Pakistan to China by bike

Fill in all the gaps, put the verbs in brackets into the correct tense.

The idea of riding a bicycle from Pakistan to China ____________________ (come) to me one day in the early summer of 2001. I ____________________ (hike) with friends when someone ____________________ (mention) the subject of cycling. At that moment I had a brainwave. Why not ride the Karakoram Highway, the famous mountain road that runs from Islamabad in Pakistan to Kashgar in China? I ____________________ (do) this trip once before by bus but had found it disappointing as you spend most of the time sitting in the bus. I had never made a long bike trip before but I ____________________ (be) reasonably fit as I ____________________ (go) running every day. In fact I ____________________ (plan) to take part in a charity walk in Hong Kong later in the year and ____________________ (train) for three months already. However, my annual leave was coming up and I wanted to do something energetic. That very same evening I went onto the Internet and read everything I could about the journey and about long-distance cycle touring. Then I ____________________ (decide) what kind of bike and equipment to buy and the route I would take. A week later I ____________________ (make) most of my preparations. I ____________________ (finish) work in the evening on August 31 st and immediately ____________________ (fly) to London. There I ____________________ (buy) the bike and made a three-day trip into the countryside to check the equipment and get the feel of riding a bike with a heavy load. A day later I was on the plane to Pakistan. I ____________________ (arrive) in the capital, Islamabad, in the early morning, unpacked my bike and attached the panniers. Then under the curious eyes of other passengers, I ____________________ (climb) into the saddle and cycled out of the airport. What a feeling of freedom and excitement as I turned onto the open road! Over a thousand kilometers of unknown country lay before me and who knew what adventures!

Pakistan to China by bike

The idea of riding a bicycle from Pakistan to China came (come) to me one day in the early summer of 2001. I was hiking (hike) with friends when someone mentioned (mention) the subject of cycling. At that moment I had a brainwave. Why not ride the Karakoram Highway, the famous mountain road that runs from Islamabad in Pakistan to Kashgar in China? I had done (do) this trip once before by bus but had found it disappointing as you spend most of the time sitting in the bus. I had never made a long bike trip before but I was (be) reasonably fit as I went (go) running every day. In fact I was planning (plan) to take part in a charity walk in Hong Kong later in the year and had been training (train) for three months already. However, my annual leave was coming up and I wanted to do something energetic. That very same evening I went onto the Internet and read everything I could about the journey and about long-distance cycle touring. Then I decided (decide) what kind of bike and equipment to buy and the route I would take. A week later I had made (make) most of my preparations. I finished (finish) work in the evening on 31 August and immediately flew (fly) to London. There I bought (buy) the bike and made a three-day trip into the countryside to check the equipment and get the feel of riding a bike with a heavy load. A day later I was on the plane to Pakistan. I arrived (arrive) in the capital, Islamabad, in the early morning, unpacked my bike and attached the panniers (3). Then under the curious eyes of other passengers, I climbed (climb) into the saddle and cycled out of the airport. What a feeling of freedom and excitement as I turned onto the open road! Over a thousand kilometers of unknown country lay before me and who knew what adventures!