It Takes Two

By -





Mericans are fat.  I am not talking about 'could lose a few pounds' or 'a bit overweight'.  I'm not even talking about porky.  I mean properly 'crane to move them into an ambulance' fat.

Seattle is a town with its fair share of social problems and colossally fat people feature heavily (pun intended).  

Nevertheless, in the photos you can see Dom modelling the elevator (that means lift for anyone who has never been to Merica or watched TV) to demonstrate its capacious nature, and a sign advising that the limit is 2 people.  You have to have seen some of the people to understand the wisdom of this limit.

As we rounded up the punters we ran through our usual start of trip checklist:

Customer who hasn't built their bike properly - CHECK
Customer whose bike isn't mechanically up to the trip - CHECK
Overweight bags - CHECK, CHECK
Customers who said they would bring their bike in a  fold-flat cardboard box but actually used a sodding great bike carier - thrice CHECK

So everything is good, we have all the ingredients for a standard trip.  

Today was a worry.....we had to fit all the expected luggage plus all the unexpected extras in the van.  We had to get all the punters successfully to a ferry that absolutely wouldn't wait for us.  And we had to get everyone over 63 hilly miles to Shelton, WA.  

Mission accomplished.  We are now busy rehydrating before heading out to shop for breakfast supplies.  Many motels do not offer breakfast so we must serve it out of our bedrooms.   This is easily the worst aspect of trips in Merica.

Tomorrow we head to the west coast proper to join the specific Coast Highway.



Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Sex & Drugs & Rock & Roll/Mr Tamborine Man/I Write The Songs

By -
Image
  After an 18 month separation Plum and I are reforming the band for another tour.  The two of us, plus 6 others, are heading up to Scotlandshire for another crack at the North Cost 500.  I should probably introduce the full line-up:   Lead Singer - David.  David is the young(er) pretty one.....brother of John.  David also happens to be my Financial Adviser and is funding this trip (plus a yacht and a cocaine habit) out of what he makes from my account.   Lead Guitar - Nick.  Friend for 50 years.  At school Nick was a keen cyclist and consequently, quite rightly, bullied.  Nick has forgotten more about cycling than I will ever know.   Bass Guitar - Stuart.  Stuart and I worked together for many years; he has powerful legs and can push out big watts while looking like he is coasting.  I hate Stuart.   Keyboards - Michael.  Michael is a...
Read more

If I Could Turn Back Time

By -
Image
If ever you are in the Inverness area on a Friday and looking for a lively night you could do a lot worse than avoid Muir of Ord.  Our hotel, the only pub, wasn't serving food so we walked into town where it appeared that Steven Spielberg had just finished filming some sort of post-apocalypse movie: nothing open, nobody on the streets and the odd bit of tumbleweed blowing along the pavement.  Even the fish and chip shop couldn't be arsed to open...on a FRIDAY NIGHT!  We managed to find a take-away offering a rather odd choice of kebabs and curries (served in pizza boxes for added novelty) and purchased some food which made up for in calories what it lacked in food-hygiene standards.   I recall a meeting where a few of my co-riders and I met to kick around ideas for a group ride.  We considered all sort of destinations....mostly in those parts of Europe where the weather isn't consistently shite.  I'm ashamed to say that I thin...
Read more

Julia's Song

By -
Image
As some readers will know, Plum is no longer Chard's most eligible bachelor.  The lovely Julia has taken on the job that Social Services would otherwise have to do....making sure he changes his pants once a week whether they need it or not and loading routes onto his Garmin.  We are all very grateful to Julia, especially Chards most eligible bachelorettes who can get back on the dating scene now Plum is safely off the market. As we were starting our trip Julia fell, dislocated her foot and broke her Tibia so she is probably missing Plum more than usual. She has insisted that the show should go on so thanks for being such a trooper. Today was another with a shortcut that promised to turn a very hard day into something more manageable.  Some of our group took the high road and others took the low but I had a more cunning idea.....get in the van.  Whatever is ailing me, long covid or acute spinelessness, reached the point where pushing th...
Read more