This post is about Week 2, March 5 to March 11.

Rest is the only treatment for Iliotibial band syndrome and we found the perfect place: the home of a tall, funny, paraglidin’ German named Unkas. He takes Olli out for hikes and walks and coffee while I work inside.

Limping around, I eye our panniers, mentally making a list of things we can get rid of. By chance, Unkas turns out to be an ultra-light trekker.

He is the kind of guy that walks into the woods for weeks with a half-handled toothbrush and the exact amount of dish soap for each meal, measured by drop.

He is also the kind of guy that volunteers his scale and cheerfully weeds through our panniers until midnight.

“What? Two Kindles?”
“Why do you have a bag inside a bag?”
“I know you aren’t showing me everything!”

In the end, we found over ten kilos that could be eliminated without sacrificing too much comfort: one U-lock, extra tools, my wool, etc. In the end, we could only part with 581 grams. Unkas smiled knowingly–his first trek, a year around South America, was with a 20-kilo backpack.

This is for you, Unkas! Ultraheavy Bicycle Touring.

My 2nd most visible addition (after Olli) is a helmet. Although I have never been flippant about safety, I also haven’t been overly concerned. The helmet debate rages on and I am not going to participate, but I have talked to enough cyclists to be convinced to carry one.

So now, I’m Safety Girl, especially after dark, on fast descents, in traffic, and if it’s not too hot.

After all, with over a year of cycling left, I wouldn’t want to cancel out all the cardiovascular benefits if my head forcibly connects with something harder than itself.

Before deciding to cycle across a supercontinent,
Before deciding to live in a tent for a year,
Before deciding to cast our fates together,

Olli and I talked about what it might be like.

What we might see,

What we might eat,

Where we might sleep,

Where we might wake up,

I had other questions. On my last trip, I was often told that people wanted to help because I was a solo female traveler. I wondered if that was true and if people were also more willing to open up because I was alone.

Our first three hosts answered both questions with no. I am happy with the relationships Olli and I are building with people we meet and with each other.

As we cross the river into Portugal, my next question is:
How will we manage our fundraising campaign from the road?