Travel day
I made the long write up below in a sleep deprived haze - here's the short version: Things couldn't have gone more smoothly today. The only possible negative was the grouchy shuttle driver. By the time we walked the bikes to the shop, my wrists (of all the odd places) were really sore. Google said it was a six minute walk each way. The hostel is very bare bones with walls like paper. Unfortunately, there's no other lodging in this area. It is perfectly located with the airport, bike shop, and a quiet plaza with outdoor dining.
Here's the long version:
This is our first overseas bicycle tour. There are layers of preparation that we aren't accustomed to dealing with - such as boxing bikes.
We had an unexpected twist when Jacinto had knee pain during a training ride. On a subsequent ride, the pain was sharp enough that he called for a ride home. I had enough things to stress about without worrying about my sherpa's capabilities!
Jacinto tried the traditional RICE, plus some stretching. He self diagnosed IT band trouble, did some stretches, and it seemed better. Then he went on another ride. This time he thought the culprit was his cleat placement on new shoes (although the shoes were the same brand/model/size that he usually wears). This new pain, that didn't resolve after a few days, was very worrisome. We discussed plans A, B, C, D, and a couple more! Discussion ranged from total cancelation, to Jaicnto driving SAG for me, to cutting the trip to two weeks and making it a car trip, should his knee continue to be a problem. We even checked out renting him an E bike. The horrors!
Jaicnto ended up going in for a cortisone shot. Now the IT band trouble is back. He has purchased a compression sleeve, has ibuprofen, and is doing some IT band exercises. He's successfully gone on a couple of tough hikes at home.
Knee trouble forced my mind off of the expected pre tour worries.
That is the preamble to the actual travel day. We ended up packing in a giant rush on Sunday, as we hadn't fully trusted his knee to cooperate. We had debated how to pack our gear. Should we also put it in boxes? Duffel bags? Should we buy those bags? I looked downstairs. We had a duffel bag full of duffel bags. One was a larger bag on wheels that my recumbent bicycle seat fit in perfectly. What are the chances? My panniers plus our shoes and helmets fit in around the seat. We had a smaller duffel that Jacinto's two panniers slid right into. Eventually the piles on the dining room table were contained in Ziplock bags, and then inside of panniers.
Oh - and let's add in a little airplane ticket excitement. I received a check in email 24 hours before departure, but Jacinto didn't! He was all trusting things would be okay, but what if he didn't have a ticket? I only had a few minutes wait when I had called to ask about the fee ($390. each) to change the return date of our ticket. This time I waited almost 45 minutes to get a live person. Yes, Jacinto had a ticket, she didn't know why his check in email hadn't arrived, but she sent another one. Whew, one worry down!
A friend picked us up at 4:30 AM for the drive to Eagle. We had spent considerable time this winter trying to find the best ticket to Spain. We had trouble narrowing our starting point down, but ended up leaving from small Eagle/Vail (one hour from home). Oddly, this ticket was $400. cheaper than going out of busy Denver. I love little airports!
We were a little early arriving, as Mike had to be to work. We were literally the only people in the airport. We couldn't see any workers or other people anywhere. The doors opened, and we brought our two bike boxes and two duffel bags inside. Gradually we saw more and more workers arriving. A woman stopped by and said she would be working the outside curb check and to bring our bags out there, that the bike boxes wouldn't fit on the conveyer belt. She was very friendly, asking about our trip, and telling us about her horseback riding trip in France, where they galloped for six hours a day with hardly a pause. Those horses must be in amazing shape!
Jacinto's bike box weighed 48 pounds, mine weighed 44 pounds. She didn't measure either one, although I knew that American's requirement was under 50 pounds, and 126 liner inches. These boxes looked huge to me, but were 109 and 111 inches. She didn't weigh our duffel bags at all. I wasn't sure about tipping. We usually do carry on only when flying. A quick google search said $2. a bag and more if the bags are big or heavy. I had a supply of my unusual $2. bills to hand out.
We went back inside. Jacinto didn't want to go through security - he said there would be too many people concentrated in too small of a space. He saw both kids and dogs and thought things would be extra noisy. Of course, I wanted to go through security and have one more step out of the way!
A side entertainment while we were waiting to board was checking the American Airlines app to track our bags. We had several discussions on buying Air Tag trackers to put in our luggage, but ultimately did not buy them. However, I certainly did want to know that our gear was on the plane. Jacinto could see his bags on his phone app. Mine wouldn't let me in. I am sure it had to do with the spelling of my last name. It's hyphenated legally and causes nothing but trouble. I asked the agent at the counter if she could tell me how I needed to spell my name. I thought what was printed on my luggage tag would be most likely, she agreed, but that wouldn't get me results on tracking luggage. The agent could see that both of my bags were also marked as on the plane.
