Today was the travel day to Oregon. To recap, I shipped the bike to Portland via Amtrak, shipped a box with my gear to FedEx, and then take a single pannier on the flight with me. The original plan was to retrieve just the bike upon arrival, load the pannier and ride around town for a while, and finally retrieve the box before catching the bus to Astoria. But then several on the Adventure Cycling forums suggested that the bike would best be left in the box for the bus ride (even though they accept unboxed bikes) and that I walk or take light rail around town. Continue reading
Tag Archives: acaPacCoast2013
Delayed at the Airport
I’m here at the airport, delayed for a flight to my “side destination” because continuing on to the Oregon coast bicycle tour.
Though at least after the storms pass through this week, it should be great weather next week! Continue reading
Eye-Fi Wi-Fi SD Card Test
Hooray, I got the $20 Eye-Fi SD Card in the mail today, just in time for the trip! Continue reading
Shipping the Gear (and an iPhone test post)
Today is the day I shipped my bike and gear to the ride start. Why ship everything? Because during my initial planning, I didn’t think through the consequences of chaining this trip after another trip. No use paying double airline baggage fees…
That said, Amtrak Express is the best kept secret for shipping a bike. Of course, you have to use a destination train station which has this as a service. It’s only $49, but best of all, very little disassembly is required – just remove the pedals and the handlebars. Oh, and if you’re tall like me, then you have to lower the seat too, but that’s no big deal. But, best of all, the box is designed so that you roll the bike in from the side, then tape both ends shut! The box measures 70″ x 41″ x 8.5″ – plenty big for most bikes. Even my large touring bike with its superlong wheelbase and with fenders fit within the 70″ length. Continue reading
Final Preparations and Shakedown Ride
I’m off to the Oregon coast soon for a bicycle tour in July. With this post I am now in “trip mode” and so now the blog posts will automatically update Facebook and Twitter (using Simple Facebook Connect and WordTwit) for ease of updating on the road.
I couldn’t resist making last minute changes to the bike close to the departure date. In this case, I installed a new handlebar stem. Although many of the other components have been upgraded, it’s nice to have an “original” looking stem in order for the bike to have the same look and feel as its early 80s vintage. Plus, I had a recent professional bike fitting and found that the old stem left me too stretched out. Continue reading