And so it begins... the start of an adventure.
The packing was the easy bit really. Travelling to the airport in London with two bikes and bags etc would be a logistical nightmare. So we've hired an MPV and flattened off the seats so we've enough space for the bikes and the bags (hopefully). The good news so far is... my bike fits! Lets hope that Hannah's does in due course....
After packing my stuff I head further west and pick up Hannah and bike and bags too. No problems! Both bikes and bags (and before anybody comments we both trawled diligently through Carmarthen market for the 'Chinese laundry' bags. A full and well worth it £1.50 spent in order to put both pannier bags into for extra protection!!
We drove up to London through lashing hail but arrived safely for our pre-departure B&B in Chiswick with Siani Morgan. True to form she'd not only kindly agreed to house is for the night but slaved over a hot oven to make us pizzas from scratch. Great carb loading before we leave! She'd also Sussed out the background knowledge of safety etc when in Bogota and alerted us to it being a potential bank holiday : Labour Day on the Sunday!
The following morning we had the bizarre task of wheeling the bikes in to Heathrow terminal! We had more than a few 'funny looks', not least from the check-in lady.
The check-in lady was totally thrown without the bikes in boxes. After a quick conflab with the guy next to her she conceded that we could take the bikes on if we let all the air out of the tyres and turned the handlebars round.it took some persuading that we weren't going to do that at the check in desk as we would then not be able to push the bike to the oversize luggage place!! Eventually we paid the excess and after the bikes checked in we wheeled (the fully aerated tyred bikes) over to excess luggage. The guy there was fantastic. He took us through the back route bowels of the behind the scenes check in. We were put in a special glass room so he could swab the bikes for explosives and then they got wheeled away from us to the plane... We both took a collective breath in of hope and relief! Relief that we'd checked in finally and hope that the bikes will actually meet us in one piece on the other side...
We grabbed a quick breakfast at the 'perfectionist cafe' - how apt!!! Before heading to the gate. Frankfurt first then on to Bogota!! Let's hope the bikes are more complete than the London can we saw in the departure lounge!
After packing my stuff I head further west and pick up Hannah and bike and bags too. No problems! Both bikes and bags (and before anybody comments we both trawled diligently through Carmarthen market for the 'Chinese laundry' bags. A full and well worth it £1.50 spent in order to put both pannier bags into for extra protection!!
We drove up to London through lashing hail but arrived safely for our pre-departure B&B in Chiswick with Siani Morgan. True to form she'd not only kindly agreed to house is for the night but slaved over a hot oven to make us pizzas from scratch. Great carb loading before we leave! She'd also Sussed out the background knowledge of safety etc when in Bogota and alerted us to it being a potential bank holiday : Labour Day on the Sunday!
The following morning we had the bizarre task of wheeling the bikes in to Heathrow terminal! We had more than a few 'funny looks', not least from the check-in lady.
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| Both bikes at Heathrow and checked in bike "as is" not in a box! |
The check-in lady was totally thrown without the bikes in boxes. After a quick conflab with the guy next to her she conceded that we could take the bikes on if we let all the air out of the tyres and turned the handlebars round.it took some persuading that we weren't going to do that at the check in desk as we would then not be able to push the bike to the oversize luggage place!! Eventually we paid the excess and after the bikes checked in we wheeled (the fully aerated tyred bikes) over to excess luggage. The guy there was fantastic. He took us through the back route bowels of the behind the scenes check in. We were put in a special glass room so he could swab the bikes for explosives and then they got wheeled away from us to the plane... We both took a collective breath in of hope and relief! Relief that we'd checked in finally and hope that the bikes will actually meet us in one piece on the other side...
We grabbed a quick breakfast at the 'perfectionist cafe' - how apt!!! Before heading to the gate. Frankfurt first then on to Bogota!! Let's hope the bikes are more complete than the London can we saw in the departure lounge!
