Howdy,
Yesterday afternoon I found out I'm going to Decatur Texas on business, not too bad, get out of the cold and fog of Salt Lake City........ Oh did they forget to tell me it will be for 3 weeks!
So heres my deal, I want to ship one of my bikes down there from Salt Lake City. I've checked out the IMBA thing and it looks pretty cool EXCEPT I don't own a hard case and thier shippers wont ship without it.
I"m not real excited about buying one, $150.00 - $500.00 but to protect my bike I imagine it's worth it. The problem is I'm not sure I can get a case here in SLC in the next couple of days.
I've looked around on the net for places to rent a bike down there, that would run $75.00 - $150.00 per day, a little steep for my blood.
OH and did they also forget to tell me...... your leaving on Sunday.
Any suggestions on how to pull this off would be real helpful.

Thanks
M.R.

Check your PMs.

Also check out Richardson Bike Mart's Rental Page. They're a very reputable shop.

Try talking to your LBS. They may be able to package and ship your bike to another LBS in the area you are going too.

I have no idea how fast or what the cost would be but worth checking out

Try Plano Cycling & Fitness.

BR

Unless a SLC LBS has a case in stock, your only option is probably to get your bike packed by your LBS and ship it to your hotel. While you are in Decatur, you should be able to either find a case at a DFW LBS or order one online and have it delivered to your hotel. You'll then have it for the return trip and furture trips.

Keep in mind though, that unless you pay big time for something like 2nd day delivery, it's might take a week to get your bike to Decatur, leaving you only two weeks to ride. If you are working all day, then you may only get significant riding on the weekend. Consider if you will ride enough to make the cost worth it. Consider that sunrise is about 7:15AM and sunset about 6:00PM while you are going to be in Texas. It may be better to rent a bike from Richardson Bike Mart for the weekends assuming the weather is acceptable.

Also bear in mind that most Texans are definitely NOT cyclist friendly.

Be careful.

BR

In the 13 years I was regularly cycling in the DFW area, I only had one or two negative experiences from local drivers. But then I'm a very curteous cyclist.

get a new bike in texas. You'll have plenty of time to make arrangements to ship it back. And then you'll have a new bike!

Howdy,
I'll be running a night shift at a construction site so I'll have days to ride.

M.R.

We have our share of ignorant inconsiderates, but I wouldn't say that Texans are not cycle friendly. I've ridden many, many miles in Texas and rarely have any problem. There are few bicycle specific facilities in Dallas, but people are generally neutral.

However, there are lots of rural roads, especially out near Decatur. Farm to Market roads (labeled FMxxxx) are often great roads for cycling. Lots of these are low traffic but well maintained by the state. Be careful about planning routes using county roads (labeled CRxxxx) as these could be anything from paved to oil top to gravel/dirt. You usually can't tell from a road map either. They can be great if you bring an MTB or know which are in good condition.

If you're flying and the company is buying the tickets, could you afford to check it on the plane? That usually cost $50-$100, but you'll have it with you when you get there.

If you're driving, I'm only going to laugh.

Howdy,
I'll be flying, thanks.

M.R.

I would like to say that Texas is an EXTREMELY cyclist friendly place. There are TONS of trails and roads to ride on. We have our people who dislike cyclist but no more than any other place in the US. Not sure if your riding road or mountain, but as supcom says there are FM and RM roads that have wide shoulders and those are great places to ride road. Give it a shot, the weather (not this weekend) should be very pleasant.

If you ride with a local club in SLC, would someone lend you a hard case? When I needed one for a trip several years ago, I asked on the club's list serve and received several generous offers from fellow club members.

Buy a cheap, used bike when you get there. Thrift store, bike shop, want ads, craigs list. as long as you're not a bike snob, most any bike in good shape will ride for three weeks, then you could donate it to a charity when you're done with it.

Good idea except Dallas thrift store bikes usually need significant work to be rideable. Pickings are usually slim as well. Better perhaps to get a cheap xmart bike for $100 and donate it when you go home. Certainly cheaper than shipping a bike both ways.

Howdy,
First off thanks to everyone that posted. You folks Rock.
I'm leaning towards buying an inexpensive bike in Dallas and donating it to a charity or maybe just giving it to a kid that will use it.
The ebay link that was emailed to me was great, thanks, you know who you are. That's probably the one I'll pick up.
Again thanks and I look forward to meeting you Texan cyclist on the roads around Decatur and Chico.

M.R.

Glad to hear it's coming together. After the trip, post a follow-up and let us know how it all turned out.....

Best of luck,

Mark

Take your pedals and saddle along... possibly your wheels too. The LBS that I worked at occationally had used bikes, returns that they would "rent".
Or offer to buy the bike outright with the ability to return the bike with an X% restocking fee assuming it comes back in perfect condition.

Howdy,
OK a little late but this is what happened.
The 3 week stay they ask me to do turned into 4 months, yep Feb 1st to June 16th.
I bought a 1983 Schwinn Tempo from a used bike dealer in Denton. The job changed on a daily bassis so I was only able to log about 500 miles in the 4+ months I was there.
The people around Decatur were very bike friendly, and the country was great to ride in. I found a LBS in Decatur operated by an 80+ year old guy named Roy. It was great to sit and talk to him about bikes and WW2 airplanes.
The police were also very helpful, I ask a county sheriff in a cafe one night were the safest places to ride were. He directed me to some of the most wonderful back roads through ranches and farms.
All in all it was a great bikeing experience.

M.R.

Glad it worked out....what did you do with the tempo? Give it to a young, deserving, and broke kid? Just curious.....