Touring - Where would you park your car?

Have you ever driven to the start of a tour and if so, where did you leave your vehicle?

I was going to fly to Reno but decided it would actually be easier just to drive plus I would get to see a few sights on the way. I plan on being on the road for about 3 weeks and I am trying to determine ahead of time where a good place would be to leave a vehicle. If all else fails, I will call a bike shop or REI.

I also thought about developing a spreadsheet of contacts just for this type of scenario. i.e., I live in BC and if someone needed to park on my street or have a bike shipped here or use my bike stand to get their bike set up, they would be more than welcome. I suppose if a person lived at the start/finish of one of the tier routes, they could get inundated. Good idea/bad idea?

Thanks.

I have two suggestions.

First, check couchsurfing.com for someone who lives in Reno (they may even offer you a place to stay!).

Second, most hotels near airports will let you leave your car in their lot if you spend the night in the hotel and pay a nominal fee. So, if you are going to spend the night in a hotel, ask them.

Ray

Three weeks is a longer than I would normally leave a car, but in similar situations I've used airport parking, hotels I stayed at and personal contacts.

Twice I've let people from crazyguyonabike.com park in my driveway - you could try posting over there to ask for help.

P.S., also try the regional forum here

Twice I've let people from crazyguyonabike.com park in my driveway - you could try posting over there to ask for help.

P.S., also try the regional forum here

I have always had folks offer help when I ask on the various touring forums. If that failed I would ask around town at bike shops, a place that you stayed at, whatever... Also if none of that pans out, consider starting in a small town nearby. In smaller towns, I would ask police dept, sheriff's office, fire houses, churches, etc.

Also check out warmshowers.com.

If there's a long-term lot such as at the airport or a ferry terminal, that would work. Also, talk to some of the churches.

dont own a car...

If it were only a week or 10 days, what I'd do is to find a quiet residential area and park on the street. It wouldn't be unusual for a vehicle to be parked somewhere, and not go anywhere, for that length of time. When I lived in Edmonton during the week a couple years ago, I'd park my car outside the house where I was renting a room on Monday, and wouldn't touch it again till Friday ... no problem at all.

3 weeks might be a bit long for something like that. The neighbours might start questioning why this vehicle is there. I think if I were leaving my car somewhere for that length of time, I'd inquire at churches.

Whatever you do, don't ask to park in a bicycle shop's parking lot. From my experience, most bicycle shops don't have a whole lot of parking available, and what what they've got free for customer use.

All good suggestions above!

The High Sierra bike shop is also home of the local cycling club, I bet they could help you out. http://highsierracycling.com/storelocator/

You could talk to a local wrecker companies about putting it into their storage. Not sure what they would charge you, but its worth a shot.

If it were only a week or 10 days, what I'd do is to find a quiet residential area and park on the street. It wouldn't be unusual for a vehicle to be parked somewhere, and not go anywhere, for that length of time. When I lived in Edmonton during the week a couple years ago, I'd park my car outside the house where I was renting a room on Monday, and wouldn't touch it again till Friday ... no problem at all.

3 weeks might be a bit long for something like that. The neighbours might start questioning why this vehicle is there. I think if I were leaving my car somewhere for that length of time, I'd inquire at churches.

Whatever you do, don't ask to park in a bicycle shop's parking lot. From my experience, most bicycle shops don't have a whole lot of parking available, and what what they've got free for customer use.

I'd be careful with this one. A couple of times I've had cars parked on the street that I didn't use much. Suddenly a "move or be towed" paper appeared on the windshield. I was able to move them and avoid the tow (and the impound fees.) If I was off on a bike ride......

I've read about people staying in a motel before leaving on a loop tour and asking the motel people if they could leave the car there. In the stories I've read they always said yes. I met a guy from B.C. who said he drove to Portland, Oregon, and left his car at the "cop shop" (I love B. C. slang!) He was going to take a bus back and pick it up at the end of the tour.

During my spring break I'm planning a tour around Saint George, Utah. I checked the long-term parking at the airport there. It's free! That's what I'm going to do.

We left our car in a free public lot behind the visitors center in Radium, BC last year for two weeks. We contacted them by email and they suggested it. I'm sure Reno has a visitor center maybe they can help you out.

Greg

almost all cities have places on the outskirts of town that store RV's. They generally charge 30-50 dollars a month. Usually have fences, lights and most have an on-site residence for security.

Check yellowpages.com for "RV Storage" for the city you plan to go

Crazyguyonabike is the logical place to look for this. I have stored my car with members of this excellent organization and have hosted as well. Just email a few of the folks in the area you are interested in and wait to be amazed by the hospitality offered - from car storage to a place to sleep and some invaluable local information. The local cyclists will give you the best routes and "must sees".

I have used a U-Haul Rental shop....fenced, lit, safe-it was $40 for a month. Only when all free possibilities were exhausted - but there was something about peace-of-mind.

I've left my car parked at B&Bs and campgrounds.

Thanks for the excellent ideas. I will probably post at CGOAB and see what happens first. It is nice to meet a local like-minded biker and get pointed in the right direction.

When we take a car to the 'start' we just leave it there in a real parking space (that is, not parked illegally),
or if that's not an option we've even left it at the side of a mountain (off the road) in the Pyrenees, with a note saying we'd be back in a month.

Generally we tend to not overthink the risks, mostly (like 99.9% of the time) everything is OK.
And I feel the .1% of the time that there actually IS a problem won't be easily (or at all) lowered.