I received a warning text from my aunt saying that the news mentioned Moroccan immigrants were robbing tourists in Spain and Portugal, to be careful. I haven't heard anything along that line and remember that the Hugens' have recently bicycled in Morocco with no issues. Plus, there are a few Spain/Portugal journals going at this time with no safety issues. I did have a few doubts about our location close to the airport, but Barajas seems like a nice little spot. The central plaza is tranquil, and the streets aren't crowded.
Whew. OK - we are one step closer! I have said multiple times that I would be much happier once we finally arrive in Madrid, the bikes are ready to go, and we are rolling down the road.
We had a five hour layover in Dallas. American had changed us to a later flight without asking. Neither Jacinto or I remember getting a notification email. I just happened to follow a link, suggesting an upgrade ($4,000. each!) to business class. That's when I noticed the time had been changed to one hour 45 minutes. Perhaps that was enough, but with the bulky boxes to transfer, I wanted to give them no excuses!
Our plane was 45 minutes late landing in Dallas. We had to divert through New Mexico because of storms in Oklahoma. That was no worry for us. Our seat mate had only 25 minutes until her next flight departed. She was happy to see that the gate was three gates down. I hope she made it. Other people were in a rush, we waited and let others get off. Our big activity was to go to lunch before the overnight plane ride. We settled on Mexican food. My fish tacos were good, Jacinto didn't like his enchiladas. He somehow had a string of cheese flip up and stick to the lens of his glasses. When he tried to clean it, the grease from the cheese smeared around. I asked the waitress if they had any window cleaner, but they did not.
We had paid for Economy Plus tickets, which gave us two free bags, more leg room, and changeable tickets. That was $400. extra, each. We were in the first row right behind the bulkhead. Jacinto was positioned perfectly to see that the upper class people had china plates and real silverware. I was too busy watching the three little boys who were across the aisle from us. Their mom was giving them instructions on how to behave, and how to operate the video monitors. I was doubtful they would be good once mom left, but they were. They ate dinner, watched movies, and went to sleep! My seat mate on the other side must have taken a sleeping pill. He got situated with his pillow and blanket right away, and didn't move except for a couple of trips to the bathroom.
Dinner was a lackluster chicken and rice. Jacinto said now we know we don't need to pay airport restaurant prices before boarding an overnight plane. I read two entire books over the day - The Nurse's Secret (about the first nursing school in the USA, that sounds a little dry, but it was a good read). The second book was Brest or Bust - an account of a man training for Paris-Brest-Paris. Jacinto watched several movies - I caught him with his eyes closed a couple of times, but he swears he didn't sleep. I think I slept a couple of hours.
Our plane arrived in Madrid 30 minutes early. We cruised right through immigration without having to wait at all. When we got to the luggage carousel, there were our two duffel bags coming out. We had wondered if we needed to pay for luggage carts, they were free. We just had to figure out how the handlebar brake worked!
Jacinto checked getting money at the ATM, but there was a 15% fee. We didn't know if that was typical, or higher than usual because the ATM was in the convenient airport. We decided to wait and see what prices were at an ATM near our hostel.
The oversize luggage location was well marked. I barely walked over, and here came our two boxes! Things were certainly going smoothly. We couldn't ask for better. I was concerned when I saw that all of the staples were pulled out of the bottom of my box. It didn't appear that anything was missing inside, but it was difficult to move around, because we had to carry it upside down.
Jacinto called the hostel to tell them we were ready for pickup. We were instructed to go to the hotel pick up area, past the taxis. We waited there perhaps 15-20 minutes for the van. The driver was not happy at all that he hadn't been given advance notice of the bicycle boxes. We had discussed that with whomever had answered the phone. They said perhaps they would have to make two trips, but they would get us and the boxes. The driver grumped around, folding seats down, and removing headrests. Then all three of us sat in the front. We had planned to sweet talk him into driving the few blocks over to All Ride bicycle shop. Jacinto didn't even mention it. There was complete silence on the short ride to the hostel. The driver did say that we couldn't check in until 12:30, it was 10 AM. Jacinto showed him the address for the bike shop. The man didn't offer to go there, we didn't directly ask. We ended up carrying one box at a time to the shop. The man there was very, very nice. He asked about our trip, and chatted about places to see on our day off tomorrow. He and Jacinto had quite a discussion about what local beer was best.
