Well, you'd think by this time we'd be all packed up and chilled out. We are packed up, but are riddled with the usual anxieties. Will the taxi arrive at the allotted time? Will the bikes actually fit inside as promised? Will we have any hassle at check-in? Have we remembered everything? Will the bikes and panniers make it across the flight connection at T3 ... undamaged? Plenty to stress about, but all went well when we cycled the Rhine 2 years ago, so what could possible go wrong this time? You'd think that packing would be simple as we only have 2 panniers each and a seat pack. When we are on tour it is simple: everything has its allocated place, consistently packed, but we fly with one pannier each as carry-on and the rest packaged in a cardboard box, so for the flight we have to decide what is mission- critical, high value, and is permitted in hand baggage and what is "risked" in the hold baggage. As a consequence nothing is in its proper place for touring. A repack as well as a bike build is needed in Basel. And then just last night we discovered that planning a route from airport to hotel (a mere 5km) was tricky by bike as our intended junctions turned out to be fly-overs (thank you Google StreetView). Airports are well served with dual carriageways, but not so easy on back roads and cycle tracks. I can also add to the worry list the fact that my trusty Garmin GPS refuses to display the maps I've loaded onto it! At least the route directions show up, and anyway, I have maps and routes loaded onto 1) my iPhone, 2) Anne's iPhone, 3) my iPad, & 4) my Garmin cycle computer. And we have the Danube Cycleway guide book. I think we should be covered!
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