Leaving, on a jet plane

October 10, 2017

My penultimate day at home was cold and snowy. Winter hit Colorado hard, but it is supposed to be a short visit, with sunny skies on my departure day.

I picked up the rental car to drive to the Denver airport. It turned out to be a Subaru Forester, the same car I drive. I knew the bike box fit in my car, so I was good to go.

I have one front pannier to use as my carry on bag, and my handlebar bag as my personal item. My helmet is in the carry on.

It turns out I can't check in for my flight from home. And I did not get the upgrade to premium for which I submitted a bid.

The drive to the airport wasn't bad. I wouldn't say that traffic was light, but there were no major slow downs. The snow in the mountains and even along the roadway was pretty.

All my worry about getting my bike box to check in was unfounded. There was a luggage cart at the rental car return, and I left the car quite close to the shuttle. The driver loaded the bike for me, with a nice secure spot with the other luggage.

My bike box, tucked into the bottom of the luggage area on the rental car shuttle.

He also helped me unload it, and grabbed another cart that someone had left behind, saying "Here, use this. It will save you $5". I thanked him and gave him part of the $5 back. I didn't have the right denominations to give it all.

The only snag was that I had to go up a level for check-in, and the elevator door wasn't wide enough. I wrestled the cart through at an angle, and reversed the process on the upper floor. Check-in was smooth. It took nearly half an hour to get through security, but I had plenty of time to kill before boarding.

The flight went off mostly without a hitch. I had a window seat, and the middle seat next to me was empty.

Leaving Denver. I think that's the South Platte River.

The only sort of hitch was that there was a small boy in the row in front of me, who shrieked and screamed and didn't shut up for the entire trip. He was standing in his seat and tossing things back at us. His mother only responded when he threw something that was hers. I stopped returning the magazine and safety card and thankfully empty barf bag after the second round of throwing. So I didn't sleep at all. I did have Norwegian's "nice and tasty" meal. It was hot and fairly good, but not at all fancy.

Norwegian Air's nice and tasty meal. Expensive, but not bad.

When we got to London I couldn't get an answer as to whether my checked luggage would be automatically transferred. I ended up going through immigration into the baggage claim area where I found out it was. I got stamped into the UK for six months, for just 3 hours at the airport.

The next flight, London to Malaga was full. It was 2 3/4 hours, The clear skies provided some nice views.

In Malaga my bike and other bag came off the baggage carousel in good shape.

I decided to put the bike together in the airport and ride into town. I couldn't get much advice about where to do it, so I chose a spot by some derelict kiosks. It took about an hour and a half, with a significant chunk of that time spent trying to figure where to dispose of the box. After talking with security, I took it out of the arrivals hall and left it outside next to a trash bin.

I had a hard time finding my way out of the airport, and ended up on the autovia. After a few miles I got off onto a dirt track, and as I got into town it became a nice dual bike path along some major roads.

I found the Rafaela Guesthouse, where I'm staying, showered, ate dinner at a local restaurant, and bought a few things for breakfast. I'm ready to crash. It has been a long two days crunched into one day.

Today's ride: 15 km (9 miles)
Total: 15 km (9 miles)

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