My first post...

So, I think this is the point where I write something witty, erudite and inciteful to start off my first blog. But, at nearly 2am, with 24 hrs to go before I leave Oxford, an academic paper to finish, my Christmas shopping only just begun and the horror of packing looming ever closer, the words may not flow quite as I intend.

I also don't have anything particularly exciting to say at this stage as my trip preparations so far involve

• 1 flight to Argentina on Dec 29th
• 1 return flight to London on April 11th
• plans to cycle across Bolivia with Lisa and Tom (www.bottombracket.org) once our New Year's hangovers have worn off
• the vague notion of exploring the mountains of Argentina and Chile on foot or by bike

Oh, and I have built myself a bike. I don't have a photo of it yet, and it's missing various crucial bits and pieces, so I thought I'd put up another foolish cycling photo to prove (to myself) that cycling across the Andes with a hangover won't really be the crazy endeavour that everyone's reaction to my plans suggests. Well, no more crazy than some of my previous escapades anyway! The photo from Fuji is a reminder, that although I suffer horribly with the altitude, there is usually something worthwhile waiting at the top - this time about 1,637,293 Japanese hikers and a bowl of noodles.

Suffice it to say, before I start waffling even more incoherently, that to give me time to adjust to the fact that I now have a PhD, I'm about to embark on an amazing three month trip to South America. The details just, well, don't exist yet. But I promise to post them here as they unfold...

Ironman Canada 2004
Hours of fun on a bike

Heaven in a bowl of noodles at 3,776 metres
Mount Fuji August 2006