Amtrak

"The Germans wore gray, you wore blue." So said Bogey to Ingrid when she appears in Casablanca having left Bogey standing solo in the rain at the Paris train station. So it was at Emeryville station on Friday night; not that I had abandoned or there was approaching German army. Rather it was drizzling, creating the erie light that you only see that you only see on a station platform...in the dark...in the rain.

I had originally planned to start this post "I love trains." It's true. I've ridden trains all over China, Thailand Europe, and across the old Soviet Union on the Trans-Siberian Express. One of my favorite travel books is Paul Theroux's Riding the Iron Rooster. Apart from first class on Singpaore Air, trains are the most civilized (motorized) way to travel. Amtrak, however was doing its best to erode the romance. The check-in attendant was pleasant but the station was dingy and he hit me with the news of a 90-minute delay that turned into two hours as we finally boarded at midnight. Once on the train, things were better. My cabin, while not spacious, was clean and comfortable and all of the train staff were friendly and helpful. The shower had hot water. The dining car won't put any restaurants out of business but it's acceptable. They even held a wine tasting on Saturday afternoon featuring wines from each of the three states we would travle through. The 2006 Hogue Cellers Syrah was quite good.

Approaching Portland the sun came out and it turned into a beautiful warm day - a marked change from the snow-covered passes we had transited a few hours earlier. In the distance was the imposing visage of Mount Hood. Pictures will come when I return on the bike.

Speaking of the bike, I spent some time dithering between the Taylor road bike and the Focus cross bike; finally deciding that the roads should be decent and the Taylor, with its Columbia Spirit steel frame and custom build (by Paul Taylor) is the most comfortable bike I own. I fit it out with an Old Man Mountain rack and Ortlieb panniers. I also threw some Continental gatorskin tires on the Fulcrum wheels, which I normally run tubeless with Hutchison tires but fixing flats on tubeless tires is a pain.

Just before leaving I had a Retul fitting at Studio Velo in Tam Junction so the bike is totally dialed. I highly recommend the fitting with Colin, who is a total professional, as are Chris, Scott and all the staff.