kevin maier

Dear OBRA-Land,
Turns out that I "have" to go to a conference in Spain this June. I've
talked one of my teammates into going to the conference, too, and we're
of course bringing our bikes and planning to ride near the conference
site in Ronda (on the Mediterranean Coast). After the conference,
we'll take a long train trip north so as to ride the famous climbs in
the French Pyrenees. As we're operating on graduate student budgets,
we can't really afford to rent a car, so our tentative plan is to use
Lourdes as a home base--I gather that one can make roundtrip loops on
at least 4 or 5 of the big-name climbs. Anybody done this trip?
Anyone have any general advice about riding in Spain or the Pyrenees?

I'm also looking for advice on the best way to travel with our bikes.
I've always used standard-issue cardboard boxes when I've flown with my
bike in the past, but as we'll be traveling by train once there, I
think it might make sense to have a more manageable carrier.
Suggestions? Are hard cases better than soft cases, etc? Anybody
looking to sell such a carrier, or, better yet, would anyone be willing
to "rent" one or two (our dates of travel are June 23-July 8)?

Replies off list to kmaier (at) uoregon.edu would be welcomed.

Best,

Kevin