Okay, we made it through the check in process with only one surprise. Last time we took our bikes to Europe it cost $150.00 to put them on the plane. This time $300.00!!! Thank goodness Sherry has her new bike that breaks down small enough to check as regular baggage so we only had to pay for one bike. Yikes!!!
Thank you to Karen & Gary (Bob's sister & her husband) for giving us a ride to the airport. Our plane leaves at 3:45pm and we will arrive in Paris at 7:45am local time. We are hoping that everything will go well and we'll be pedaling our way to a campground by around noon.
We are at the airport lounge right now. We are flying business class over (thanks to the frequent flyer miles) and enjoying the benefits! We are going to live large before spending 3 months in a tent!!
Check out the pictures from today
Monday, June 28, 2010
Thursday, June 24, 2010
Peacock Groove
A big THANK YOU to Erik Noren, Owner/Frame Builder at Peacock Groove. Erik took one look at Bob's bike and said "no problem". It was music to our ears!
We dropped the bike off yesterday afternoon and picked it up last night. Good or even better than new.
Thank you, Erik!!!
If you or anyone you know needs any special work done on their bike be sure to check out Peacock Groove. Ph: 651-269-5295
We dropped the bike off yesterday afternoon and picked it up last night. Good or even better than new.
Thank you, Erik!!!
If you or anyone you know needs any special work done on their bike be sure to check out Peacock Groove. Ph: 651-269-5295
Wednesday, June 23, 2010
Shakedown Ride
This past Saturday we got all our "stuff" together and loaded up the bikes for a trial run. The day was beautiful! We rode on the Luce Line trail which is one of many old railway's that have been converted to multi-use path's. It was a 40mile round trip route that we took and everything went well. Of course we didn't know it at the time but Bob's bike had a crack in the frame. But as Bob said earlier, it is getting fixed and all will be ready by Monday!
I posted a few pic's of the bikes all loaded up so you can get a better idea of what it looks like.
I posted a few pic's of the bikes all loaded up so you can get a better idea of what it looks like.
Bike problems!!
Bike scare.
Sherry and I were working on my bike trying to figure out why we couldn't adjust the back break. We adjusted everything we could think of and couldn't get it to work correctly. So I brought it in to the bike shop and told the guy of our problems. He looked at it for 5 minutes before he finally said, "maybe it is because your frame is cracked". Not the thing I wanted to hear one week before a 3 month bike tour!
They have called Trek to see if they can replace the frame but don't think there is any chance they will get a new frame in time. They will replace it but it is unlikely they will be able to do it before this trip!. I have been tempted to buy a new bike too. They look really nice!! My bike is 5 years old and has over 20,000 miles on it so maybe it is time.
But, the guys at the bike shop told me about a guy in town who builds frames and said he could probably fix it. So Sherry is on her way over there now with the bike to see if he can weld it for us. She talked with him on the phone and he said he fixed one last week for a guy who was getting ready to tour.
Only 5 days left!!! We are both getting really excited to get back out there.
Sherry and I were working on my bike trying to figure out why we couldn't adjust the back break. We adjusted everything we could think of and couldn't get it to work correctly. So I brought it in to the bike shop and told the guy of our problems. He looked at it for 5 minutes before he finally said, "maybe it is because your frame is cracked". Not the thing I wanted to hear one week before a 3 month bike tour!
They have called Trek to see if they can replace the frame but don't think there is any chance they will get a new frame in time. They will replace it but it is unlikely they will be able to do it before this trip!. I have been tempted to buy a new bike too. They look really nice!! My bike is 5 years old and has over 20,000 miles on it so maybe it is time.
But, the guys at the bike shop told me about a guy in town who builds frames and said he could probably fix it. So Sherry is on her way over there now with the bike to see if he can weld it for us. She talked with him on the phone and he said he fixed one last week for a guy who was getting ready to tour.
Only 5 days left!!! We are both getting really excited to get back out there.
Thursday, June 3, 2010
2010 Trip Begins June 28th
Hello Everyone,
Welcome to the first of many posts for our 2010 Europe Adventure. We are really looking forward to the next 3 months of beautiful sights, new friends we will meet, time spent with mother nature, and enjoying all that she has to offer!
Last weekend we pulled out all of the touring gear that has been packed away for the past 3 years. Set the tent up to check for leaks and tears. The sleeping bags, camp stove, utensils, stuff sacks, bike tools etc were all inspected and found to be in working order and ready to go. When we unpacked the backpacking pillows the reality of sleeping on the ground for the next 3 months really hit. Those pillows are evil!!! I suppose they are better than just bunching your clothes up to use but they are still EVIL!
But pillows aside, this is going to be an amazing trip. Three months of exploring Europe with no particular agenda. We have some area's we know we want to visit but we are keeping our options open. We are fairly sure that we'll be visiting France, Spain, Switzerland, Austria, Slovenia, Croatia, and Italy. If you have any suggestions of places to visit and sights to see in those country's please share them with us.
For this trip we will be taking along our own computer and will have remote internet access. This will hopefully make it easier for us to update the blog and post pictures. To view the pictures you just need to look on the right side of the blog and click on the flicker shortcut.
I've posted a few of the pictures of all the gear spread out on the floor of the garage. Oh my gosh how do we fit all of that stuff on the bikes? And that doesn't even include the food and clothes! YIKES!
Welcome to the first of many posts for our 2010 Europe Adventure. We are really looking forward to the next 3 months of beautiful sights, new friends we will meet, time spent with mother nature, and enjoying all that she has to offer!
Last weekend we pulled out all of the touring gear that has been packed away for the past 3 years. Set the tent up to check for leaks and tears. The sleeping bags, camp stove, utensils, stuff sacks, bike tools etc were all inspected and found to be in working order and ready to go. When we unpacked the backpacking pillows the reality of sleeping on the ground for the next 3 months really hit. Those pillows are evil!!! I suppose they are better than just bunching your clothes up to use but they are still EVIL!
But pillows aside, this is going to be an amazing trip. Three months of exploring Europe with no particular agenda. We have some area's we know we want to visit but we are keeping our options open. We are fairly sure that we'll be visiting France, Spain, Switzerland, Austria, Slovenia, Croatia, and Italy. If you have any suggestions of places to visit and sights to see in those country's please share them with us.
For this trip we will be taking along our own computer and will have remote internet access. This will hopefully make it easier for us to update the blog and post pictures. To view the pictures you just need to look on the right side of the blog and click on the flicker shortcut.
I've posted a few of the pictures of all the gear spread out on the floor of the garage. Oh my gosh how do we fit all of that stuff on the bikes? And that doesn't even include the food and clothes! YIKES!
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