I was soaked in sweat from all of the back and forth. I wasn't really hungry, but I sure could sit down with a cold drink! We sat down at an outside dining area on little plaza, on the way back to the hostel. They served pinchos - for 2.50E each. They looked like tapas to me. Small plates of food. Mostly it was a slice of bread with different toppings. We ended up ordering paella to share. We had multiple adult beverages first, the coffee and a brownie after. All of that was 36E. None of the food was amazing, but perhaps it was our sleep deprivation. We did enjoy sitting on the patio, and people watching.
It appeared that the hostel was a one man show. The same fellow was running the laundry and the check in counter. He was more friendly while checking us in. It's a good thing our bicycles will fit in their laundry room, as we are on the third floor in a small room!
It is now 4 PM, we have been awake for 36 hours. Google says to try and get right on local time and to forget what time it is at home. I'm pretty sure I could go to sleep right now and sleep 12 hours!
Jacinto has checked out using Xoom to send himself money. It is only $5.00 to send $300.00 when you are already in Spain. The fee changes depending on what country you are sending it to and where you are located. I think that's how were are going to get our money as it's cheaper than the ATM machines. Edit - There is a Ria money place a few blocks from us. Jacinto stood outside, sent himself money, then got in line to receive it. He learned that the custom is to ask, "Who is last?" and then you know your place in line, that way you don't have to stand in a line. It took him about a half hour to receive his money, because there were that many people. It was indeed a $5. fee, so that's how we are going to get our cash.
Tomorrow we plant to take an Uber to the city center, called Sol, according to the bike shop proprietor. It appears that my Uber app works in Spain also. It says $19. one way to Sol. We will get the bikes in the afternoon tomorrow, and leave the next morning on the trip. Cross your fingers for us about Jacinto's knee. This is his big bucket list trip he's wanted to go on forever. Timing is not good for his knee acting up.
Evening update - Jacinto spent three hours about town, getting money, and having a beer and tapas at the same bar - La Lizarran. 9.E total. A caña of beer is a small draft beer. We saw only bars serving Mohan beer. The bicycle shop man prefers Estrella Galicia, and says to keep walking if you see Mohan beer. We didn't see a single place with Galicia beer. We've been told that beer and wine are cheaper than water and soda. Coffee was 1.80E for a small cup. Jacinto wasn't impressed, he said it was two swallows worth and the china cup handles were difficult to hold. He is accustomed to a big plastic travel mug with a top and a large handle.
I took a two hour nap while he was getting the lay of the land. I put my contact lenses back in and we went back for tapas and coffee. We knew to go inside and make our choices out of the display case. The waiters also circulated around, offering different tapa size foods. They had done this at lunch, and we accepted one, and weren't charged for it. This evening, we accepted three, but were charged for all three. We originally thought it was like getting chips and salsa at a Mexican restaurant included with the meal, but apparently not? I enjoyed the fresh air seating and people watching. We had a few spats of rain in the later afternoon that included thunder. We had no worries as we were inside.
From my one afternoon observation - people here also like their dogs and take them to the along for outdoor dining. There were three dogs on the patio with us. All were well behaved. I saw a variety of body heights and sizes. That was a relief to me. It has been at least 15 years since I visited Europe. My memory then was of petite, thin people that made me feel like the Jolly Green Giant. I still have some concerns about being able to buy clothing in my size, should I need any. I've always stood by the opinion that as long as you have a credit card, you can buy what you need along the way. I wasn't so sure that this opinion would hold on this trip, but am now more optimistic.
Telephones - we have T-Mobile. We paid $50. each for 15G of data. Jacinto stopped at an electronics store and they said a chip with 100G of data is $20. That is a much better deal, if not as convenient. Jacinto thinks we are going to burn through our 15G's right away, and we should probably go ahead and get the sim cards. We both use our phones for navigation, so having a working phone is important.
So - the first day has been more than I hoped for. Jacinto has had a shower and is snoring already! I'm not sure his head hit the pillow first. His knee hasn't been a problem walking around. We are crossing our fingers. Tomorrow we have found a place that is open at 8 AM for coffee and croissants. I'm still thinking that isn't a sufficient breakfast for cycling. What we think of as breakfast, was described as lunch at the place we intend to visit in the morning. We haven't seen a grocery yet. Alison suggest a hearty muesli for riding mornings. We plan to Uber down to the city center tomorrow. It appears my Uber app is good in Spain also. 13E one way. I'm including all of these prices to help my memory and to also help those who are researching their own trips. There is also the metro, but it's a ten minute walk, and the bike shop guy (whose name I need to learn) said it was a bit confusing, almost as expensive, and not as convenient as Uber. We also saw many buses around the plaza, but didn't check those out.
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