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Old 11-17-05, 04:23 PM
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Machka 
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jamawani, your method appears to involve a lot of pre-planning, which I rarely put into my trips. I do plan to a certain extent, but not in that much detail.

I tend to agree with axolotl's summary of assumptions.

-The assumption you CAN travel inexpensively AND conveniently between bike shop, lodging, & airport. You make it sound like this is a trivial matter. Outside of a small handful of cities, public transportation in the US is horrible. Cheap public transportation to/from airports often simply doesn't exist.

Using the public transportation systems can also be challenging and may require a knowledge of how they work ahead of time. Let's take Winnipeg, where I lived for 13 years as an example. To get from the airport to the nearest bicycle shop would have taken you no less than 3 busses. You would be on bus #1 for about 5 blocks. You would have to know that's where you had to get off, or you would end up all the way downtown. Then you would have been on the second bus to one of the main malls where it would have dropped you. That would be the easy part. There are about 20 busses that leave from that mall, 4 of which would take you by the nearest bicycle shop. Although all 4 of those say they are "Express" busses, 3 of them would stop near that shop, but 1 would not. These are all little tidbits of information which you'd have to be familiar with if you didn't want to end up clear on the other end of town.

I have used public transportation systems in other countries but it isn't something I want to deal with the moment I get off a plane, especially if it means I have to try to locate a bicycle shop before it closes so I can get my bicycle.

Take France for example. I figured out the metro system within Paris pretty easily, but never did figure out the bus system outside of Paris ... mainly because I didn't speak the language then, and some of the charts and schedules were a complete mystery to me. It was difficult enough to get where I needed to go WITH my bicycle. I can hardly imagine the hassle that would have been involved in trying to find my bicycle, and then figure out how to get where I needed to go.

If someone is going to use the UPS method, my recommendation would be to look up the public transportation systems in the destination city, if they are available online, and attempt to plan out a route.


-The assumption that the bike shop at your destination is willing to accept your bike.
-The assumption the bike shop will be open when you want to get your bike or drop it off.


Some bicycle shops I've encountered along the way are very small, and have staff who are very rude. I doubt that all bicycle shops would accept bicycles. This might not be so much of an issue in a warmer climate, but here in the Canadian, if you have any sort of bicycle related issue between the months of September and April, good luck finding a shop! They've all been converted to skate and ski shops. I've tried to bring my bicycle in for a tune up during those times, and have been told to take my bicycle away because they aren't ready for it yet. If you're planning a fall trip up here, you'd have a reduced chance of having a place accept your bicycle.
Also, there's the time thing. I usually end up arriving places latish in the afternoon ... well, chances are, the shop could be closed or on the verge of closing. You'd have to book your flights to fit with shop hours.


-The assumption that the cyclist wants to spend a night in a hotel/motel near the bike shop or airport on their first and last nights.

For me ... I would rather not spend my night at hotel/motel at all if I can help it. That's where arriving at the airport WITH the bicycle can be great ... if you arrive late, you can just spend the night in the airport. If you arrive early, you're on the road! And you can camp somewhere that night.

When I arrived in Sydney, I put my bicycle together and started riding. I had no idea at all where I was going to spend the night!! That's how it was when I landed in Launceston and Cairns too.


-The assumption that the cyclist doesn't want or need their bike in the days prior to departing on a tour, on the last day of a tour, or on the first days back home following a tour.

Even though many of my tours are fairly long, I end up packing in the events right from Day 1 to the very last day. I've almost missed flights as it is, rushing to make it to the city in time. Also, because my tours often surround randonneuring events, the sooner I can get ahold of my bicycle when I arrive, so I can do test rides on it, the better.


-The assumption the cyclist wouldn't prefer to simply pedal away from the airport on arrival. Yeah, some airports are awful to bike to/from, but just as many I've flown to are easy.
-The assumption that finding a place to assemble or disassemble a bike is a problem. It has never been a problem for me in the dozens of times I've done it.


