The first post should always begin with a quote, as any fledgling blogger knows, but my favourite is by JFK: "Nothing compares to the simple pleasure of a bike ride". Well, yes, that is true, but I also enjoy the simple, uncomplicated pleasure of a ride in an open-topped saloon car in the afternoon sun.
Leaving aside the flight I have to take from Tehran to Mumbai, and the flight back from Australia (surely you didn't think I'd cycle there and back?), this adventure will take me through 19 countries but only three airports. So I hope you'll let me off.
So, the airports. The queues. The constant barrage of security announcements. Being patronised and humiliated by airport security: "please remove your belt", "please remove your shoes", "please take that smile off your face", "please refrain from having dirty or dangerous thoughts".
For speed and distance we put ourselves through the abattoir of the airport, forgetting that the journey, however long or arduous, is part of the adventure itself. It's a good thing to see the world from your handlebars - to see it only as fast as your pedals can turn. No one is your boss on a bicycle - you are as free as your physical limits will allow.
The bicycle and the rider become one machine - it is the most efficient method of travel: if you were to hypothetically convert calories into petrol, the bicycle would get the equivalent of 3,000 miles per gallon. However, when you're weighed down with pannier bags, tent, and all sorts of 'essential' gadgetry it probably pulls that down to about 35 miles per gallon, but that's still slightly more efficient than my old fiesta.
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