Touring lite, or Exploring different cities on the cheap.
07-19-10, 12:44 AM
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Touring lite, or Exploring different cities on the cheap.
Hi all,
Not sure if this is the right place for this post, but I figure the touring forum is the best bet.
I live in an area that has some great public trains (Oceanside, CA) that’ll take you into downtown San Diego very near the airport. You can also take your bikes on these trains, which is great for getting around and exploring. You can also take these trains north to as far as Santa Barbara I think. This got me thinking about traveling to other cities on the cheap, as you can get some pretty good deals on airline travel now and then. Which led me to look for an airline packable bike as it combines two things I like to do. Explore new area’s/things and biking.
What I’ve found is that there are a couple options, what I call take-apart bikes and folding bikes. The bike I most interested in is the Surely Travelers Check:
https://surlybikes.com/frames/travelers_check_frame/
This bike comes apart via frame couplers and is packable into a hard-sided box. It packs down to within regular luggage guidelines, so it doesn’t require oversize luggage fees that a regular bike would. While this frame is anything but cheap it would be a one-time purchase to support my cheap travel program. In addition, not having to rent a car every time the pay back would be there. Also, this is by no means the only option as there are several folding bikes that’d work well too.
What I envision is flying to a city, get my bike from baggage claim and unpack it and assemble it right there. Put the box on the back rack and head off down the road with my clothes for the weekend etc in a backpack. Don’t need much for only 2 days.
I think it’d be cool to fly into a city like Seattle, Vancouver or where ever and hangout for a few days. By combining cheap airline travel with biking and public transportation and inexpensive hotels (think Motel 6 or find deals) I think you could see a lot. Visit museums, see a show, ball game or what ever your into. Not to mention all the great local food you could sample.
Combine that with all the various people here on the forum from all over the country/world, and I think you could get some really good input on what’s cool to see and do in a city or area your looking to visit that’s focused on a short stay. As well as the inside scoop on deals to make your trip more enjoyable and cheaper. That and you’d get the opportunity to put a face with a name by meeting up with your fellow bikers from the forum. In addition, you could pay it forward by posting up a trip report that’d help others planning to go to the same city/area.
Anyway my whole premise behind this is to get away cheap and reasonably often.
So, what do you think? Good idea/Bad idea?
Thanks for reading and I’m looking forward to your input.
Cya,
jr
Not sure if this is the right place for this post, but I figure the touring forum is the best bet.
I live in an area that has some great public trains (Oceanside, CA) that’ll take you into downtown San Diego very near the airport. You can also take your bikes on these trains, which is great for getting around and exploring. You can also take these trains north to as far as Santa Barbara I think. This got me thinking about traveling to other cities on the cheap, as you can get some pretty good deals on airline travel now and then. Which led me to look for an airline packable bike as it combines two things I like to do. Explore new area’s/things and biking.
What I’ve found is that there are a couple options, what I call take-apart bikes and folding bikes. The bike I most interested in is the Surely Travelers Check:
https://surlybikes.com/frames/travelers_check_frame/
This bike comes apart via frame couplers and is packable into a hard-sided box. It packs down to within regular luggage guidelines, so it doesn’t require oversize luggage fees that a regular bike would. While this frame is anything but cheap it would be a one-time purchase to support my cheap travel program. In addition, not having to rent a car every time the pay back would be there. Also, this is by no means the only option as there are several folding bikes that’d work well too.
What I envision is flying to a city, get my bike from baggage claim and unpack it and assemble it right there. Put the box on the back rack and head off down the road with my clothes for the weekend etc in a backpack. Don’t need much for only 2 days.
I think it’d be cool to fly into a city like Seattle, Vancouver or where ever and hangout for a few days. By combining cheap airline travel with biking and public transportation and inexpensive hotels (think Motel 6 or find deals) I think you could see a lot. Visit museums, see a show, ball game or what ever your into. Not to mention all the great local food you could sample.
Combine that with all the various people here on the forum from all over the country/world, and I think you could get some really good input on what’s cool to see and do in a city or area your looking to visit that’s focused on a short stay. As well as the inside scoop on deals to make your trip more enjoyable and cheaper. That and you’d get the opportunity to put a face with a name by meeting up with your fellow bikers from the forum. In addition, you could pay it forward by posting up a trip report that’d help others planning to go to the same city/area.
Anyway my whole premise behind this is to get away cheap and reasonably often.
So, what do you think? Good idea/Bad idea?
Thanks for reading and I’m looking forward to your input.
Cya,
jr
