Cycle Tourist Needing A Ride Please - Kansas City to Denver! (with bike)
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Cycle Tourist Needing A Ride Please - Kansas City to Denver! (with bike)
I'm a British cyclist touring from NYC to Anacortes, WA. Picked up a slight injury so took some extra time off in Kansas City and I'd like to make that time up, so I'm looking for a ride from here to Colorado, ideally Denver or Pueblo.
I'll be travelling with a bike and panniers, so you'll need some space or a rack, but not that much as it's only two bags on the rear! It would seem the Amtrak train from here to La Junta isn't currently taking bicycles, the train to Denver involves some long waits and takes over 24 hours, and one way car rental is incredibly expensive!
Any help very gratefully received - am happy to pitch in with gas and good conversation!
Many thanks,
James
I'll be travelling with a bike and panniers, so you'll need some space or a rack, but not that much as it's only two bags on the rear! It would seem the Amtrak train from here to La Junta isn't currently taking bicycles, the train to Denver involves some long waits and takes over 24 hours, and one way car rental is incredibly expensive!
Any help very gratefully received - am happy to pitch in with gas and good conversation!
Many thanks,
James
#2
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Maybe you could ride to somewhere with better connections in the direction you are heading. In other words, ride now and catch a train or bus later. You’d still arrive at your destination at the same time.
#3
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greyhound will take bikes, but you need to box.
they may have boxes at the larger stations.
they may have boxes at the larger stations.
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I'm a British cyclist touring from NYC to Anacortes, WA. Picked up a slight injury so took some extra time off in Kansas City and I'd like to make that time up, so I'm looking for a ride from here to Colorado, ideally Denver or Pueblo.
I'll be travelling with a bike and panniers, so you'll need some space or a rack, but not that much as it's only two bags on the rear! It would seem the Amtrak train from here to La Junta isn't currently taking bicycles, the train to Denver involves some long waits and takes over 24 hours, and one way car rental is incredibly expensive!
Any help very gratefully received - am happy to pitch in with gas and good conversation!
Many thanks,
James
I'll be travelling with a bike and panniers, so you'll need some space or a rack, but not that much as it's only two bags on the rear! It would seem the Amtrak train from here to La Junta isn't currently taking bicycles, the train to Denver involves some long waits and takes over 24 hours, and one way car rental is incredibly expensive!
Any help very gratefully received - am happy to pitch in with gas and good conversation!
Many thanks,
James
This is not apparent on the schedule page.
I'm not talking about a checked bag. I'm talking about sitting with your bike in the same car.
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I believe you can take a bike on the Amtrak Southwest Chief (if room is available) for a $20 up-charge between Kansas City and Albuquerque.
This is not apparent on the schedule page.
I'm not talking about a checked bag. I'm talking about sitting with your bike in the same car.
This is not apparent on the schedule page.
I'm not talking about a checked bag. I'm talking about sitting with your bike in the same car.
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Thanks Boomhauer - I've travelled with a bike on Amtrak before, with it sitting in the carriage with me like you say, but was able to book it online. Do you know if you can book your ticket to travel online and pay for the bike up-charge whilst on the train, or at the station?
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Thanks Boomhauer - I've travelled with a bike on Amtrak before, with it sitting in the carriage with me like you say, but was able to book it online. Do you know if you can book your ticket to travel online and pay for the bike up-charge whilst on the train, or at the station?
That's how I did it.
It isn't obvious at all if your particular train will have room for a bike or not until you go to buy a ticket on-line. After you select your fare the next window is for "adders" like dinner service or a bicycle.
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other options are to google craigslist kansas city and search under ride share for someone heading west that has room for you and your bike, or there is also using some white cardboard and writing the name of where you wish to go and try hitch hiking.
#9
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I did the same thing back in the midish 90s in the States, California, had a slight injury and took time off for things to mend.
Caught a few rides hitchhiking to catch up with the gang that I had been riding with at the time. One of the rides made for an interesting experience with the slightly crazy eyed fellow with his little kid in the pickup at one point pulling out a big honking silver pistol from out under his seat and waved it around while talking about shooting cougars, and also his views of "the Gays" and how they should be shot....
always remember that one, and to a Canadian, a rather stereotypical encounter that reminded me even more of some differences between our two countries.
good luck with finding a workable solution.
