excess

I spent a few days in Vegas this week for a work meeting. The 2-day meeting didn't start until Monday, so I flew in early on Sunday, with plans to do a desert ride.

I reserved a bike a few days ahead of time, and filled my luggage with mostly my helmet, riding shoes, and shorts/jersey. We had a weather delay leaving CA (cold weather and we don't use chemicals to de-ice in CA - we wait 'till it gets 34 degrees out and use hot water).

Arrived in Vegas just before noon, and managed to pick the shuttle with the driver who thought it faster to cut through all the back alleys and casino parking lots rather than taking the roads. Got to Super-Swanky Hotel, checked in, and almost had a laundry accident when I saw my suite. It was bigger than my apartment. Seriously. About 700 SF. Two big-screen plasma TVs and a smaller one in the bathroom that you could watch from the oversized tub. A fluffy bed. Hangers that you can actually remove from the closet. At first the excess stressed me out, but I got over it when I realized I could watch HD Discovery Channel in audio AND visual stereo.

I threw my stuff in the closet, looked in all the drawers (does anybody else do this?), and made a list of what I had to get done before I could ride. POST OFFICE: I finagled a free shipping envelope from the overpriced business center (take that, Vegas!!) and mailed a package. Felt the stress of my surroundings festering, so I blew off the rest of the list, and stepped outside to hail a cab to take me to the bike shop.

Who knew it could get so cold in Vegas? It was mid-forties and windy and I didn't have the right clothing. So I passed on the ride, went back to the room, drank one $7 mini-bar beer, and took a bath while watching one-third of the TVs in the place. Excess.