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Bike Boxes

One of my main challenges was how to get my bike to and from New York in a relatively cheap way.  Luckily, there is a service I found called BikeFlights.com.  They are specialists in shipping bikes and negotiated some good rates with FedEx.  So the cost to get my bike from LA to NY is only about $70.  Not bad at all.

I obtained a bike box from a bike shop nearby.  So now I just have to take apart my bike and fit it in there.  I’ll also throw in my panniers and camping gear and stuff also.  Whatever I take on the plane with me is what I will need to bike with!  So I’m throwing everything into the box.

For the way back, I ordered a bike box to be delivered to Pat’s house so hopefully it’ll be waiting for me when I get there.  (If I get there!).  Then I just pack my bike up again and Bike Flights will pick it up.

Fingers crossed this all goes smoothly!

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The Great 2018 Bike Tour!

The plan is to ride my bike from Albany, NY to Rochester – a distance of about 260 miles over the course of 5 days. It’s about 50 miles per day, which I think is doable.

Of course, I say that knowing full well that I have never ridden 50 miles at one time before! Not to mention that I will have to do it for 5 days in a row, with a loaded down bike! Without stopping that’s about 10 miles per hour for 5 hours. But I will no doubt be doing a lot of stopping!  After all, I have a whole day to ride. So if I do a lot of stopping to see sights and take breaks, I should be all right.

The whole idea came about when I started to get interested in the idea of bike touring. It seemed like a natural fit for me since I love exploring new places, the freedom of being alone, making myself fully uncomfortable, and biking. Throw in some physical hardship and a good challenge and I’m all set. In the past I have gone backpacking before, but I am not a big guy. And hiking up and down trails with 40 pounds of gear on my back wasn’t fun. My hips would hurt and the challenge for me was a bit too much.

So this year, when my wife was planning to do her earlier trip to visit with her family in Rochester, I decided this would be a good time to do a bike tour! It’s like backpacking, but instead of carrying everything on my back, I get to just strap it to my bike!

The first consideration was how far and how long I should do it. Turns out my vacation time from work – about a week – was the limiting factor.

Knowing Rochester would be my final destination (specficially Ragon’s aunt’s house) I was able to start counting miles from there at about 50 miles a day, which put me at around 250 miles. It was almost to Albany, which as it turns out, is home to a cousin of mine!

The icing on the cake is that there happens to be a great bike trail along the Eerie Canal for the entire trip.

So now the plan is I will have my bike shipped to my cousin in Albany. Then I’ll fly out there and spend the next five days biking to Rochester, where I’ll meet up with my family and then we will all come back together.

I’ve decided to begin this little journal to document my preparations and then my ride each day. I am typing this into my phone with a little portable keyboard that I’ll bring along.

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