With A Little Help From My Friends/Tired of Waiting (Double A Side)

By -




Yesterday morning Dom assured me we were going to have a nice quiet day.  It was to be our longest and hilliest thus far so my hopes weren't high.  

Breakfast went smoothly and by 8:30 I was shopping for breakfast supplies when the phone rang.  A rider had managed to crash on a slippery bridge and, as well picking up some grazes and bruises, she managed to damage the electric gears on her 3 week old bike.  3 hours later, with the help of YouTube, I managed to get everything working well enough to get he back on the road but I was then seriously behind the curve.  The rest of the day past in a blur of tearing back and forth on US101 to give the weakest riders a boost in the van over the worst couple of hills.

I arrived at the hotel hot, tired and just a tad grumpy.  The hotel looked pretty decent but the entry door was festooned with signs saying 'Absolutely no cats'.  You develop a sort of sixth sense about these things and, sure enough, it was a nightmare.  The morbidly obese drone on reception insisted that each of the 16 rooms had to be checked in separately... with the room occupant present.  This involved much typing, stopping to take incoming calls and going to the toilet as well as no fewer than FIVE signatures by the room occupant accepting liability for every conceivable calamity (including cats shitting the bed).

Each of our riders, having done 86 hilly miles, had to stand in line for an average of 35 minutes to check in.  They weren't happy and took it out on the nearest available tour leader :-(.

On the plus side I received a visit from friends.  Three Merican couples who I know from trips past and who live in Oregon had driven over to meet me and took me out for dinner.  It was nice to see them and I really like free dinner.

This morning, joy of joys, it is pissing down.  Bugger.



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