I am one of the ones who prefers to pedal away from the airport. And it has been very easy to find my way around all the airports, and surrounding areas, I've pedalled away from! There haven't been streams of traffic ... once you've put your bicycle together, the stream of traffic associated with your flight is gone. You've got the option of waiting till things die down a bit and all is pretty quiet. Also the traffic signs etc. coming out of most airports are pretty clear and informative.

Also, assembling and disassembling the bicycle in an airport is quick and easy ... I've never had trouble finding a quiet place to do it ... even in the Los Angeles airport, which was by far the busiest one I've been to. The personnel at airports can also be very accommodating - checking on how you're doing, getting you to the front of the line, and providing you with tools and equipment.

Take the Virgin Blue people at the Melbourne airport for example. We arrived there about 4 hours early and asked for bicycle boxes. They gave them to us for free. We headed off to a quiet corner and started dismantling the bicycles. They came over and asked us if we needed tools or tape for the boxes. We needed tape, and so they went and got that for us. They asked us if we needed help. We didn't, we knew what we were doing. They asked us if our flight was leaving soon and if we needed it held so that we could make it on time. We were early, so that was OK. When we finished packing everything, they took us to the front of the line and checked our stuff through, ahead of a whole bunch of other people standing in line, so that we wouldn't have to cart our stuff around the airport. It was great!


-The assumption the cyclist is flying domestically in the US, or between 2 countries where something like UPS is even a possibility.

Yes ... I'm not sure UPS is available where I live. I'm sure it must be, but I'm not sure how often they deliver stuff. I couldn't find an address for them in the yellow pages. Also, although I fly between major centers, those are rarely my destination. For example, when I flew to Heathrow in 2003, the last thing I wanted to do was to go into London, and that was not my destination anyway, so I couldn't have sent my bicycle to a shop in London. I needed to get to St. Quentin, France (a small town outside of Paris) the very next day ... and I needed to use my bicycle to get there. If I'd opted to use UPS, I actually don't know where I would have sent the bicycle. I'm not sure if St. Quentin or any of the other smaller spots I stopped briefly along the way would have UPS outlets. And by the time I got to Paris, it was quite late (they lit the Eiffel tour when I cycled past! ) so I couldn't have picked up my bicycle there if I had managed to ship it to a shop there.

If I were to use the UPS method, there would have to be a whole lot of extra planning involved.


-The assumption the bike will arrive in a timely manner.
-The assumption for US-Canada travel that the bike will get thru customs in a timely and cheap manner.


And both of those are HUGE issues! I know that sometimes a bicycle can get lost with an airline as well, or that going through customs can be a bit of a pain, but usually your bicycle is right there with you. Having ordered stuff from the US, and having worked for a company ordering stuff from the US, I know that sometimes stuff can get held up in customs for weeks ... depending on the mood of the customs officials.

Now most people I know who opt for the UPS method, send their bicycles at least a week in advance so that they have time to clear customs. But I'm just not sure how comfortable I would feel with that.

And a few comments to jamawani:
If you are flying in with your bike as luggage you have to ride from the airport to your starting point maybe 50 miles away.

My starting point IS the airport. That's when the tour begins for me.


Whether you take your bike as luggage or ship it - there is always the issue of having to overnight in the place you fly into/out of. In my case, I usually get a motel/hostel in the small town on the bus route rather than in the city where the airport is located. It is usually prudent to schedule a night near your starting point and ending point - in case of delayed flights, running behind schedule, etc.

I rarely schedule a place to stay near my starting or ending places. If it comes down to it, I can sleep right there in the airport. That's happened more than once.




So ... in some cases, and for some people, I can see that the UPS method would work ... from what I can see, you'd have to make yourself pretty familiar with your destination, and itinerary first. You couldn't be the type of person who just wings it. And if you've got lots of time and money to play with so you can sit in a hotel waiting for your bicycle to clear customs, if necessary, then UPS could be the way to go.

But if you're the type of person who wants to start the tour right there on the doorstep of the airport, who doesn't want to make too many detailed plans, and who wants to end the tour at the doorstep of the airport (all of which I prefer), then bringing it with you as luggage is the way to go.

I think it also depends a lot on where you're going, whether you speak the language or not, and what sort of information is available about the place you're going.
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