Tales of the bike boxes

Hello all! First post from east of the Atlantic!

We had an easy time with the big boxes on the Tube and train in London, once we figured out that we could use a trolley instead of carrying the damn things. The morning commuters didn't seem to mind much, though maybe they'll tell their spouses about the weirdos on the Underground.

We spent yesterday in London, walking. And walking. And...walking. Saw the sights. London Bridge is kind of boring. The Tower, Big Ben, Westminster Abbey, the Eye, the "Temms," Buckingham Palace, a couple Banksy stencils. Okay. Done with London. Onward!

We're in Bratislava now. Much nicer feel than London. Bit of an adventure with the bikes here. It was pouring when we got off the plane. The airport's not much, so the boxes got a little wet. They were on their last legs. On the advice of the tourist lady, we put the bikes together to take them on the bus. But the bus wouldn't take them, so Erin had to cry and sniffle a little. First time, though!

We eventually took a taxi. Or, we took a taxi and our bikes took another. But we got here okay in the end. Just spent a bit more money. That's okay. Tomorrow's payday!

We walked into the old city for lunch, where we ordered a sandwich of some sort. Talked to an odd lady from Alabama who said it was deathly hot the other day. It's definitely warm here, and if she thought it was bad, us Washingtonians are in for it.

We'll post pictures when we find a USB port. For now, you'll have to use your imagination.

Talk to you soon!

Packed up and ready to go

Dang it's hot around here. But it's hotter where we're going! We spent the afternoon under the sun today, and a bit under the shade of the crab apple tree, taking apart and boxing our bikes. It went like this:

1) Take off wheels (Easy!)
2) Take off front fenders (Easy!)
3) Put padding on tubes (Easy!)
4) Took off 3 pedals (Relatively easy!)
5) Got pissed
6) Took bike to shop to get pedal off (Annoying!)
7) Took off handlebars (Easy!)
8) Put bike in box (Easy! --but)
9) Rack sticks up, seat tube sticks up (Getting pissed again)
10) Calm oneself (Not as easy as it should be)
11) Took off racks (Easy!)
12) Shifted, tweaked, stuffed, jammed (Easy!)

We leave early tomorrow morning! Fun, flights, and five hours in Toronto! Exciting! Check back early and often; we'll try to post as often as possible.

Miles so far: 0
Bike shops utilized: 3 [Kulshan Cycles (packing trinkets), BICycles (packing foam tubing), Classic Cycle (pedal removal)]

Four Days and Counting...

Thursday, Friday, Saturday, Sunday, no days.... Nervous, yes! Excited, yes! Ready, yes! Today we will try our first test pack and make sure we have enough room in our paniers. And room for things to bring back...it might be a challenge, especially for me! We will keep you posted as we go along... till then....