Za Trip: Wednesday January 9th - Packing Day
Place: Za Reepoobleek, Coloradee
My friends: It is on. I can't wipe the smile off my face.
So I roll out of bed, get the kids squared away for school and finally sit down in front of the PC to get some morning work done. I get through my work mail and fire up weather dot com. Ah. So it's January in Belgium...
So, i got my sweats on, a pair of surgical gloves, and got to it: za packing. All said and done, 20 minutes with the Tr-All case!
Some tips with the Tri All:
- Buy some foam insulation for your frame tubes and other key areas you are worried about like side impact near brake arms. Throw this on any and all places where you may think there is going to be contact against your frame and bits.
- Get some Gorilla Glue as you may need to break off and re-position the foam blocks which support the bottom bracket area.
- Keep a bit of air pressure in the tires to allow the lid to close tight and keep everything compact.
- Put all your supplies (tools, lubes, etc) in clear plastic bags. When the TSA rip through this, you can save them some time by allowing them to quickly scan. Also, make it accessible so they do not have to reach down.
- Have small hands: in all sincerity, it was a bitch to get in there and secure the fork skewer mounts at the very bottom of the box. I finally got it but it was probably the hardest part of the packing!
So here we go folks. The epic hath begun. I'll report in daily if humanly possible and likely it will given our house has za wi-fi. Stay tuned!
Wednesday, January 9, 2008 at 9:22AM
Reader Comments (7)
Greg,
Been lurking on this for a while: best of luck in Belgie! Enjoy the trip, and of course: rubbing (or elbowing, dunno about biting?) is racing...
I think you can get the pads Mark mentioned, but not easily (rarer than the TRP carbons?) I might be mistaken though...
Anyhow, good luck, keep us posted as it's always entertaining!
-Lane
Like the commenter before I've been following the site for a while. I wanted to comment on the ridiculously PRO wrap job. When you get back, please fill us in on how to finish of bars like that. Awesome.
Thanks for keeping me sane at work. Give 'em hell!
Hey Greg-
You bastard! I am jealous. I hate you.
Clay
Lane!
Thanks much, brother. I'm prepared to throw it down elbows and all. We'll see what comes of it!
Josh!
You have the best last name. Honestly, that wrap job is easier than you think to do. When you are at the place where you want the tape to 'terminate' you wrap the last time 3/4 of the way around and with scissors, cut the remaining piece at an angle which will stay flush with the last complete wrap around the bar. Then tape. I'll do a post on it some time to show you what I mean but it's pretty easy. Any shop mechanic worth their weight in salt should know how to do this and show you.
Clay:
You should be lining up next to me over there, beeatch!
Forgot to tell you about lube on planes. They tend to frown on combustible materials in your checked baggage- so much so as to have a potential $25K fine, although if they find it, they will just typically toss it out for you. Good luck,
Howie
Greg, Just do it! So proud of you! Just put on that great determined face (you know the one) God's Speed. Love Mom & Dad
Greg I may be a complete idiot here mainly since I've never flown with bikes. But aren't the cargo area of planes unpressurized? If so won't a tire with a little pressure expanded as you get to altitude? I thought(with no knowledge) that you should leave the valves open to allow surprise expansion. Physics were never my strong point so I'm probably wrong.
Good luck!!!