Ready, Set, Go

Packing the bikes is critical to insure they arrive in rideable condition.

All the tubing is wrapped in foam, the handlebars are detached and secured, and derailleur is unscrewed for additional protection.

Placing the wheels is critical to avoid damaging the brake disks.

We pack soft stuff (clothes, etc.) to fill the gaps.

On goes the cover and box is taped closed although we know that TSA will open the box for inspection. 

All the bags and bike boxes fit into our Subaru for drive to the Denver airport.

Waiting for pickup van to terminal

Getting checked in is a three person task to insure all luggage tags are sending bikes to Paris, France, not Paris, Georgia.

We wave goodbye and pray that they will follow us all the way to France.

Happiness is seeing that the bikes made it to Dulles for transfer to Paris flight.

We installed Apple Airtags in both bikes to track them should they be stolen, a good protection considering their value. Actually, we have two in each bike; the first in an obvious place should the thief be looking to remove and avoid tracking. The second is in a concealed location that a thief would not look for thinking they had already found and discarded any Airtags.

Off to the lounge for several glasses of bubbly waiting for our next flight.

Dinner before boarding makes more sense so we can get maximum sleep before landing seven hours later.

Glad to see that the plane is going to Paris where we want to go. So far, so good!

It is a long walk to the terminal so moving walkway speeds the process.

Ultimate happiness is all the bags and people arrive undamaged at CDG airport. 

Waiting for the shuttle to take us to car pickup. 

The car was waiting (new Peugeot SUV with 2KM and full tank of petrol). Everything fits inside so OFF WE GO. Let the adventure begin.

Lunch along the way on our five hour drive to overnight stop.

Before heading to first Airbnb location a quick stop for provisions.

When one bottle will not do we consider a full case. Our drink of choice but out of our budget. 

At the checkout we hope we did not miss any of the essentials. 

Kim cross checks missing items. 

Essentials - check. Other stuff not so important. 

Add about 10% for US dollars. 

Perfect way to start our eating and biking adventure. 
VIVA LA FRANCE

CHEERS !!!