Route Change and Bikes

Alot has been happening in the preparation for the trip in the last few weeks. Most significantly the troubles in Tibet in the run up to the Bejing Olympics have caused the Chinese to close off their borders to all foreign tourists. The talk on the web is that this situation won't change until after the Olymics in August. We have therefore decided not to come face to face with the Chinese authorities in Tibet and to find an alternative route.
Options to cross the Himalaya are suprisingly few, infact there are only 2! Our route now will take us over the fantastic Karakoram Highway and down into Pakistan. From Lahore we will head into India and cycle across to Calcutta before rejoining out original route in Bangladesh. Although we are disappointed in not getting to cycle the epic Highway 219 in Tibet, we are given the opportunity to cycle through India. I'm sure that it'll all be for the best in the end and maybe one day we'll be able to do Tibet on a different jouney.
It's now only 5 months to go and yipee! we have taken possession of our super rugged Koga World Traveller bikes! I've never seen Tracy so excited about a bit of kit! Our other kit is almost all together, so I guess next it's time to make sure all the country and routing info is accurate.
Some times I think the planning for a project is the best bit. So much to look forward to and so exciting bringing it all together.