It's raining in Auckland today & the forecast is for thunderstorms all week... I just hope the weather gods get all this out of their system before the epic journey begins!

Have had to delay starting the trip-was kinda (unrealistically!) hoping to get away early this week but Claire has had to delay her arrival and it has taken me longer than expected to find all the gear i need. Nice to have extra time with the cousins too.

So I learned a little about gears today so this can be todays bike trivia...

• Chains go around two sets of cogs, one at the rear & one at the front.
• There are a few big cogs on the front & a set of 7 or 8 on the back.
• Smaller cogs on the front give you lower gears (easier to pedal uphill).
• Bigger cogs on the back give you lower gears.

The bike I'm probably going to buy has 52,42 & 30 teeth on the front rings and 12-26 on the rear. Am going to get the shop to change the rear cogs (& derailer-which shifts the chain) to make them bigger so i can bike up all the mountains in nz like a speedster. Cool eh!

Went shopping with Antz today too. He bought 2 identical shirts & 2 almost identical pairs of pants. odd. Also caught up with Sarah, James & Catherine last nite. Catherine is 7 already! unbelievable!