Yesterday I did a pretty lame job packing the bike. I used one of the boxes from the France trip and kind of just stuffed everything in. I figured it was a short flight. It is amazing how light it is compared to my usual case. I'm getting a super light case for next trip.
Somehow a bunch of my tools that were on the Sierra trip were missing. Most importantly the pedal wrench. With that tool it is easy to get the pedals off. Without it it is nearly impossible. I used my multi tools and partially destroyed them in a ViseGrip. I'm sure those missing tool are somewhere in a safe space. I will never find them.
Anyway last night the bike was packed and most of my gear was in the box. I had my little backpack with all the electronics and my riding gear.
Airport drop off and checkin was no problem and the bike only cost a checked bag ... $35. United is scoring points with me. The plane seat was pretty tiny which will cost them but for a flight that short, who cares.
When I landed I saw my bike getting unloaded. They didn't throw it or anything but maybe they saw me pointing a camera at them.
I changed on the way to baggage and my bike came out with all the golf clubs. I put the bike together at the seating near the baggage and felt a little bad just leaving my box there. I was thinking that airport baggage claims might be a good place to find bike boxes at the end of a tour. You might have to hang around for a while but anybody landing with one is done with it.
I rode away. It was sunny but not all that hot. The sun was frying me a bit because I did the first 20km without any. The first twenty went fast and I stopped at a little market. After that it was like I was riding backwards. It got hard and I was going slow. After the market I was on a quiet road and the only one without a decent shoulder.
Highway 126 had a good shoulder to great shoulder. There was a bit of traffic but I have no complaints about that road. There was a narrow tunnel but I got lucky and nobody passed me.
At the half way point I stopped at the Halfway Cafe and had coffee and fries. It felt like a million years since the market. This was one of those rides I divided up into 10kn segments. When I'm doing that it's usually not great riding. I'm just trying to get through it.
I stopped a lot and had some minor cramping. All signs of not being very fit. I was using all my tricks to finish.
Finally, I hit the final flat 25km along the river. The shoulder for a lot of it was wider than the lane. I had a good 6-8 foot shoulder when some jerk in a pickup decided to move into the shoulder. It looked very intentional and an morons act of intimidation. I was hoping for a traffic issue up ahead.
When I finally got to Florence, I was done. My wounds were oozing. Showered and washed clothes and off to dinner. Found the Beachcomber Bar and ordered the giant burger and a beer. Could not eat all the burger but history says night one food doesn't go down well but I wake up at 3am starving.
I'm going to plan a shorter day tomorrow so I can sleep in a bit and still get in early enough. Getting to the hotel at after 7pm is just way too late.
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