cycling rocks

monday prep

taken 08/02/2006

These post might be long as I try to document some of my trip to Whitefish, MT for the Highline Hammer hosted by Hammer Nutrition. I already feel like my $300.00 entrance fee is well worth it.

17:08 8/2/2006

I neglected to eat lunch in my final rush to finish my work, break down and crate the bike, run to the storage unit to pick up my backpack, shower, tidy and pack everything that was on the kitchen table into my pack in time to park and make a 4:45 train. The coolio backpacks we had gotten for a wedding present is finally going to get some use. Nice stuff. Very professional. Oh. And if you upgrade to a sleeper car you don’t have to wait in the lobby of Portland’s Union Station. You can wait for boarding in a specified lounge area. It’s nicer.

Needless to say, I’m hungry as I write this; but it looks like dinner will be served pretty soon. Paul, the attendant, is setting up one of the empty rooms with fish, beef and chicken dinners. I have a small bottle of sparkling wine that is surprisingly curbing my hunger. Mmmmmm. My body responds to the sugar rush and I feel a little better.

During my wait for dinner, I have obessively rearranged my room in the sleeper car a number of times. Where do I put my big ‘ol pack? What about this here laptop bag? Where’s the garbage?

“It’s dusty in here.” Sniff.

“It’s crowded.” Shift.

“The sun’s too bright.” Blink.

“It’s hot.” Shift.

Alas, I find comfort in figuring out the squirrely blinds, lowering the bunk above me, stretching out on the lower recliners, turning on the AC and stowing my packs in the top bunk. The sleeper car is awesome. I’m so glad I upgraded. It’s not really hot. I wasn’t complaining. Those were just random thoughts and totally unjust.

17:56 8/2/2006

Dinner was good. Field greens instead of iceberg lettuce, dry chicken (I guess they have to make sure it’s cooked), diced onions and tomato, corn, butter, dinner roll, grapes, pineapple cubes, melon slices and some kind of cheesecakey thing. I wish I had brought chopsticks, but the plastic cutlery is fine.

I am relaxed after eating. And I’ve already started pack-ratting.

A napkin. Gold Bond Body Powder. Peanuts. Salt. Pepper. Tea. Lotion. These are complimentary items from Amtrak. I don’t know when I’ll need these things or why I keep them, but I will save them for later. I’ve learned these skills from my father who learned this from his mother who saves everything.

Everything. She would wrap things in napkins and safely ziplock them up. I refrain from wrapping things up in paper and plastics. That’s too much work. And you know, as soon as I get to the hotel, this stuff goes in the trash. I promise.

Now, Heidi had affectionately left me a present in my pack. Unwrapped, it’s a book entitled Cesar’s Way by Cesar Millan. I love the National Geographic show The Dog Whisperer; Heidi knows how to sweeten a trip by giving me cards and gifts. I miss her already and wish she was here, but I know once we got to Whitefish she would be bored beyond belief while I was out riding. So, she’s at home selflessly taking care of business. Thanks Hon. I love you.

So, my shoes are off. It’s cooler in here. I am stretched out with a great book and I am content. The Sleeper Car Rules.

Thursday, August 3rd, 2006 at 1:04 pm.
Filed under Cycling.
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