Well, everything is done here in Florida; we’re packed, prepared, and ready to GO. So we did. We decided to drive down to Miami International Airport in a rental car, rather than take the TriRail train, and it worked out GREAT! There are beautiful, spacious, clean new rental car return facilities at MIA. We dumped the car and caught a shuttle train to the Miami airport with hardly any delay. As long as we can get cheap car rentals, this is a good way to go.
We’re hanging at a QUIZNO’s sub shop next to our gate, waiting for our plane to New York. Not too much travel gear here with us. I’m always proud of the way Lynn packs: MINIMALIST! We have one regular-size suitcase and my bicycle-in-a-suitcase which we checked through to Nice, FR. Each of us has a small carry-on bag, and I have my computer, electronics and books in a small backpack. For us, the perfect trip is where we use everything single item we packed, and bring nothing back that wasn’t needed. We learned years ago that taking LESS stuff is the way to go! If we forgot something, we can buy it or do without. This will be all we need for a 30 day trip.
Some of my bike buddies have never seen my bike torn down and packed in a suitcase. I’ll include some pics of the packing process here for them. Basically, I unscrew the two frame couplers, which allows the frame to come apart (the couplers were the expensive part of the conversion of my titanium frame bike to a suitcase bike). Then, I take off the brake calipers, unscrew the shift cable couplers, remove the wheels, the handlebar and seat post. Next step: wrap each component with the padded nylon protection sleeves, then CAREFULLY pack each bike component into the suitcase. You can’t hurry this in my experience…each piece has to be finessed into the right spot so the case will close without damaging anything! The most fun is packing the wheels. They both fit perfectly, without even 1/8” to spare, after the tires are deflated. After all parts are in place, I packed my bike clothes and shoes, water bottles, tools and spare tubes into all the small empty spaces. Then, close and lock the case. It’s the maximum size suitcase the airlines will allow. We checked in with no problems!
Enough about my bike. Lynn is reading up on Rick Steve’s (our favorite travel author) Provence recommendations, and making sure we have lots of books loaded onto the Kindle. Flying time for us the rest of today and tonight. We’ll be in Nice tomorrow, about 11:00 a.m. their time. More later!
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