Photo courtesy of Melissa Rosaaen / Melissa Rosaaen gets a gorgeous view during her adventure in Portugal. As my husband Rick and I posed for our bon voyage picture at SeaTac airport, my sister in law called out teasingly, “You two look like you’re in an ad for AARP magazine!”
Here we were, heading out for a 1,500-mile bicycling adventure, and somehow it slipped my mind that Rick and I are, well, mature. Mostly, I forget this in the morning when I’m laying in bed thinking about the day’s possibilities. But as soon as I put my feet on the ground, I am quickly reminded that I’m gonna need to warm up and get the ol’ body ready for the day.
So when we overslept, and the hotel breakfast buffet was packed with French pilgrims on their way to Fatima, and getting our gear ready felt awkward and bumbling, it wasn’t the start I anticipated for the first day of our epic ride from Lisbon to Amsterdam.
Once on our bikes, I felt like a clumsy seal getting back in the water. Navigation synced, we rode through Lisbon with little trouble. Cycling through the busy pedestrian areas brought back memories of riding through a Bangkok open market: One foot ready to step down, two-finger breaking for quick stops, razor focus for anything unexpected.
So when an older lady dressed in black walked very slowly into our path, looking neither left nor right, I was able to avoid an embarrassing, if not injurious, collision.
We […]
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