Caught a few rides hitchhiking to catch up with the gang that I had been riding with at the time. One of the rides made for an interesting experience with the slightly crazy eyed fellow with his little kid in the pickup at one point pulling out a big honking silver pistol from out under his seat and waved it around while talking about shooting cougars, and also his views of "the Gays" and how they should be shot....
always remember that one, and to a Canadian, a rather stereotypical encounter that reminded me even more of some differences between our two countries.
good luck with finding a workable solution.
#10
bicycle tourist
I did a quick experiment with Amtrak web site. I put in Kansas City to Albuquerque for Saturday, August 17th. On the first screen that has the fare ($120), there is also a symbol for the number of bicycle slots available, in this case the train has six slots that can be reserved @ $20 each.
If you try to go to La Junta, CO on the same train on the same day (but without baggage service), then there are no bicycle slots available...as shown in the second screen shot below.
Here is the same train but only going to La Junta
So I think you can get "there" with a bicycle on Amtrak on the Southwest Chief train, but need to pick your stops appropriately. Here is a link to the schedule for that line and you need to use stops with the little suitcases beside them - https://www.amtrak.com/content/dam/p...ule-073118.pdf
Also note that the PDF schedule above says "Trains 3 and 4: trainside checked bicycle service offered between staffed locations handling checked baggage. Customers will check in with the station agent, get a claim check/baggage tag for their bike, and hand up to a crew member inside the baggage car."
If you try to go to La Junta, CO on the same train on the same day (but without baggage service), then there are no bicycle slots available...as shown in the second screen shot below.
Here is the same train but only going to La Junta
So I think you can get "there" with a bicycle on Amtrak on the Southwest Chief train, but need to pick your stops appropriately. Here is a link to the schedule for that line and you need to use stops with the little suitcases beside them - https://www.amtrak.com/content/dam/p...ule-073118.pdf
Also note that the PDF schedule above says "Trains 3 and 4: trainside checked bicycle service offered between staffed locations handling checked baggage. Customers will check in with the station agent, get a claim check/baggage tag for their bike, and hand up to a crew member inside the baggage car."
Last edited by mev; 08-12-19 at 07:53 PM.
#11
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I posted this answer over on the Adventure cycling board for the OP, but figured someone else here might also find it useful. This is regarding renting a car which I have found is often more cost effective and faster than Amtrak if you avoid a few pitfalls. Most often high prices and refusals for oneway rentals can be avoided. I was burned quite a few times before I figured out some of the ways to avoid that.
A couple hints that I have found useful.
The smaller cars you may need to do more disassembly to get the bike and gear in, but I have managed to get a touring bike and gear in some sub compact economy models. Some of the models at the lower end of the scale in my search results were a Jetta, Focus, Elantra, Mirage, or even a fullsize Malibu. My bikes and gear on all my trips would have easily fit in any of them even my early heavily loaded trips. You might need to take both wheels off and maybe drop or remove the seat post. Worst case if you got stuck with a tiny car maybe take the stem loose to get the bars out of the way, or remove pedals, but I'd be surprised if you needed to do that with any of those cars.
For $200-240 there were a few SUVs.
A couple hints that I have found useful.
- Always book a rental online rather than walk up to a rental desk. Walk ups often yield a refusal to let a car go one way or a big one way drop off charge. NEVER just walk up to the rental desk and ask for a car especially for a one way rental! I have been burned almost every time I did that, either with a refusal ("sorry we have no cars we can let go out one way") or with a crazy high one way drop off fee.
- Generally going airport to airport seems to help avoid one way drop off charges when booked ahead online. I tend to try to go airport to airport when possible.
- Using an aggregator like expedia or whatever usually finds a decent price. It also seems help find a rate without a big drop off fee even if it isn't at an airport.
The smaller cars you may need to do more disassembly to get the bike and gear in, but I have managed to get a touring bike and gear in some sub compact economy models. Some of the models at the lower end of the scale in my search results were a Jetta, Focus, Elantra, Mirage, or even a fullsize Malibu. My bikes and gear on all my trips would have easily fit in any of them even my early heavily loaded trips. You might need to take both wheels off and maybe drop or remove the seat post. Worst case if you got stuck with a tiny car maybe take the stem loose to get the bars out of the way, or remove pedals, but I'd be surprised if you needed to do that with any of those cars.
For $200-240 there were a few SUVs.
#12
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as a Brit, one thing to take into consideration with driving is that if you are tired, the risks will be more for "going on instinct" for side of the road situations.
