There is a saying with PAC Tour that after a while, things just feel like Groundhog Day…. the alarm goes off, you do the same routine…. you go to bed… wake up and do the same all over again.
Well, it has been more than 3 weeks and, yes, we are in a routine, the humans and us bikes. The board tells us when breakfast is and we get up an hour before. We need a little more time than other rooms because Edwin’s human has to make Pat’s oatmeal (sans raisins because for some reason Pat thinks the only good raisin went into making ice wine… not a bad thought, actually, but I digress…).
So up we are an hour before food. The human slathers on sunscreen (gee, I wish that it would *stay* on the human and not rub off on my pretty frame), fills my water bottles and checks my tires (slow flats show up in the morning). By then it is time for first breakfast where my human consumes 1/2 of Pat’s oatmeal and Edwin’s human now has to make more. Then it is off to the real breakfast where the human eats yet another humongous serving of oatmeal, some juice and sweet treats.
Finally, it is time to ride and my human is first in line to put the suitcase in the truck…. always first in line… pushy about it…. jumps the queue rudely, but, heck, we’re slow and the fast riders all have pity on me, the pretty bike with the weak engine so we get out onto the road first.
Then, we toodle along with Pat catching up and we spend the day riding. I would like to think we spend the day riding, but sometimes I think the human just sees it as moving between rest stops where sweets are consumed in ridiculous quantities…. juice (several cups), cookies (a half dozen Oreos plus some sugar wafers), fig bars, nuts, fruit, whatever is available. The humans joke that they are a plague of locusts descending upon the rest stop….. trust me, as a bike, yes, it is embarrassing watching them feast.
But…. it is those feasts that fuel them and get us down the road. By the second rest stop we are running last wheel and we pull into the hotel around 5:00-ish. The human oils my chain, washes me down and gets me ready for the next day. Finally, I get to write up the blog and then get some well-deserved rest.
So…. what is my point? We have this routine down pat, the human and I. We’ve settled in to the rhythm….. I’m a little worried about Saturday…. can we stop? Or will we need to turn around and head back west?!?!?!?
Travels With Edwina 