Getting to the Start Line.

 Sunday June 30

Left the house at 9 am and seen off by Oisin, Eimear and Helen with big hugs. 

Quiet road to Dublin Airport and joined the crowds at Terminal 1. Said my goodbyes to Margaret there and proceeded to the Westjet check-in desk. They directed me to the Priority line....possibly because of the bike box. No problem checking in ; all luggage checked through to final destination in Inuvik and just charged  €39 for the bike. Very pleased. Now fingers crossed that all arrive with me in Inuvik. I had been led to believe that I would have to collect and re-check in my complete luggage at Calgary and at Edmonton. 

Lots of flights leaving Dublin this morning and we were held up for almost an hour on the tarmac before taking off. Found that I was seated in the very last row in the corner but a smooth 7 hour flight landing in Calgary almost at the same clock time as when I left Dublin. For the duration my thoughts were on the Tipp Limerick match and the Leinster final. Just got the results as we landed in Calgary and reconnected with the satellite. Disappointed with the Tipp result but thrilled for Wexford. We may be dancing at the crossroads again by the time I get home.

I relaxed during the 5 hour stop-over in Calgary in a very quiet airport due Possibly to this being the middle of a holiday weekend. Monday is Canada Day commemorating the formation of the union of the British North American provinces in 1868.

A short 50 minute flight to Edmonton - like flying Cork to Dublin and landed at 9:30. My luggage was checked through to Inuvik and that left me free to move about with just a small bag on my back. I had to collect a new boarding card from Canadian North for the final flight and that desk was outside security. Outside I enquirer at Information re location of the said desk and was informed that I would have to collect my luggage and box from the carousel and look after them till boarding in the morning. Holy hell !! How would I get back in to the carousel. No problem, she says. Here the carousel is outside security. Relief!  Finally, after a bit of a search I located both items. I spotted a Baggage Safe Keeping room that would leave me free again. But here the lady informs me that there was no more room in the inn, all full. Now I was faced with babysitting my pile outside security for the night....wouldn’t be free to go to the bathroom even. Wandering about to find a secluded cozy corner, I spotted a Renaissance Hotel in the terminal building. I reckoned it would be worth checking in (it did cost more than my projected daily spend) but it enabled me to get a good 7hours sleep, a refreshing shower and shave and the bike was safe.

Monday July 1.

Felt refreshed and energetic as I headed for check in shortly after 5 am. Met up with about 6 more cyclists making their way to the start line also.

At the oversized check in each of us had to open the box, load all the non- bike items onto trays for scanning and have the bike itself scanned by hand and all then repacked. At least I’m used to packing and repacking, but some had their bikes originally packed by a bike shop. First time that I’ve come across that procedure.All through security shortly after 6 and I headed for a Full Canadian breakfast....it would be a long day ! Was delicious.

There were 12 of us cyclists on this final flight. Will get to know each other better over the next few weeks. Just  a one and a half hours flight and we dropped down into Yellowknife (capital of North West Territories) . Tarried there and reboarded after and hour or so. Just a little airport like Kerry Airport...... “Flight 444 for Inuvik, queue up over by the window”. We picked up quite a number of new passengers here and proceed on to Inuvik, a 2 hour flight.All arrived safely at 12:30 and reunited with our boxes. All 12 loaded onto a truck in the rain and off to the Mackenzie Hotel 12 kms distant on a gravel road in the town.

By 3 I was installed in room 203 and had the bike reassembled and luggage divided between the Daily and Permanent Bags. Now I can relax....if only that rain would stop. Tomorrow I’ left move out  and take the bike for a taste of the gravel......and get a SIM card.

Not much of a cycling nature in today’s blog, but it’s all part of the build-up.

Thank God for a lovely day.