THE URGE TO PACK

I am leaving for France and Scotland next Friday and I woke up this morning with the urge to pack. I really haven't thought too much about this trip other than make reservations, help my friends who are coming with me and talk to Lew and Barb about the different routes we will take. A couple of days ago I thought maybe I should check the weather. I did and it didn't look great, I checked again today and it looks a lot better.

Anyway today I just needed to pack, some kind of traveling instinct I guess. I didn't want to pack my suitcase as I will still be using lots of those items, so I packed my bike. I have a Ritchey Break-a-way and it goes into quite a small suitcase. So at 7am I am out there getting ready for my trip. Next week I will have 5 more bikes to pack so this was a good start.

When I pack my bike I think of the first time I used this bike. It was an unexpected trip to France. My good friend Kent Mills had booked a luxury tour to see the Tour de France with his boyhood friend Ric. But Kent the week before had decided to do some extensive yard work and he ruptured a disc. He had no trip insurance so after a few frantic phone calls and an offer to Susan he gave the trip to me. I had decided I was going to get a Break-a-way that fall so I put in a frantic call to Ritchey and got one on the way. It was going to get here on a Monday and I was leaving on an evening flight on Monday. I showed up around 1pm. I was at home franticly packing it, sending Kathy down to Sunnyside to get some parts I needed. I never even had a chance to ride it. Off to the airport to Portland where I had to spend the night. I got it out of the bag, out on the tape and took it for a test ride. It seemed OK.

The first ride on that bike was up to the Tourmalet, the most storied pass in the Pyrenees. It worked fine and on the downhill I was feeling like I had ridden this bike thousands of miles.

It has been like that ever since. I don't ride it much but when I do it feels like home.

Packing for me is not unpleasant. I usually do it early (my instinct I guess) and every time I pack my bike I relive all the wonderful trips and think about the wonderful friends I have traveled with. I will be writing my blog more often during this trip so you can follow our adventures. Enjoy.

One more thing. My friend Serena wrote a very nice blog about our friendship, you can read it here Run bike ski