Though... bearing in mind that this is supposed to record a bike trip, and I didn't buy the bike until here [awaiting link!] I'lll keep this relatively brief. An overview of Rio and Brazil, if you will, and for that grateful thanks to my friend and guide, Tim Vickery. (I'm starting to see what a terrible name dropper I am. Something I mentioned to David & Victoria only the other... etc etc ad nauseum).

Tim, or as he's known in his new life Chzzééén -- Brazilian Portuguese is a tough one to master, and the Rio accent is particularly robust -- was at University with me back in the day. Famous, then as now, both for his football smarts and his smart-casual dress, his ability to introduce sweet seventies' soul music into philosophising Politics seminars ('Hegel, Don't Bother Me') and for Being There For Me when the gal I had high hopes of romancin' took up with a young Arsenal footballer named Niall Quinn instead. (And what did that particular young millionaire, professional athlete and all-around Nice Guy have that I didn't, I'd like to know?)

(Ooops. Namedropping again. Note to self: stick to the story).

Anyway. Way back when, I took a year off from University and unwittingly invented the gap year -- not a recognised brand in my day -- in which I lived and worked in Norway, then spent three months travelling in Peru, Bolivia and ... Rio.

I half-surprised myself by returning to University after that, regaling all who'd listen (i.e. Tim) with tales of the wonders of South America. In particular, as I recall, the specifically female wonders of Brazil, and most in particular of all, the female wonders of Rio. As you do.

Lo and behold, a generation later Tim's living in Rio and working as a football journalist. I'm doing the same, only in London. Copacabana vs Crystal Palace. Maracana vs Millwall. Flamengo vs Fulham.

L i f e  i s  n o t  f a i r.

Occasional emails followed our rediscovery. A year or so later, and still having failed to get him any work, I was contacting him instead, asking for details of how to buy a motorbike in Brazil. Which quickly became -- thanks Tim -- an offer to stay with him in Rio.