Bike Friday? Anyone?

[hulagirl]

WOW! That's some serious red! Love it! And guess what saddle I have on my bike? The SI Lady! I figured I'd try it because of the REI return policy (anytime, full refund no matter what) and at first I hated it. Now I totally dig it!

We had a GREAT weekend on our BF's. On the high-speed ferry to Victoria, BC with them. Only got to ride a tiny bit as our friends did not have bikes with them. boo. Then we took them over to Port Angeles and had to do our first quick fold! GASP! They horror and fear! It went ok and will get better. The good news is that after being folded up for 2 days they unfolded nicely and quickly down in Bainbridge, WA! We loaded them up with our 4 days gear and rode onto the ferry back to Seattle. Then a quick trip up to REI and a water taxi back over to West Seattle and back to work.

They were SO much fun and really, the Seattle area ferry system is awesome. It was free to ride our bikes onto the ferry to Seattle. First to board and first off the boat. You can't beat that.

Now I'm contemplating a GPS unit like the Garmin 800 for directions. I'm sick of stopping and pulling out my iphone every 5th block to see where I should be going. Dangerous too. Agh. More money!

Belize???? Waaa? How long?

[Owlie]

Denise, those bikes are adorable! (And yours is too, Emily!)

[emily_in_nc]

Belize???? Waaa? How long?

Don't want to hijack the thread, so this will be brief...I've mentioned this on several other threads here and there, but we are building a condo on Ambergris Caye and are moving there for retirement. No planned end date; we'll stay for as long as it's fun. We've moved away several times over the 26 years of our marriage and always end up coming back to NC, but we'll see...we can always rent the condo out and just use it for vacations if it gets boring, but we want to immerse ourselves in a new country for awhile. It is time for a change!

The beach cruisers are coming with us; that's really about all you can ride there (or mountain bikes). The Bike Fridays would get trashed with the sand and salt air, and gears are unnecessary.

Glad you had such fun on your weekend adventure! I agree that a GPS would be a great idea for riding unfamiliar roads.

[Chicken Little]

These bikes are beautiful. I'm starting to feel the need for something more versatile in the garage, this might be it. Thanks for including all the pictures.

[hulagirl]

So here I sit, looking at an empty suitcase and my Bike Friday. Somehow I will need to get the bike into the suitcase without killing anyone. :-)

I really, really hope it's as easy as it should be. And then Ketchup and Mustard make it home to Hawaii in one piece and not messed up by TSA.

[Blueberry]

So here I sit, looking at an empty suitcase and my Bike Friday. Somehow I will need to get the bike into the suitcase without killing anyone. :-)

I really, really hope it's as easy as it should be. And then Ketchup and Mustard make it home to Hawaii in one piece and not messed up by TSA.

Hang in there - I'm let's just say mechanically challenged, and I made it! One tip: Put as much in sealed bags are you can (i.e. pedals). TSA took them out of a drawstring bag (that was tied shut) and left them rattling around the suitcase for our pleasure. Next time - Zip loc and pouch. Maybe that will help the [insert not very nice description] TSA agents with the job they *should* be doing.

[Tri Girl]

search the threads here for packing your BF. I'm pretty sure someone (don't remember who) posted about how they packed their BF and even when searched, it made it through unscathed.

I remember that zip-tie'ing as much of the bike as you can (or using velcro straps) is great. It keeps the bike from unfolding when the case is opened. I think I remember them putting a sequence of pictures (4 I believe) of how the bike should be put back in the case.

Let's just cross our fingers that they don't bother it!!

[tulip]

I pack mine in the soft case that I put in the hard case. When TSA opens the hard case, there is a zipped soft case. They unzipped it and that seems to satisfy their need to check thing out. No problems thus far.

Go step-by-step in the book, one step at a time. Remain calm and think if it as a meditative practice.

I also tape a nice note to TSA on the inside of the case top explaining that this us a folding bike and I include photos of the folded bike in the case.

[Sylvia]

I love the colors on your bikes!! So cute!

I have a Bike Friday, and I took it from California to Maryland to do a ride last October. I took pictures of each step as we packed it. I then printed out the photos with my name and cell number and placed it in an envelope labeled for TSA in the Bike Friday suitcase. This way if for any reason TSA felt they needed to rummage through it or had trouble getting it all back in, they could see from the pictures or could call me. The bike got to Maryland fine and came back fine. No phone calls either.

[hulagirl]

I'm sitting in the United lounge waiting for our flight. United took the bags without batting an eye. Came in at 44 lbs per case. So well under weight limit (I have a 70lb weight limit as I'm Premier Executive status anyway).

Packing took us an hour and a half. I velcro'd everything that I could in the case so that if they have to pick up the bike they will do so in one piece. I put a picture up in the case of what it was unfolded and folded in the case. I noted that the case did not contain any C02 or liquids. And I put my name and phone number if they had questions. I can only hope and pray they the TSA is decent about this.

I didn't think about the zip lock bag thing. Next time. I'll get the big freezer bags and label them. I hope my karma level is high and things work out.

Regardless, we just saved $300 by checking the bikes. I guess if we had to put them in a box and pay $300 that the TSA is still going to check things and possibly screw stuff up. So...well...at least I'm not out $300. Gotta count your blessings when you can.

Fingers and toes are crossed. Won't be home until after 9pm tonight so I'll check it all out tomorrow at let you all know how it goes.

Denise

[hulagirl]

Kerry - did your NWT come yet?