And yet another nice day...
I started with hazelnut pancakes for breakfast. That's some good solid energy for the day. It was time to find a bookstore to stock up on reading materials for the flight home. On the way to the bookstore I saw the Lane County Visitor's bureau, so I stopped to ask about the ducks and to pick up some information about Eugene. The ducks are a logical symbol for this town because the University of Oregon teams are called the ducks. The ducks I've seen around time appear to be tied to some fundraisers. The blow-up rubber duck I saw yesterday is a promotion for a rubber duck race down the river to raise money for a charity. I remember when there was one of those in Boston - pretty funny. The other ducks all start with the same form and are then decorated by artists. The women in the visitor's center said that they thought some of the ducks were going to be sold or auctioned off with the proceeds going to charity.
I headed over to Bike Friday for a visit after I called there for directions to the bike path. I knew they are right on one of the bike paths, but I couldn't remember which street led to the right path. It was easy to find once I had the right street name. It was fun to meet the folks I've been talking to on the phone. Thanks to all for interrupting their busy day to chat with me!
I went for a ride along the Mackenzie River this afternoon - just me and the bike, no trailer. That was a treat. And I guess that's a treat I'll be getting used to again, since most of my riding once I get home will be without gear. I say most, because I'm actually thinking of doing some short trips in New England (probably Maine) after I rest up for a bit. I'll have to see how the weather holds up, but in a typical fall at least September is usually a reasonable riding month. When I told my mother that I might be doing some short trips, the first thing she asked me is if I'd be writing a journal. I told her yes - that made her happy.
Back to the hotel room, time to prepare to fly... I'm not taking the bike home with me, and that feels really odd. It's the first trip in a long time where I don't have to pack a bicycle. I'll be leaving it at Bike Friday so they can fix the braze-on for the trailer hitch. They'll ship it back to me after it's done. I figured I'd need to buy a big duffle bag for the stuff that was in the trailer, but since I'm not taking the the bike with me I can use the trailer suitcase for my clothes and other gear. It's not quite big enough with the addition of the trailer frame, the trailer wheels, and the two panniers I have with me, so I headed over to REI with a pannier and trailer wheel so I could buy a duffle bag that was about the right side. It's a good thing I took the stuff with me because I wouldn't have guessed that a medium sized duffle would be big enough, but it was. And I can also fit my helmet in it, so I don't have to carry it with me on the plane.
I needed a little help to get the trailer wheels off. I had them attached with cotter pins that had to be un-bent to release them, and my little baby pair of pliers couldn't quite do the job. I hauled the trailer down to the hotel lobby, and one of the maintenance guys helped me with a full-sized pliers. We talked for a bit about my trip, and he told me that he just bought an old Schwinn 3-wheeler for his mother. I'd love to see that bike!
There is still stuff all over my hotel room, but it won't take much to finish packing. It's so much easier to pack to go home - no decisions to be made about what to take!
I'll have most of the day tomorrow here in Eugene. I have a 5:30 PM flight to San Francisco, then an overnight flight home.
