December 21, 2015
FLL to Ft Lauderdale
Day One of rewiring! And an early, early flight out of Washington National Airport. A 6:00 AM flight! What a way to start a new phase in my life!
But . . . the only alternative flight when I went to purchase took off at a more reasonable 12:30 PM and landed in FLL at 3:30. That would be fine if the days were long, but this was winter and the shortest day of the year. It takes an hour to collect the bike and get it assembled and another hour to ride to Bob's place, meaning I'm arriving at or near 5:30 in the dark and close to dinner, so minimal downtime after arriving. So I opted for the 6:00 AM flight.
But that meant rising at 3:30 AM, which I did effortlessly. I showered and dressed with my riding shorts on beneath a pair of lightweight cargo pants, a lightweight riding jersey, and my bright yellow wind/rain jacket. I did one last check of the bags, taped up the bike box, and hauled everything down to the lobby in time for Laurent to pick me up at 4:30. We are at the airport before 5:00. Not bad.
But it was a bit of a madhouse. I wasn't expecting it to be quiet but wasn't expecting the huge lines. And lines with lots of luggage! Including me and my bike. But Southwest was well organized, and in a short time, I was checking the bike and expecting to pay that nasty $75 fee. Lo and behold, after lots of niceties and Merry Christmases the clerk said we were done and took the bike gratis! OK, good job!
Security was next, but that was a breeze, and I was sitting in the lounge area waiting to board at 5:30. And even though I was a lowly B54 in boarding order, I got an aisle seat and plenty of room to store my panniers, my only carry-on. I slept all the way to Atlanta, where I had a two-hour layover.
The layover was a breeze, and after finding and consuming a cinnamon bun, I boarded my next flight and slept some more, arriving in Ft Lauderdale on time at 12:10. I retrieved my "luggage," which came out on the regular conveyor (not through the oversized pickup door), and immediately noted TSA had been at work. At least they taped it up good when they were done.
So, after dragging the box to outside the terminal building, and with the usual trepidation, I opened the box to check out the damages. Fortunately, everything looked fine! In fact, I doubted anything had even shifted in flight, much less during a search. I quickly began the unpacking process. Within the hour I was all assembled, fully loaded, and ready to roll.
I had ridden this ride before, so I made my way out of the airport with ease. Bob had offered to pick me up at the airport, but I like doing a short test drive with the bike loaded to make sure everything works smoothly. And it did. Load distribution and gearing were as good as could be expected, even over the first "hill," the Intracoastal Waterway.
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I stopped for a bite to eat along the way (I was pretty much starving) and arrived at Bob's shortly before 3:00 PM. Between the hellos, the unpacking, securing the bike in the condo's bike room, and catching up, we blew through the remainder of the afternoon, eventually consuming several glasses of wine along the way.
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Then it was shower and change and off to dinner at Kaluz, a pretty dramatic local restaurant overlooking the water. The rest is history, captured here:
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Today's ride: 9 miles (14 km)
Total: 9 miles (14 km)
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