April, 2006

Hi Dan, hope things are going well in Seattle. Sure the new shop is busier than ever.

So, the last week of March saw us heading to Sicily with the St. Loius Cycling Club- 38 travelers, 30 bikes. We flew on Alatalia out of Chicago, and all of the singles were jealous as only Big Blue and a Bike Friday got on board without paying $80 for being a bike. Ditto on the return, although we had our own excitement as Angela was wisked off by security into the bowels of the airport in Catania, Sicily, leaving me behind. She had checked the bag with the captains seat tube (with the 5 couplers) and she was asked to explain what it was to security types that could only speak Italian ! After her many gestures of a bike that can come apart, they finally believed her and let us continue on our way.

The assembly of Big Blue was quite the draw, but we didn't forget anything and all went well, ending a 24 hour day of travel going from Sunday morning and ending Monday night.

The first ride on Tuesday saw us heading up the flanks of Mt Etna, going from sea level to 5400 feet the first ride out. There were lots of doubters about a tandem, but we had a great ride.

The week went well, with the tandem logging 320 miles and around 25000 feet of climbing. Angela did great, even though she was fighting a cold for most of the week. The last day she needed to do some shopping, so I transformed the bike into a single and headed out for a final spin.

Thanks again for an awesome bike !