Well, it is now over...

[bakerjw]

Eight weeks from today, my wife and I were supposed to be in the air headed to Ohare on the first leg of our flight into Calgary. If you read my other posts, you will see that she had broken her fibula and would be out of action for a bit.

Her leg is mending fine and she has been on the trainer for a couple of weeks now with low resistance as well as lifting weights. Since she is on the mend, I've went ahead and booked our flight out on Aug 27th to follow our original itinerary of a modified TD route. I'm tempering daily mile expectations a bit but we can still easily put in 50 mile days. She is always of the belief that if we hit 50 miles by noon then we might as well keep going and not let daylight burn.

The best part is how well American Airlines took care of us. Our original tickets were non refundable and the fees to re-book would have been $200.00 per ticket. They really tightened down waiving the fees as people abused it too often. I opened a ticket with their customer support, explained the nature of our trip, the injury and offered to provide ER statements and any other documentation to prove that there was an actual injury involved. They got back to me pretty quickly, sympathized at the unfortunate turn of events and waived the fees. I called this morning to rebook and was allowed to book an alternate flight for about the same money and was given a voucher for the difference which ended up being $50.00 per ticket or so. Very very good service on their part.

[Iowagriz]

Awesome news! Can't wait to hear about your trip.

[evdog]

Good to hear!   

I also heard American no longer charges extra bike fees provided the bike case is under 50 pounds, just the regular checked baggage fee.  Alaska does this as well.  Hopefully others follow suit. Won't help you with a tandem though!

[bakerjw]

Out tandem has couplers so we can split it into 2 boxes that do not exceed 62" of WxHxL. Since it weighs about 45#, it will work best splitting it across 2 boxes and will help keep the weight in each under 50#

As for American dropping their rates, that is great!


ETA... This is before I installed the MRP suspension fork.

[threepin]

OP
did you get my reply to your email?

[bakerjw]

Yes, I did.

For those following along. our route takes us along portions of the TD route down into Eureka. The tentative route is to cross Whitefish divide, which I love, down to Polebridge and then down through Columbia Falls to a rental car and hotel room.

Depending on how my wife is fairing, we might keep south west of Hwy 93? and threepin has offered some route advice. One we leave Polebridge, they have also offered some route advice.

The hope is to get a couple of days in the area to go see some sights that don't necessarily require pedaling.

One evening, I'll give you a call and bring up ride with GPS to plot out a route close to Glacier from Polebridge.

[bakerjw]

An update for those interested.
We went to the doctor yesterday and it was eleven weeks since the break. The X-Ray still showed a slight line where the break occurred but the doctor said that sometimes the X-Rays lag the healing. I told him that a couple of weeks ago, she was able to stand on it without pain so I told her that she should put some weight on it while using crutches. He said that helps the healing process. I also told him that she'd been walking on it more ever since using high ankle boots and shoes. She then confessed that we took our tandem out for an easy flat ride up and down the road and around the block.
The big question was when she asked about cycle training since it was 6 weeks until we fly to Canada. He told her, start training today. He had her fitted with a firm ankle brace that she can fit into her hiking shoes. One of the benefits of getting them a tad large to fit extra socks .
So last night, we hopped on the mountain tandem and did a 16 miles road ride in the heat and it was damned hot. Mid 90's. Our speed  was a bit slow, but WTB Nanos don't roll or climb as well as our Continental Gatorskins do.

Making progress and she is still excited as can be about the adventure.

[bakerjw]

After all of the trials, tribulations, hurdles and what not. Tomorrow we fly to Calgary.
Hopefully.

You can find out more at www.bakerjw.org where we have tracker information and other information.

Thanks for everyone's support!

[bakerjw]

Well, we made it there and back again. Right at 300 miles over 5 days.

Mechanically Lolly the tandem was flawless. We had a couple of spokes loosen a bit the first day but they were able to be tensioned well enough in the field. After that, they stayed snugged up and doing what spokes are supposed to do.
The brakes with upgraded 203mm rotors never acted up and stopped us well whenever we needed them.
The bags held up very well and rarely needed adjusting.

My wife now understands what it is like out on a ride like the TD and how it can wear you down. She felt that she was going to be in good enough shape for it, but day 1 (102 miles to Elkford) provided an eye opening experience. By day 4 though, we had started climbing well and I decided that we would go over Whitefish Divide. We walked out the last 1/2 mile but ground out all of the rest and had a very nice picnic in the pass. Polebridge was a real treat after all of that.

Our last day, we were going to take the Inner North Fork road but the Polebridge rangers told us that it was off limits due to bear activity and efforts to trap the bad actors. So, we got stuck on the outer road with all of the traffic and dust.

Nevertheless, we persevered and completed what we mostly wanted to do in 5 days.

A momma bear with cubs, mountain goats, some spruce grouse, many many deer and a wolf rounded out the encounters.

Day 1 - At the top of Elk Pass.

[cackalak]

Bravo to your wife for being a trooper. Hope she continues to recover well!