This is sage advice. Leaving unnecessary stuff behind and traveling lightly makes bike touring far more enjoyable. On a recent Amtrak trip packing my bike and gear took 15 mins and was ridiculously easy.



On a trip to iceland I packed my bike and gear into a softsided carrying case, put that on the plane as regular luggage as it weighed around 40lbs and was within the dimension limits, and took my handlebar bag as carry on luggage. In Rekyavik I took a bus to my hotel and it was easy to carry my bike and gear. I built the bike up again the next day and I folded the softsided case (Groundeffect Tardis) into it's phone book sized case and left it at the hotel and picked it up after my tour was over. I used the bus a couple of times (Iceland is tough) and having a light set up made it easy to stow the bike and baggage in just a few mins.