“The Bicycle of the Future” – Day 0

Posted byAndrew DresselPosted inUncategorized

Today is the day I ship out for Delft, so I won’t make it to Estabrook Park this morning. Sorry.

Packing for a year away while being too cheap to pay for extra baggage has been an adventure. I hemmed and hawed about bringing one of my own bikes because the last time I was there, they were pretty pricy, and that was before the whole recent, pandemic-induced, supply-chain fiasco. KLM wants $150 to ship a bike, however, and if I figure both ways, because why would I leave a bike behind that was good enough to ride for a year, that would make a $300 budget for me to buy something used there. That’s maybe enough, but hard to tell for sure.

Then Anne made a great suggestion, as she often does. “Why don’t you bring one of those fancy folding bikes you bought, and we’ve only used once or twice?” When she’s right, she’s right, which is pretty much all the time.

So here it is in the biggest roller bag I could find at Goodwill yesterday afternoon and carefully padded by all my clothing. Some extra disassembly was required. I measure the bag to be 12x17x25 inches on the outside, which isn’t all that big, but I ain’t paying no stinking “bike fee”! (I hope.)

Anyway, the weight limits are a whole other issue. With my checked bag full of aluminum and steel, so that it bumped right up against the 50.5 lb (23 kg) limit, I had to put all my camera gear and my laptop into my carry-on bag, which has a 26 lb (12 kg) limit. All that glass ain’t light!

If you see a guy this morning at the KLM check-in counter stuffing his pockets full of toiletries, chargers, tools, and a surprisingly-dense Berlitz book on Dutch, that’ll be me trying to compensate for my bathroom scale being a little off on the low side.

Published by Andrew Dressel

Theoretical and Applied Bicycle Mechanic, and now, apparently, Amateur Naturalist. In any case, my day job is teaching mechanics at UWM.

14 thoughts on ““The Bicycle of the Future” – Day 0”

  5. Bon Voyage, Andy! I love how you’re recycling all the NYT bags to keep you clothes and bike separated!

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  8. WOO HOO!! We all get to go along on “Andy’s Adventures”. Fingers crossed that your camera, bike and you arrive in fit shape on the other side of the world. Happy travels!

    Liked by 1 person

  12. ‘Thanks for openning my eyes to the amazing wildlife in my neighborhood over the past year!. The park is such a wonderful refuge from everyday life. Safe travels and have a wonderful year!

    Liked by 1 person

  14. Best of luck on your new adventure. I look forward to some European bird photos from you. You have been a delight to my day.

    Joan

    Liked by 1 person

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