We'll Nap on the Plane
On the upside, Dave has figured out how this whole tandem bicycle concept works. Who needs to get in shape when you have an awesome stoker to do the pedaling for you?
On the flip side, we're starting to feel pretty frazzled. With 35 days to go, trip preparations are messy, uncertain, and difficult. We're burning through cash like there's no tomorrow. The list of needs is so long: panniers, bike equipment, camping gear, clothing, sunglasses, shoes, upgraded phone, and on and on. I finally found some cycling shorts that don't make me feel like I'm wearing a giant diaper. My 15-ounce sleeping bag arrived and it feels like a piece of tissue paper. Oh boy. I have to sleep in that thing for 88 days?!
I put our brand new iPhone XR camera to the test this week and it failed miserably. Grainy, blurry, ridiculously bad photos of the kids ice skating and playing soccer. So, it's back to T-Mobile with the phone to see if it's defective, and back to the debate about whether to haul our 3-pound SLR Canon -- which, incidentally, is 9 years old and likes to malfunction.
Another challenge: In order to ship the tandems for $100 each (each way), they need to weigh no more than 66 pounds apiece -- boxed. The boxes weigh about 33 pounds. If we take off seats, wheels, and the kids' handlebars, we can get the bikes down to 39 pounds. We'll need to strip off pedals and other miscellaneous parts to shave off the remaining 6 pounds.
If the bike boxes are overweight, Iceland Air will get grouchy. So, it's 10:30 pm on a Saturday night and Dave is in the garage standing on the bathroom scale with various configurations of gear.
And then there's the BOB trailer and all those extra bike parts that we'll be removing. Will they need to be boxed like another bike?
Dave has 14 more days of work and I have 24. The list of tasks at the office feels immense, and I don't know how it will ever get accomplished.
The issues feel endless, but I take comfort in Mom's journal entry from May 9, 1983 when we were about to leave on our year-long tandem bicycle trip:
"I'm feeling slightly shattered for some reason. Instead of being excited, our anxieties are surfacing full force now, and we are pulled in a thousand directions with small worries.... I don't have the energy to do the last-minute things."
Maybe everything will come together for our trip like they did for my parents in 1983. Lyle and Ruby are incredibly excited and are counting the days until our departure. Today Lyle suggested we all quit our "jobs" so we have time to get ready for the trip. That does have a certain appeal...
Fow now, we're squeezing trip preparations in around work, school, birthday parties, soccer, piano, viola, Easter egg dyeing, house, yard, and farm. Oh well. We can take a nap on the plane, right?
I put our brand new iPhone XR camera to the test this week and it failed miserably. Grainy, blurry, ridiculously bad photos of the kids ice skating and playing soccer. So, it's back to T-Mobile with the phone to see if it's defective, and back to the debate about whether to haul our 3-pound SLR Canon -- which, incidentally, is 9 years old and likes to malfunction.
Another challenge: In order to ship the tandems for $100 each (each way), they need to weigh no more than 66 pounds apiece -- boxed. The boxes weigh about 33 pounds. If we take off seats, wheels, and the kids' handlebars, we can get the bikes down to 39 pounds. We'll need to strip off pedals and other miscellaneous parts to shave off the remaining 6 pounds.
If the bike boxes are overweight, Iceland Air will get grouchy. So, it's 10:30 pm on a Saturday night and Dave is in the garage standing on the bathroom scale with various configurations of gear.
And then there's the BOB trailer and all those extra bike parts that we'll be removing. Will they need to be boxed like another bike?
Dave has 14 more days of work and I have 24. The list of tasks at the office feels immense, and I don't know how it will ever get accomplished.
The issues feel endless, but I take comfort in Mom's journal entry from May 9, 1983 when we were about to leave on our year-long tandem bicycle trip:
"I'm feeling slightly shattered for some reason. Instead of being excited, our anxieties are surfacing full force now, and we are pulled in a thousand directions with small worries.... I don't have the energy to do the last-minute things."
Maybe everything will come together for our trip like they did for my parents in 1983. Lyle and Ruby are incredibly excited and are counting the days until our departure. Today Lyle suggested we all quit our "jobs" so we have time to get ready for the trip. That does have a certain appeal...
Fow now, we're squeezing trip preparations in around work, school, birthday parties, soccer, piano, viola, Easter egg dyeing, house, yard, and farm. Oh well. We can take a nap on the plane, right?
Hahaha, oh man. Thank you for documenting these preparations for us. I feel exhausted and frazzled just reading them. But don't worry!!! It will all come together, like a concert repertoire that sounds horrible for weeks and then somehow sounds perfect on performance day. Can't wait for more updates!!!
ReplyDeleteHahaha, sounds horrible for weeks. So true!!!
DeleteYep, it will be good to be exhausted by the time you collapse into your plane seats. Just as you'll want to be worn out when you hit your Thermarests at night! I think I understand how to post comments on this blog now. : ) Safari, out. Chrome, in.
ReplyDeleteGot the link! What an unforgettable, life changing experience. Cut yourself some slack and give a little credit. Like shipping the equipment of four cyclists for three months in two boxes? And of course the photos are for memories, not National Geographic. It has come together. Go! Enjoy!
ReplyDelete