Travel Day

After several months of planning, I officially began my latest bicycle adventure today! Per the norm, the final 24 hours before departure were quite busy & stressful. Not only did I have to finish packing for the trip, but I also had to vacate my short-term furnished apartment in Durango (and clean it) and put everything else in storage (including my car). This is the first time I have flown with my bike, so even after getting picked up by taxi at 7:30 am, I continued to worry:

• Would I get to the airport in time?
• Would my boxed bike weight under 50 pounds (airline limit)?
• Would United accept my large panniers as a single checked bag?
• Would I have any problems going through security (and would my metal-cleated bike shoes be considered a weapon of some sort)?
• Did I forget anything?
• Did I bring something I should have left behind?
• Would I miss any of my 3 flights?

As it turned out, everything worked out fine. I got to the airport 15 minutes early (before the ticket counter opened), my bike weighed 49 pounds, and the rest of check-in was uneventful. After making it through security, my anxiety finally disappeared & was replaced with a sense of relief & calm anticipation for the trip ahead. A few weather-related delays (thunderstorms) on the way to Denver and Chicago only gave me slight concern (my 2-hour layovers were trimmed down by 30-60 minutes). The only real annoyance was a 2-hour delay in Chicago after boarding the plane for Munich (first a problem with the plane's reverse thrust engines, then some more weather delays due to lightning).

Right now it is sometime in the middle of the night over the Atlantic Ocean & I am unable to sleep on the plane despite having had only 3-4 hours of sleep last night. As I am slowly tying away on my mini-laptop, I am now turning my thoughts to Germany,Austria & Czech Republic. This will be my first trip to these countries since 1993, and my first trip to Europe in 8 years. I am looking forward to authentic German food (sauerkraut, wurst & beer of course), visiting some of Europe's great cities again (Munich, Vienna, Prague), and riding through Bavaria (& beyond) for the first time on low-stress bicycle routes. Not sure where I will be staying after the first night or if there will be any problems putting my bike back together after landing, but right now I am not worried...the hard part is over with and the fun is about to begin!