Taking your bike with you on travel isn’t as easy as taking extra luggage and not caring about anything else.
Imagine being allowed to have several days off from work after a long while. You go straight online and book yourself and your bike a ticket to your dream destination. It could be that simple, right? Not exactly.
Taking your bike with you on travel isn’t as easy as taking extra luggage and not caring about anything else. If it’s that simple, more biker tourists would just dismiss public transport or rent-a-car services altogether and bring their bikes wherever they go.
Reasons to bike when traveling
Being a bike enthusiast, you may just want to bring your bike just for the heck of it. However, there’s more to it than you think. Consider the following benefits of taking your bike while traveling:
● Cost-Efficiency: First and foremost, it’s the cheapest and most convenient mode of transportation. When trying to explore a specific place, you’d want to do it at your own pace to fully enjoy the scenery. This is something you might not be able to do when taking a cab or bus.
● Flexibility: Second, bikes give you flexibility. You can even reach the outskirts and places that are accessible by very light vehicles or on foot.
● Health Benefits: Third, biking is an excellent form of workout with proven health benefits. You can enjoy your travel, eat as much food as you like, and burn them all in one bike ride. No biggie!
● Environmental Impact: Finally, it’s eco-friendly. You may not always be able to do major solutions to save the ozone layer, but you can lessen your carbon footprint by simply riding your bike instead of taking a car and contributing to the world’s carbon emissions.
Factors to consider when bringing your bike on a trip
Below are some important things to consider if you decide to take your favorite ride with you on your trip overseas:
1. Bike brand
There are many quality bikes out there, like these ones featured by BikeSmarts, which don’t require you to spend more than you should. These bikes are of superior quality that can take you to places without hassle.
You can choose from all types of bikes; the bike that suits you best would depend on the riding experience you want to achieve. Some of the choices are fitness bikes, cruiser bikes, city bikes, gravel bikes, and mountain bikes. Where are you going, and what do you want to experience on that trip? Let your answers guide you as you choose the perfect bike to bring on your travel.
2. Proper packing
Second, consider how you are going to pack your bike properly. Of course, it’s going to be disassembled so protecting each bike part is going to be crucial.
Bubble wrap is going to be a staple as this will be the parts’ first line of protection against scratches and bumps. This will be followed by a cardboard box where all the pieces will be stored. You can also opt for a bike bag for easier handling.
3. Proper marking
While you may treat your precious bike’s parts like they’re made of eggshells, anything can happen while in transit. They can still be mishandled unintentionally along the way.
To ensure that this isn’t going to be the case, consider sticking a label like “handle with care” on a visible area of the package. Airline crew would normally heed the handling instructions found on packages and parcels.
4. Your destination’s laws on carrying bicycles
In Japan, for example, you will need to have your bike covered in bags when traveling by train or bus. You will not be charged an extra fee for this. On the other hand, ferries allow uncovered bikes with a cost of around 2% of the regular fare.
If you’re going down under, please know that when traveling to Sydney via train, you may have to pay for your bike—a fee that might be equivalent to a kid’s train fare. To get away with having to pay this, you can secure an Opal Card. This is Sydney’s fare collection system used for the public transport system. You can get this from the railway station or online.
Make sure to check the rules and regulations of the city where you’re going.
Of course, there’s another option that can make life easier for you. Instead, you can just rent a bike at the location of your travel.
5. Shipping options
When the going gets rough, you can ship your bike to your destination. To avoid having to deal with carrying your bike with you on a plane, consider having it shipped since you also have your other luggage to worry about. Skip those parcel shipping companies as much as possible as they can be costly, especially since charges are based on the items per gram.
If your bike company has an outlet or branch in your destination, consider yourself lucky as it can ship and assemble the bike for you so you can just pick up your bike. The cost won’t probably be that much as compared to other shipping companies.
Summary
Depending on your purpose, some people might think that carrying your bike on your travel might be more of a hassle than an enjoyment. Others might be thinking, “Why sacrifice the enjoyment of a once-in-a-lifetime trip just because you want your favorite bike to be with you wherever you go?”
However, the only tricky part is getting the bike on the location. Once you finally get a hold of bringing your bike to your destination, everything that follows will be a fulfilling experience.
