Starting point logistics - advice please!

[NbyNW]

Would love to hear any tips/tricks/ and What Not To Do, if you are going on a tour that starts far from home.

A friend of ours is organizing a ride that leaves from Seattle, goes to Vancouver Island, ride 2.5 days then back to Seattle. Since we are already in Canada I was thinking it would be easier to meet the group at the ferry terminal.

BUT not sure of the best way to do this. It's a solid 1.5-2 day drive to Vancouver. Time off work and away from dog is a factor for DH. He has some crazy idea that we could bring the dog along, but to me that sound like a logistical nightmare. Maybe DH and I need to have a long, hard talk about the dog, who is perfectly fine for a few days at his kennel-free "overnight camp."

Flying is much quicker but I have no experience flying with bikes. Don't they have to be partly disassembled? And then to reassemble on the other end - I don't know how to do it, so would have to find an LBS to do it and that doesn't necessarily save time, does it?

Any advice would be much appreciated!

[shootingstar]

Air Canada does charge for non-folding bikes that are boxed up cardboard bike box. I believe the provide bike box. Ask if they have a used one, just in case. One takes off pedals and turns the handlebars sideways to slide in whole bike. Bring your own tools.

With folding bike, it would be in your bike carry bag or plastic bag that they can provide. Best to check online for their latest policy, re charges/non-charges. Their policy has changed over the last few years.

Please realize that if you plan to bike from Vancouver airport to the B.C. ferry terminal at Tswassen, that bikes are forbidden in the George Massey Road Tunnel. There is a bike shuttle in Richmond that will take you out of the tunnel. Then one would have to get off and bike out. There is a map at the B.C. Ministry of Transportation website which is the party that provides this free service.
http://www.th.gov.bc.ca/popular-topi...sey/massey.htm

Of course a high top taxi will short circuit all that.

[Grog]

Air Canada does charge for non-folding bikes that are boxed up cardboard bike box. I believe the provide bike box. Ask if they have a used one, just in case. One takes off pedals and turns the handlebars sideways to slide in whole bike. Bring your own tools.

Flying with a full-size bike is a PITA I will now do everything I can to avoid.

Shootingstar is right about the pedals and handlebars (I also like to undo the derailer but it's not required) but not about the box. You can get a box from your bike shop, though. If you do use a box you'll need to take off the wheels, in which case I recommend wheel spacers (that will protect your fork and rear triangle against squishing). I've always been wanting to try the "clear plastic bag" version. An AC baggage handler (who's a cyclist) told me he thinks it's the safest way to carry a bike within Canada, because baggage handlers just can't pile it up with other stuff.

The quality of the welcome for bikes on Air Canada entirely depends on who you're talking to. They definitely do not offer boxes but you might score a big, clear plastic bag. Don't count on it though. I have a friend who got a big bag marked "AIR CANADA BIKE BAG" from one AC staff and then the next AC staff she saw emphatically denied that bikes were allowed on AC planes. (My friend won, eventually, but not without a fight.) In any case there's no more evading the $50 fee in my experience. However I believe WestJet still doesn't charge for bikes.

And just be aware you can't take bike tools in your carry-on. The warehouse where they sell the items that are seized at the security control is full of them!!

Seriously, if I was only 15 hours away as you are, I'd consider driving. Your environmental footprint will also be smaller that way, if it matters to you. Now I can't give advice about the dog aspect.

Good luck! It looks like the trip is worth it.

[shootingstar]

Apologies for bike box..that is what certain rail companies provide..only at certain city points and for certain scheduled train times.

My partner has flown several times with his bike via Air Canada over the past 10 yrs. In terms of AC staff, they were quite good and well informed about the bike policy.

I was with him on several occasions when he and I were flying together, but I didn't take my bike along because I had a bike to borrow from someone at destination or due to my work schedule at time, not enough time to bike to justify shipping my bike.

[Grog]

My partner has flown several times with his bike via Air Canada over the past 10 yrs. In terms of AC staff, they were quite good and well informed about the bike policy.

I'm happy it's worked well for him. My experience has been rather mixed myself, but never better than "passable." We never had mechanical damage from carrying a bike on AC but my husband had an expensive wheel ruined on a trip to Australia transiting through the USA.

Recently, in both France and Hawai'i we've had conversations with bike shops that say the bike rental business is booming. Their fleets are booming as well, so I think on my next trip I'll rent-a-bike.

Let us know how it turns out!!

[NbyNW]

Thanks for sharing your experiences -- very helpful, I'll let you know what we decide.

[shootingstar]

Have returned to Vancouver after a month in Europe and in a few days in Toronto.

So my Dahon folding bike was "folded up" and shipped in a soft large Dahon bike bag.

It survived:

1. Air Canada flight- Vancouver to Calgary, 2. with switchover onto Luftsana Air from Calgary to Frankfurt.

3. 2 European train rides-- just so we could get around the problem of 2 out of 5 different European train trips where the train bike car was each time, full already. Allowed to ship bikes as baggage, not as a bike.

then return flights: 4. Copenhagen to Toronto
5. Toronto to Vancouver which happened several days later after segment #4.

The minor problems that the bike has now has nothing to do with baggage/storage handling. More probably related to the mud/dirt that the bike has which is making some parts not easy to screw /align some nuts and bolts. I have quick release pedals which I think the threads are abit dirty...

I am pleasantly surprised about the level of risk that the bike took in the whole transportation handling/baggage segment. Yes, it did cost some shipment fees. But renting a bike would have been a headache for me, since I'm short/small.

I noticed in Copenhagen....alot of BIG bikes. Maybe the average Dane is just taller/bigger. I would have had problems renting bike.