Perhaps I've found my true calling. That is, building bikes for interstate customers, then forcing them to visit Canberra so that I can take them on a true odyssey to run it in, make modifications and discover the wonders of the best cycling city I know of. Of course the real bonus for me would be the look on their faces when they realise they have taken delivery of more than just a bike........

So Tom arrived on Saturday morning to do just that. I picked him up from the airport and after we visited the farmers market for my weekly shop I presented the bike. Then we were off on a circumnavigation of Canberra. I'd say we covered more than 60km of bitumen before we had our first beer at the Wig & Pen. By the time we hit Wilbur's we were pretty worn down and ready to settle in, the rest of the night was a blur.

Sunday morning we were in struggle town, but fought through to get out onto the lake in sub zero temperatures. The cold obviously numbed our senses, as once we jumped back in the car to travel home we felt bad enough that we almost made some 'emergency stops'.

Tom was noticeably envious of the fact that I had a bigger pair than him, so we headed to Mal's and picked up a couple more Shwalbe Big Apples, a 2.0" slick tyre for 29ers. I've found them to be the greatest thing since Rohloff and have experimented with pressures from 70PSI for road use, to 25PSI for MTB. What better tyre for the enigma that is the Peregrine?

So our Japan cycling set up is well and truly sorted, including the formation that we'll be traveling in for the duration of the trip......