damn, that xtr mini group on the sam. it's the little things. On Friday, September 6, 2024 at 7:23:45 AM UTC-4 ascpgh wrote:
> Fantastic! > > On par with renting a U-Haul pickup to reach a destination in the dearth > of rental cars following mass flight cancellations. > > Just using (not abusing) what's available in a manner not anticipated. > > Andy Cheatham > Pittsburgh > On Thursday, September 5, 2024 at 3:04:47 PM UTC-4 in...@brentknepper.com > wrote: > >> hiya grouppe! I'd like to share a fun solution I found via amtrak this >> past week. there's been some recent posts from Leah >> <https://groups.google.com/g/rbw-owners-bunch/c/HbITA9JmOC0/m/kPz4b0UiAwAJ> >> and >> from Chris >> <https://groups.google.com/g/rbw-owners-bunch/c/JCCVnPkZ0-g/m/hfnqB-WzAQAJ> >> about >> fitting Rivs in all their long chainstay and big tire glory on Amtrak's >> in-car bike parking and racks. in the mid-2010s I did a ton of amtrak >> adventures coupled with bike camping and backpacking all around the US and >> Canada, so I enjoyed these posts as 2024 resources for traveling/touring >> via train and bike- especially now that amtrak is outfitting more of its >> trains with designated bike areas >> >> anyway, I spent the weekend moving from Chicago to NY's hudson river >> valley for a new job (midwest group members: forgive me!) and I needed to >> limit my belongings to what could fit in one (1) U-pack relocube and my >> car. that was all fine, except I did not have space for my two rivendells! >> the horror!! >> >> ok, sure, but what about amtrak: well, ya can't officially ship things >> via amtrak anymore. they stopped their express shipping service in 2020 >> much to chagrin of college students and frugal others. *however* they do >> allow for two, free checked bags– or bikes! >> >> before the days of roll-on bike service and bike racks, which some trains >> still don't have, amtrak allowed passengers to check bikes inside comically >> large $10 cardboard bike boxes that only required turning the handlebars >> sideways and removing the pedals. a decade ago, I used these boxes >> extensively. the baggage handlers have always been respectful with the bike >> boxes too. a lot of stations even let me keep my box in their baggage area >> while I was out touring for a week or whatever, so I wouldn't have to buy >> another box on my way home >> >> I love amtrak, and you've probably figured out what I did by now ◡̈ >> compared to the time investment of disassembling two bikes, packing them >> safely in bike shop boxes, and then the cost of bikeflights or pirateship, >> turns out a one-way amtrak ticket from Chicago to Albany was way cheaper >> >> so last saturday I took my two rivs to chicago's union station- >> bittersweet as that may have been the last time I roll a bike through there >> for a while- and checked them in at amtrak's baggage claim. I simply showed >> them my amtrak e-ticket and they filed it away in their pen-and-paper >> baggage system. huge bonus: da amtrak guyz said they had a stack of used >> boxes from friday's holiday travel, so I reused those for free! with the >> excess of riches, I even shoved the bike boxes inside of each other to >> double-up the cardboard protection for my brand new periwinkle Sam! >> >> two days later, I drove over to albany's amtrak station and picked up my >> bikes. no one knew, or cared, that I wasn't on the train or that I was >> picking up the bikes half a day after the train arrived. hopefully someone >> on the train enjoyed the additional space of the empty seat I "paid" for >> too ◡̈ bikes looked great, I stopped by albany's honest weight grocery >> co-op for snacks, and now I'm back in my new lil apartment filled with >> moving boxes and anxiety about unpacking them all. luckily, I got cool >> bikes to ride around on to assuage said anxiety >> >> tl;dr: it was cheaper to buy a train ticket and check two bikes as bags >> then ship 'em through ups or whatever. 10/10 would do again >> >> [image: IMG_4578.jpeg] >> >> [image: IMG_4588.jpeg] >> > -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "RBW Owners Bunch" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to rbw-owners-bunch+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com. To view this discussion on the web visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/rbw-owners-bunch/3cf6d49b-92f0-4912-8939-eeed2ce1ad11n%40googlegroups.com.
