30 October 2019: Travel Day Sitting in the silver tube on my first of three flights, Bozeman–Minneapolis–Atlanta–Madrid, was surreal. Having driven in 29F temperatures in the dark to the airport, was I really going on a 4-week bike tour in an arid climate with daily high temperatures in the upper 80s? Just seemed strange. Sky lounge access is a real plus on these flights. A breakfast of scrambled eggs, roasted potatoes with ham, and fresh pineapple in Minneapolis was followed by a caesar salad and chicken breast lunch in Atlanta. While Michael and John are traveling together, Robin texted that his flight has been rerouted. If all goes with the new itinerary, he will arrive in Madrid about 45 minutes after me instead of 45 minutes prior. we seem to have WhatsApp working. I'm downloading video content for slack times, as much Amazon Prime and Netflix content is no available outside the U.S. No photos while traveling. Who wants to see the inside of an airport or airplane?
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Planning and Prep
29 September 2019 Companions My tour companions are the same as on my 2018: Bordeaux to Barcelona bike tour: Michael Gille, Robin Ericksen, and John Hedgepeth. You can find their profile here: http://2018bordeaux2barcelona.blogspot.com/2018/09/planning-and-preview.html Location, Timing, and Travel Arrangements While this is my 4th tour entirely or partially in Spain, my companions experienced only the portion of Catalonia from the French Border to Girona. They wanted to return, selecting Andalusia in southeast Spain. Our October timing was set because Robin wanted to devote September to hiking in California and John needs to return by 30 October to celebrate his wife's birthday. We scheduled 4 weeks, will meet in Seville, and booked our flights: Robin and I fly into Madrid and will take the 2.5 hour high-speed train to Seville. We both have folding Bike Fridays, so they travel on any train as luggage. Full-sized bikes are not permitted on these trains. We will return to M