US Prologue - Preparations

I arrived in San Francisco on 23rd December, and gave myself about 2 weeks to get ready for my trip. A typically amusing underestimate. I left almost a month later, but on a sweet ride, and only thanks to some help from friends, new and old.

The bell tower at Stanford. Not an unattractive campus.

After a over a week of scouring SF bike shops and online ads for a second hand bike, I finally found something like what I needed, posted on Craigslist by someone in Menlo Park, south of San Fran. I hopped on the Caltrain, and braved the placid suburbia of MP on a weeknight. After knocking on the door of the guy who posted on CL, I saw someone come around the side of the house wearing a headlamp. The light bobs toward me and then stops a few feet away -

"Hugh?", says the headlamp.
"Wha?", I reply intelligently.

The guy takes his headlamp off and to my shock I realise it's Takuya, a friend from my university in Australia! Over a glass of wine or two I learn that Tak and his girlfriend, now wife, Perach, had gotten jobs at Stanford and moved to Menlo Park 6 months before. Tak's landlord hoards bikes, and so Tak offered to fix up and sell some of his bikes for him. Tak picked the best one - a 1997 blue Specialized steel frame mountain bike - and put it on Craigslist. The bike was perfect for me. I handed over $150, and then the bike was mine. And that's how I managed to go halfway around the world, and buy a bike from someone I knew in Australia.

The bike, before being pimped out.

Luck had not finished with me yet as it turned out, because another friend from Australia was also living in Menlo Park and working at Stanford. Kath, and her roommates Dan and Arturo, were super kind in letting me stay with them while my preparations dragged out much longer than I had planned. They watched as I tried to leave the first time, only to have to return after a couple of hours because I had been a little too ambitious about how much gear I could take. Worse, on the way back, my rear gear rack fell apart and I lost a crucial piece of the rack somewhere on the street in the dark. There was some gnashing of teeth at this point because the rack wouldn't work without the piece, and I couldn't go anywhere without the rack. I couldn't find a store anywhere within 100km that stocked the part, and online orders would take days at least, and would cost me $ I didn't have.

Not for the last time, things looked a little grim. Not for the last time, I was the recipient of some unexpected generosity. This time in the form of Eric from Surly Bikes (the company that makes the racks), who express posted me a replacement part free of charge, and I had it the next day! Amazing. With the help of Arturo and some threadlock, the rack was fixed and I was back in business. I cut back on the gear I was to take, which sadly included leaving my guitar behind, and felt good with the load after a test ride.

Pimped out and loaded up. Boosh!

Blue Steel was ready to ride.