February 28, 2023
Packing Up
The evolving plan for this trip has involved an ever shrinking extent to which we will range out from Porto. Now, although we certainly will be doing an extensive ride, it is not clear that we will ever leave the one country. The route has been shaped in this way by the gentle pressure of a pair of unlikely agents -two bike boxes. These inert objects seem to have a gravitational force that keeps us in their orbit - especially when they will be resting in a garage in Porto.
Now that we are going with bike boxes, now that we actually got them from our local bike shop, and now that we have adjusted our air fares and cycle routing to suit them, the time came to in fact pack them.
Given the huge size of a bike box compared to a plastic bag designed for an easy chair, or to a regular sized suitcase supplied by Bike Friday, it would seem a no brainer to put the bikes inside.
Well not really, because of course nothing is ever simple. The two boxes that we got could be described as big, and bigger. But the dimensions for them are (in inches) 55 x 7.5 x 30 and 54 x 9.5 x 32. The bigger one - the one that is 9.5 wide - boasts 1/3 more volume than the slightly smaller one. The bikes also have some differences between them, but the first fact is that both are longer than the boxes. The bike shop suggested turning the front wheels backwards, but no, still too long. That meant the wheels had to come off. And still the fronts had to be turned backwards, because of the racks.
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With the front wheels off there was the question of where to stash the wheels, which had to share space with the also removed handle bars/steering tubes and seat posts/saddles. We ripped one box shoving the wheel in. And with the wheels gone, the spiky rack bottoms wanted to poke through the bottom of the box. So we had to find some reinforcement for the box bottoms and add tape/cardboard to the ripped box beside the wheel.
With the narrower box, the derailleur protector had to come off. With the wide box we took the derailleur off too, but that turned out not to be necessary.
Once the bikes were in, and the tight fitting situations handled, the boxes revealed quite a lot of spare space here and there. Other cyclists sneak bike accessories - like helmets, water bottles, and maybe cycling clothes and bags in there. They seem to get away with it, though airlines prohibit that. But we had already paid for our checked bag. Despite dropping helmets and locks in there, we still had the bikes rattling in the spare space.
That's where an amusing part came in. We usually buy pizza from a local shop called Moo's. When we do it, we buy two "larges". That gives us two large pizza boxes, only a little cheesy. But the Canadian chain Panago has "extra large". Ooo, extra large boxes. We went out to get some Panago. Admittedly we did eat the pizza and did not go only for the boxes! This almost differs from Amazon, who often send a box that almost seems worth more than the contents!
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The boxes are weighing in easily at 60 pounds, well under the 70 pound limit. The bikes have been happily sleeping in there for a week, so smug in their precious homes, with the pizza box insulation.
In Porto we will put signs on the boxes "Por favor, não remova!" (Please do not remove). Significantly, our first foray into the Portuguese language!
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1 year ago
1 year ago
We started by removing the pedals and turning the handlebars and then kept taking parts off until the bike fit, hence the 3 hours. We had a few days, so no panic. In those days, there was only a weight limit, so we stuffed in our camping gear and everything else, taped the boxes up, and crossed our fingers that they weren't overweight. Our travel agent had gotten us tickets that included free bicycle transport.
The panic came when it was time to fly home. Where could we find bike boxes in Paris? If we packed our bikes at our hotel, how would we get them to CDG? Somehow, we were told that boxes were available at the airport. We set off for the airport very early, allowing 3 hours to get our bikes into the boxes once there.
However, we discovered that the boxes wouldn't be provided until check-in, and we couldn't check in until 3 hours before the flight. It might have been even less time; things have changed a lot in the past 30 years! In any case, the boxes provided were gigantic, the size Via Rail uses. Pedals off, turn the handlebars, deflate the tires, and drop the bike in. A 10-minute job.
We kept those boxes stored away in the basement for years, hoping to use them again, but they had to go when our basement became living space. No matter, they would be subject to oversize fees on any airline these days for sure.
1 year ago
For example, the "free airport shuttle" at our place in Porto became 45 euros when they learned we would have bike boxes. We are just losers in the sport of bike boxing!
1 year ago
We find our current wheeled cases much easier to use and move around than boxes, but the giant hard case Al has borrowed a few times is like a box on wheels and after our first trip with my current case, he went out and bought his own. I think if I were going to use a box again, I'd also go back to assembling my bike at the airport.
1 year ago
It’s a shame that something as tangential to the point of traveling is affecting your plans on this tour so much. Also, I don’t know if you have any of those stopovers whether you’ll have to pointlessly reclaim your luggage and schlep it across the customs line, but that’s triply annoying when you have to manage those suitcases as a part of it, shuffling through a long line. Good luck!
1 year ago
1 year ago
1 year ago
It's hard to know which private travel insurance company is reputable.
1 year ago