Jul
26

After we've been up for 26 hours straight we went to bed around 10 PM. I for once really needed that. I got to sleep in until 4:30 AM. Hmmm, jetlag? Closed my eyes and try sleep again. Breakfast as around 8:30 AM and after that we were going to pick up our bikes. Three big pieces of bread with syrup, jam and peanut butter (well, not the kind I'm used to) and a number glasses of orange juice were digested. Then it was finally time to head down to the warehouse where our bikes were waiting for us. The unpacking went very quickly and within two hours we all stood on the loading area. Ready to return to the hotel. But first there was a lady from KGW news to make some recordings. And guess who has his face all over the camera?

A number of local recumbent riders escorted us back to the hotel. Myrtle the Turtle was one of them and she would take Harry, Josef and myself downtown.

But first we had to eat again. This time a big plate with a German pancake, scrambled eggs en crispy bacon. Supplemented with a glass of lemonade.

I had to buy some shower gel because a. the bottle I had back home was nearly empty and b. I didn't want to buy some at home and bring it here. So... heading downtown. First Josef had to visit the T-Mobile shop to buy a SIM card (for cheap calling and going online). But I thought $ 50 was not necessary to spend on this. I'm only going to call in emergencies and going online is possible at the campgrounds. In the hotel and both restaurants were I've been the couple of days all had free internet access. But the T-Mobile shop didn't have the deal Josef wanted so we visited the AT&T store next door which was $ 15 more expensive. Luckily Radioshack, two blocks down the road, had the deal he wanted. We crossed the water and bought some other stuff. For me the shower gel and for Harry stuff to fix his filling. On return we cycled about 1,5 hours.

It's still nice to see how people react here. Often they can't believe it's a bike and we are going to cycle 5000 kilometers. I think I can get used to all the (media) attention. Oh, no picture today, but a short movie of the ride back to the hotel and the trip downtown. I wanted to see how it looks using different view points of the camera (you are going to see three, on the helmet and twice on the body). Enjoy, because the next couple of days there won't be any new movies posted online (because of the limited time).

1 comment

SLeiBt's picture
SLeiBt (not verified)
ROAM time is NOW :-)

Well it's nice to see that ROAM is now very real and that so many of the velomobilist bloggers (or maybe blogger velomobilists?) are part of it.

Some of you (not least Josef) are very responsible for my own conversion to a velomobilist last winter, just a bit too late to consider joining your north-america expedition.

So well, I for one will be following your progress from across the pond, and wish you all good luck, and plenty of fun. Keep us updated! Smile