When that appearance got nixed by Armstrong's doping-related ban, "a friend of mine who had been No. 80 on the waiting list for a hotel room in Kona suddenly got a call that a room was available, " says Bob Babbitt, a pioneer of the sport.
Getting Bangkok under my belt would have given me the opportunity to take a shore excursion to Ayutthaya, the ancient Thai capital and a UNESCO World Heritage Site, when we were in Bangkok, and the chance to knock Hanoi (and the Colonial-era Metropole Hotel) off my bucket list.
Last May, in a fit of bleary-eyed jet-lag, I made the mistake of checking into a hotel without running through the standard list of questions I normally ask at the front desk to ensure I get a good room.