Well, off to India for 2 years I go. Alas the bikes must stay behind, costs to much to ship. Maybe I'll save some Rupes and have Thylacine make me one and bring it over when he does his ride. It will be a few days before I'm gone, getting married first, but access at the cottage is limited and checking in is tough so this might be it until I arrive. Getting access there might take awhile as well. Until then,Bangalore or bust baby.

Ciao,

Chris

Wow! Have fun over there. Why are you going? No biking? You gonna get OLN or what?

Drop us a line when you get all settled in. Good luck and get your malaria shots!

Koffee

The future wife is teaching there. Got my shots and before I get a job I'm going bike shopping. Almost all the bikes there are s/s. I'm taking my fixer along as well, one can always hope.

How much does it cost to ship a bike anyway? In any case good luck wiht everything!

It might be cheaper to completly dismantle the bike and ship the pieces in a smaller container. Guess it would not be much smaller though...

Which airline are you flying? I know Luftansa allows 1 bike per person without extra charge. I am not sure about Air India and others, but I know they don't charge a whole lot. I flew to bangalore several times and the security out there is a bit anal/paraniod comapred to airports out here and europe. Also, if you are not from india, you may initially get scared riding a bicycle out there, especilly on big streets, with object of all sizes and shapes darting around. Hang in there and tell us how it goes.

Hey Chris,
Good luck with your little adventure! I gotta say, US airlines must be vicious when it comes to charging for luggage excess. I didn't think it would be that expensive going one way to India for you to pack up a bike. I'm thinking of doing an S&S coupled hardtail for my Sri Lanka trip, coz with those little thingies you can pack a whole bike into a 26x26x10" box, which is pretty wicked I reckon. Most airlines seem to be okay as long as they don't know you're carrying a bike with you. If they do, the $$ bells ring and many of them think they can start charging you ridiculous fees that for some magical reason don't appy to other things, such as golf clubs.*grumble*

As for OLN, well, I got cable tv in Kathmandu, so you never know. People forget that India has a middle class the size of the entire US population, and they love their technology - so getting cycling on tv as well as the internet is probably pretty common.

Anyway, good luck with everything and keep us posted!