The boys made it off yesterday (barely). The plan was to meet Billy and Joe at Joe’s apartment, load the van, pick up Steve’s bike and caravan to the airport with Cecilia and the kids for a 2:10 departure. A well laid plan, though our timing was questionable. I got to Joe’s at 12:30. We loaded the van and called Steve, who said he was just starting to pack. On the way out the door we met up with Richie, back in town from Cali and looking a bit hangdog that he wasn’t joining us on the trip. We arrived at Steve’s at 12:45 and were greeted by Cecilia and Benicio in the yard. Joe poured a few glasses of parting champagne and we found Steve’s bike in the basement. Richie and I quickly dug out his fenders from a pile nearby and shoved them in the box to stave off the rain that would inevitably have plagued our ride had they been left stateside. We sipped champagne, and sipped some more before I finally went inside to see if Steve was planning on joining us: I found him upstairs in a towel. As I coaxed Bella out to the car Steve came running out to the yard, still in his towel, to assure the boys that he was coming and then re-emerged within minutes, fully clothed and carrying his luggage.
We took a circuitous route to the airport due to all the construction downtown and on campus, but pulled into the terminal with 45 minutes to spare before takeoff. Billy breezed through the line, while Steve and Joe got hung up as their more conscientious agents scrutinized their bike boxes and levied additional weight fees. As I was hopping back in the van to head out, Joe came running out with Billy’s locks from his box. Apparently, he’d not managed to sneak his 80 lb box through the baggage handlers and it was back out on the floor and Bill was frantically trying to lighten the load. He got it down to 70 lbs (mostly box) and checked an additional bag and the boys were off. No word yet, which I assume means that they made it to Paris and are enjoying the sights and the wine today.
My workday never quite recovered from the afternoon excursion to the airport. At 5:30 Richie and I went out for a quick spin in Scotia. I felt bad not taking Sophie, but it was much more fun to just blast through the trails without having to hold up while she chased chipmunks. Afterwards, Richie, Nita and I dined at Faccia Luna bringing the day to a close. Some lessons learned from watching the boys battle the ticket agents. With any luck I’ll manage to put them to use on Friday when I head out.
