The Wobblin' Sprocket

Ronni has the final spot for Sikkim.  She’s been to Corsica and Slovenia previously.  She’s another strong rider.    She’s moved to Colorado since then.  There should be plenty of training opportunities there.  Perhaps she can hook up with the pro’s who train out there as part of her prep.

Ronni - Corsica

You can’t see Ronni well in this, but I always liked this photo from Porto:

Ronni on Beach Porto, Corsica - 2004

Here are a couple from Slovenia.  We made a foray into Italy that year:

Ronni at Italian Border - Outside Kranjska Gora, Slovenia

And one more:

Ronni in Slovenia - 2008 - Hey, gotta like the Far and Away hat. Hang on to that! There are no more of them.

This will be a first.

It’s not the first time Sue has been on a tour.  She came to in 2006. However, it is the first time we’ve had a sister team.  Sue and Gwyn are sisters (although my brother Phil did come and drive a van in Spain).

Sue is a great kayaker.   Her skills were on display in Laos outside Vangvieng.  There is plenty of fast running water in Sikkim, but I don’t recall seeing many kayakers.  Of course, we didn’t see many bikers there either last time.   When we go, I’ll check to see if there are some kayaking options available.  Maybe, the tour can morph into biking, hiking, kayaking.   Why not?

Sikkim will be a series of reunions.  I just noticed that no less than 4 people from Laos in 2006 are now coming to Sikkim in 2010.  That’s in addition to the 5 people who were just in Laos in Nov, 2009 that are coming to Sikkim.  And there are 3 of us that were on all 3 of those tours.   In fact, this is the first time that everyone is an alumni.  It’s also the earliest a tour has filled.

Anyway, here is Sue with some jungle adventure headgear when in Laos:

Sue in floppy hat. This was 2006. I think on river outside infamous Vangvieng

This is from the dinner party in Ban Faen on the night of our homestay:

The local just to the right of Sue looks like he just won the lottery (maybe it's the Beerlao in his hands). Howard S is on the far right. Howard and his Rotary Club subsequently raised $10,000 and used it to build a school in Vangtang on the tour route.

Brian is well traveled to say the least.  Europe multiple times, SE Asia multiple times.   He was just in Laos and now he’s in for Sikkim.   He has a great travel bike.  I forget the brand exactly.  He can perhaps post a pic and/or remind me.  It’s titanium with S&S couplers.  It has a narrow fork though.  I think he needs some wider tires on it for Sikkim…to smooth things out a little.   I know from riding with Brian that he likes to push a big gear.  In Sikkim that would be a big mistake.  It’sa little gear tour.  We are glad Brian has signed up.

I have lots and lots of pics of Brian since he has been everywhere with us.  I’m going to put up some from all over.

Cycling Laos November, 2009

Another:

Cycling Croatia Sept 2008 (well, not cycling at that moment)

Another:

Cycling Slovenia, Sept 2008 "Watch those hands!"

Another:

Cycling Laos in 2005...from the "wayback mche!"