoying people that post on your thread but with nothing productive to say. Sorry m'dears but just wanted to empathise with your situation. I am lady with a bike and a world to zig zag across, but my mechanical knowledge starts and ends with "lefty loosy, righty tighty", which is something I have to say everytime I pick up a socket!

Thankfully I have my amazing wonderful male friend Gabriel (Baronbolton) who is slowly teaching me all that I need to know (shame you are on the other side of the country otherwise we could have shared him). He patiently puts up with my tears and a few tyre levers being thrown across the garage; never try to change a tyre for the first (or second, or third, or even at all) time while hormonal! And he even took me off-road training to Tommys Farm. On the third time of falling off in as many minutes he was there to give me hug and prop me back up on my feet as I sobbed into my lid scared I would never make it down a green lane in England, let alone round the world.

Heres to you Gabriel. Thank you!!!!!!

Well, if you are ever in Somerset and have need a quick mechanic session, then let me know and I will hook you up! The best of luck with finding one, and I look forward to keeping up with your journeys on your website!

Take care

Char

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Don't be scared your life may end,
Be scared that it may never begin.......

Charlotte,

Don,t feel bad. I am a Mechanical Engineer, a Certified Auto Technician at the highest level, a Honda Line Mechanic, and an organizer of Motosport Events, yet my 3 grown daughters have not picked up on ANY mechanical things !! Maybe because they have a Daddy that will always take care of them. When they bring home a suitor, I'm going to have to check their mechanical abilities because I've managed to create 3 mechanical dependents !!

Now, my 17 yr old son ( the one who I took on the Around the Block 2007 | for his "coming of age" ritual last year) tackled a Subaru engine rebuild as his first mechanical adventure, and it is still running 18 months later...... And they say there are no differences between boys and girls (or maybe our expectations...)

Blessings,

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http://www.aroundtheblockmotoadventures.com/
'We build the bike (in Peru) for your Epic Ride of South America.'

Char

Dont be put off by green laning, it is as hard if not harder than stuff you encounter on a RTW trip. I tried it the other way round (i.e. did a big overland trip with lots of 'not roads' then tried green laning when I got back). I was useless.....

See you in Somerset (will work on bikes for pints of green!)

Hey Char!

That just warms the cockles of our hearts!!

And -- look after Gabriel -- he sounds like a gem!!

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What's on the agenda? When are you leaving? Where to?

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Patrick passed Dec 2018. RIP Patrick!

Sorry girls i missed the beginning of the thread been away.

If i can help out drop me a line I do have a couple of years experience I know i'm at the opposite end of the country but initially maybe a weekend meet/trail ride might be a good idea.

anyway my email is Brian(at)BrianEland.com

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There aren't very many good bike courses in the UK, I have been searching for one and couldn't find one (apart from one near London). Get an old bike, get the book of lies and take it apart, then put it back together. There will always be blokes hanging around that would love to feel manly by helping you with any particular problem you run into, we are fundamentally weak like that. Might be easier than going to the states and working for 'the woman' (who would want to get paid in dollars anyway?!?)

Conti inner tubes are not only very very good natural rubber but the valve cap has a little insert in it, this allows you to turn it over and use it to take the core out. Frickin genius. Needle nose pliers work OK. I am pretty sure that you can break a bead with a partially deflated inner (as breaking the bead takes an almighty wallop I cant see the inner tube holding it out much). A piece of 2" angle iron makes it easier (place on wheel, jump on steel, hey presto!)

True enough about US dollars. Worthless, thanks to Bush and his illegal war.

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Patrick passed Dec 2018. RIP Patrick!

yep, I read in Time years ago that the bill had come to 90 billion usd, majority borrowed from China with a 90 year repayment period. Still, no point not shafting your childrens children for the sake of another 4 years eh?

apologies for the off-topic politiking.....

Thanks Patrick!

We are indeed VERY KEEN to learn and do everything ourselves eventually. Having lost our 'resident bike whisperer' does complicate things a little... but now we just have knuckle down and do it the hard way. i.e. find books, and other lovely chaps when they're free and available, scavenge on HU for info and just get down and dirty.

A course unfortunately is not available in the UK. We've done extensive looking around: the only thing you can do is a fullon mechanical engineering type thing, which takes 2 years.

The only other option over here, is to take an apprenticeship -- impractical, cos its full time, and we both need our city jobs, to pay for our extravagant lifestyles : )


As for our plans: Gigi is off to do the same trip I had just completed with substitute XT Girl http://www.horizonsunlimited.com/hub...345#post191578

And I'm hoping to put together a 2 week trip to Tunisia in November.. .with support vehicle so that we can get some more desert riding experience. (Anyone interested to join us, get in touch.. I'll post details soon)

And then ofcourse, we're still on track for the 'big' trip, London to Cape Town.


The most important journey, we're on at the moment though... is learning to get to know our bikes inside and out.

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