Bicycle Symbol

Travelling with your bike

Travel. Sites. Memories. What's more relaxing than traveling through the Italian countryside or French as being the single or tandem bicycle with your favorite person in the world? (Hey guys, nothing is the right answer!).

How do I get my bike and then there is what should I do? Well, a tour company is the way forward for those who do not have the time or resourcefulness to create their own circuit.

You can have visitors really good on your own if you're willing to work the legs and set up your own circuit. My wife and I have been on three tours and a self guided tour in Europe and I have been on a bicycle trip without her. I can tell you the first time or two, it is a good idea to build a tourism business and the experience they offer when traveling abroad.

Now that we have a few trips here and visit us this freedom is not really a problem, but you would have been difficult to assimilate, not just the language barrier, cultural differences, but you have to go without being exposed to things gradually in the tours.

Traveling outside the U.S. can be a little intimidating for some people so that the hand holding is not a sign of weakness, but must be seen as a way to get your feet wet so you can do yourself later. Certainly, there is a cost for someone to take care of all details for you, but if you pay attention and learn what they do, ask some questions and keep your mind open, you can do yourself.

Tourist companies take care of almost all aspects of your trip, except make your bike there (unless you rent one of their motorcycles, but then you would not be reading this if you were going to use one of theirs).

You are more likely to take your bike or tandem with you alone or you would not be reading this. Getting there is one piece is quite large. The best way to get your bike there is a dedicated travel case. I used several types of cases, including a box Travel Crate bike to work and travel Serfas case.

Of the two, I like the Crate Works box. Take a look at them more on my site on specific cases . You could consider this case and does not believe that it works, but I prefer this case on my Serfas injection molded plastic box. Crate Works box has a ton of room inside and I used it on my last three trips abroad and my bike came out looking like I've packed. I even saw some guys on the tarmac loading my bike and have not been kind to him but did not bother the bike inside. Another good thing about this case, it folds flat for easy storage at home.

Back to the movable part; If you intend to go it alone, or should I say, without a guide, you should know a few things. Maybe some of the things I learned can save you some headaches.

Research your destination to find out where to ride.

Sure, you say, I know. No, really. Take time, get Michelin maps and study them. Knowing what the symbols on the cards really mean. You do not want to be on your bike and to guess if the road is actually going where you thought it happened. Get a GPS! The Garmin Edge 705 is just the ticket to put on your bike. I used a Garmin Nuvi 250W has been made for a car and it was a pain to put in your pocket, put it back in, remove the Edge etc. The 705 was not available until I went home. Now that I've used one, wow, it really works!

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