AAA now has roadside service for cyclists

[jobob]

... in the PNW, at least ...

AAA launches bicyclist roadside service in Wash


An excerpt:

SEATTLE (AP) — Ran into trouble while bicycling? Soon there will be help roadside available, if you're AAA member.

AAA has announced that it will launch a roadside service for bicyclists in Washington state on Sunday. Washington joins the Oregon and southern Idaho branches with the service, said spokeswoman Jennifer Cook on Friday.

...

Under the bicycle service, a member can call AAA if they run into trouble. However, AAA crews won't fix your bicycle. Rather, they'll give you a lift to a safe location of your choosing, such as home or a bike shop.

How far AAA takes you depends on the mileage covered by the membership plan. For example, the lowest level allows for a 5 mile radius ride, the middle one for 100 miles and the highest for 200 miles. Should the ride be longer than the membership allotment, a mileage surcharge can be used.

The fact that you can get a lift is great, imho. I hope this is extend to California!

[emily_in_nc]

Fabulous! Hope they'll extend it to all 50 states.

[jobob]

That too.

[goldfinch]

I travel a lot alone so I have been looking at some kind of roadside assistance for bikes. The broadest program seems to be offered by Better World. Here is some info from them:



We are currently quoting in Alaska, Arizona, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Washington DC, Georgia, Hawaii, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa , Kansas, Kentucky, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Nevada, New Hampshire, New York, North Carolina, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Vermont, Virginia, Washington, West Virginia, and Wisconsin.

The general info on their product: http://www.betterworldclub.com/bicyc...assistance.cfm

Better World Club offers up to 30 miles transport. Two service calls a year limit. Forty dollars a year. Twelve dollar sign up. I got some additional information from them when I did some emailing back and forth, including:

Thanks for your interest in Better World Club! We are the only company offering 24/7 nationwide roadside assistance for bicycles. Here is a link to our Bicycle Membership benefits: http://www.betterworldclub.com/bicyc...assistance.cfm . The only change (which I have just requested be corrected on that link) is that we now cover up to 30 miles of transportation per service call instead of 30 miles total, annually. So, basically this is a transportation service for you and your bicycle should something happen or malfunction. We will also be introducing actual bicycle insurance in the very near future to cover medical, liability and option theft/damage. Please let me know if you have any additional questions.

For bicycle service we dispatch from the same network of service providers as we do for automobile roadside assistance. We have over 40,000 providers in our network. This allows us to provide 24/7 bike coverage throughout the US and Canada, even in very rural areas. It is possible a tow truck will rescue you, but usually a smaller vehicle from the provider’s fleet will be sent (i.e. pick-up truck). If you are on a trail, we do require that you return to an accessible road so our service providers can locate you and assist.

Spoke Insurance also offers roadside assistance, as well as bike hazard insurance: http://spokeinsurance.com/

It wasn't available in my state and is limited to Arizona, California, Nevada, Utah, Oregon, Washington, Idaho and Hawaii. 25 mile transport limit per occurrence.

AAA does offer assistance in some states, though it is hard to pin down exactly what ones. Googling about, it looks like AAA has offered roadside assistance for bikes in Oregon and Idaho for the past two or three years: http://www.livestrong.com/article/41...nce-for-bikes/ And south jersey: http://southjersey.aaa.com/RoadsideA...BicycleProgram

15 mile transport limit per occurrence, it looks like.

My current plan is to sign up with Better World Club when I leave to go south this winter.

[colby]

Way cool. With my dad working out of town and my husband living full time in Austin, when I'm spending time on my own up here in the PNW I worry about having to call for a rescue if anything happened to me. I know there are friends I could call on, but I hate the possibility of inconveniencing people or running the risk that they are all busy and I'm stuck alone 50+ miles from home with a problem I can't fix. Definitely going to look into this!!

[Koronin]

Nice to see they are doing this at least in a couple of states.

[Bike Writer]

I travel a lot alone so I have been looking at some kind of roadside assistance for bikes. The broadest program seems to be offered by Better World. Here is some info from them:



We are currently quoting in Alaska, Arizona, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Washington DC, Georgia, Hawaii, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa , Kansas, Kentucky, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Nevada, New Hampshire, New York, North Carolina, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Vermont, Virginia, Washington, West Virginia, and Wisconsin.

The general info on their product: http://www.betterworldclub.com/bicyc...assistance.cfm

Better World Club offers up to 30 miles transport. Two service calls a year limit. Forty dollars a year. Twelve dollar sign up. I got some additional information from them when I did some emailing back and forth, including:

Thanks for your interest in Better World Club! We are the only company offering 24/7 nationwide roadside assistance for bicycles. Here is a link to our Bicycle Membership benefits: http://www.betterworldclub.com/bicyc...assistance.cfm . The only change (which I have just requested be corrected on that link) is that we now cover up to 30 miles of transportation per service call instead of 30 miles total, annually. So, basically this is a transportation service for you and your bicycle should something happen or malfunction. We will also be introducing actual bicycle insurance in the very near future to cover medical, liability and option theft/damage. Please let me know if you have any additional questions.

For bicycle service we dispatch from the same network of service providers as we do for automobile roadside assistance. We have over 40,000 providers in our network. This allows us to provide 24/7 bike coverage throughout the US and Canada, even in very rural areas. It is possible a tow truck will rescue you, but usually a smaller vehicle from the provider’s fleet will be sent (i.e. pick-up truck). If you are on a trail, we do require that you return to an accessible road so our service providers can locate you and assist.

Spoke Insurance also offers roadside assistance, as well as bike hazard insurance: http://spokeinsurance.com/

It wasn't available in my state and is limited to Arizona, California, Nevada, Utah, Oregon, Washington, Idaho and Hawaii. 25 mile transport limit per occurrence.

AAA does offer assistance in some states, though it is hard to pin down exactly what ones. Googling about, it looks like AAA has offered roadside assistance for bikes in Oregon and Idaho for the past two or three years: http://www.livestrong.com/article/41...nce-for-bikes/ And south jersey: http://southjersey.aaa.com/RoadsideA...BicycleProgram

15 mile transport limit per occurrence, it looks like.

My current plan is to sign up with Better World Club when I leave to go south this winter.

Yay, Michigan is on the list!

[malkin]

I want that!