Have Bike, Will Travel

I just arrived in Ashland, Oregon to watch a Super D downhill mountain bike race along with a bevy of journalists, cycling pros, and folks from SRAM, the race sponsor. Between us, we had well over 40 bikes,so I was surprised to find out that not a single bike was flown in.

Apparently, hard-core cyclists are not flying their bikes. If you google “flying with your bike,” you’ll find dozens of sites with step-by-step instructions, including the type of container to fly it in, how to dismantle it, and how to pack it (don’t forget the bubble wrap). It’s not that flying with a bike is difficult (particularly considering that everyone in this group can dis- and reassemble a bike faster than most people can change a flat). The problem is that flying with a bike has become a major expense.

Bikes used to fly free on carriers like Southwest. Others charged a modest handling fee for the oversized box. Today, fees have soared to as much as $300 each way—on Delta’s international flights. Even Southwest charges $100 for a domestic round trip. Baggage fees overall have become so steep that they generated 275% more revenue in 2009 than in 2008, according to The Bureau of Transportation Statistics.

We understand why prices for bike transport (and other baggage) have risen in the past few years. Smaller airlines have gone bankrupt due to soaring fuel prices, and the ones that survived have encountered increasing competition from international carriers due to the 2008 “open skies” treaty, which significantly loosened U.S. access for foreign airlines. But that doesn’t make it any easier to cough up $200 round trip, nearly the cost of your ticket, to fly your bike on United. The problem is amplified by the fact that cyclists make up a much smaller percentage of travelers than golfers and skiers, leaving us powerless to force a change.

Our best option may be to think outside the airline-approved bike box.

Take Ross Schnell, one of the professional racers with me in Oregon. When traveling to race, he dismantles his entire bike and carries it in a duffel bag. If he’s questioned as to what he’s carrying at check-in, he says hockey pads. “The point is to not let them know you’ve got a bike, so they can’t charge you the bike fee,” he says. He checks his wheels in a box, along with all of his spare parts. He says he saved over $1,000 last year.

James, another racer, and an editor with CyclingNews.com, says common courtesy and genuine friendliness can get you far at the check-in counter at airports. “Attendants are so used to people freaking out on them about the bike fee, that staying civil and friendly can sometimes earn you a free pass,” he says.

You have an alternative to Ross’ self-serve method and James’ nice-guy approach if you’re a triathlete. TriBike Transport lets you drop your bike at a local shop where it’s professionally packed, shipped, and put back together for you to pick up at the race start. Costs start at $290 round trip and include $1,000 insurance on the bike. That’s hard to beat. UPS can ship your bike, but you have to carefully adhere to their box dimension requirements in order to keep it affordable, and by the time you add on insurance coverage, you may as well just pay to fly it.

The most painless form of bike transport is no transport at all. If you’re heading for a cycling-destination in the U.S., it’s easier and more cost effective to leave your bike at home and rent one in the town you’re visiting. If you’re traveling to a place without bike rentals, contact a local bike shop for a recommendation; some may even have demo bikes available. Our favorite solution? Take up bike touring and do all your travel on two wheels. Now that’s an idea.

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Jayme Otto is a travel blogger and contributing editor for Women’s Adventure and a freelancer at large. Look for her regular blogs on www.womensadventuremagazine.com.