No clear answer here, but I do know that for some people, this could be a factor to make the train option work, just from not having to concentrate fully for a very long car drive.
Ive only driven a British car in France, which was weird, but at least I didnt have to think about which side of the road to be on.
No clear answer here, but I do know that for some people, this could be a factor to make the train option work, just from not having to concentrate fully for a very long car drive.
Ive only driven a British car in France, which was weird, but at least I didnt have to think about which side of the road to be on.
#14
Senior Member
I'd also recommend going to the local bike shops and asking there. They will probably be willing to help out a fellow cyclist, and you'll tap into a larger community in Kansas City that you might be able to otherwise. Basically everyone who works in the shop will be thinking about people they know and connections they have that might be able to help. That will spread the word locally much better than asking on a forum with people from all over the world.
#15
Member
I'm a British cyclist touring from NYC to Anacortes, WA. Picked up a slight injury so took some extra time off in Kansas City and I'd like to make that time up, so I'm looking for a ride from here to Colorado, ideally Denver or Pueblo.
I'll be travelling with a bike and panniers, so you'll need some space or a rack, but not that much as it's only two bags on the rear! It would seem the Amtrak train from here to La Junta isn't currently taking bicycles, the train to Denver involves some long waits and takes over 24 hours, and one way car rental is incredibly expensive!
Any help very gratefully received - am happy to pitch in with gas and good conversation!
Many thanks,
James
I'll be travelling with a bike and panniers, so you'll need some space or a rack, but not that much as it's only two bags on the rear! It would seem the Amtrak train from here to La Junta isn't currently taking bicycles, the train to Denver involves some long waits and takes over 24 hours, and one way car rental is incredibly expensive!
Any help very gratefully received - am happy to pitch in with gas and good conversation!
Many thanks,
James
But seriously, good luck mate. Hope you soon arrive safely in Colorado, the land of happy cabbage. 🌞🥬
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Why can’t you just box the bike in one of amtrak’s boxes they are huge, just remove pedals and turn handlebars. It can then be taken off at any station that has checked baggage. I have traveled this way twice it works well. I was able to buy a box at the Amtrak station in KC both times for 15 dollars, it then takes place of one of your checked bags.
#17
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I never took a train with a bike, but plan to some more. Do you think that is pretty standard at most amtrack stations?
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Why can’t you just box the bike in one of amtrak’s boxes they are huge, just remove pedals and turn handlebars. It can then be taken off at any station that has checked baggage. I have traveled this way twice it works well. I was able to buy a box at the Amtrak station in KC both times for 15 dollars, it then takes place of one of your checked bags.
You'd have to check the station(s) you're interested in.
https://www.amtrak.com/onboard/bagga...ial-items.html
https://www.amtrak.com/bring-your-bicycle-onboard
"Bicycles/bicycle trailers may be checked in a bicycle container for $10, in lieu of a piece of baggage. Bicycle boxes are sold at most staffed locations for $15 per box. Customers may supply their own bicycle container."
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#19
bicycle tourist
Why can’t you just box the bike in one of amtrak’s boxes they are huge, just remove pedals and turn handlebars. It can then be taken off at any station that has checked baggage. I have traveled this way twice it works well. I was able to buy a box at the Amtrak station in KC both times for 15 dollars, it then takes place of one of your checked bags.
While I used to box my bike, I now mostly use the curbside checkin. The issue the OP had with Lamar was that it didn't have baggage service - so neither boxing nor curbside would have worked. However, for KS to Albuquerque both would have worked.
I've got a short trip planned over Christmas using this method. I'll take my bike on the train to Tucson, bicycle to El Paso and then return with my bike on the El Paso train...
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Why can’t you just box the bike in one of amtrak’s boxes they are huge, just remove pedals and turn handlebars. It can then be taken off at any station that has checked baggage. I have traveled this way twice it works well. I was able to buy a box at the Amtrak station in KC both times for 15 dollars, it then takes place of one of your checked bags.
Which trains offer unboxed bike services is explained here:
https://www.amtrak.com/bring-your-bicycle-onboard
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There is also carry-on service, where you bring your own bike on yourself and put it in the designated area. I have twice taken my bike on the Vermonter that way. It has three cubbies/train. You hang the bike by the rear wheel. My LHT is large, so I have to remove the front wheel before hanging. There are no seat across from the cubbies so there is plenty of room to do that without getting in the way of passengers. The biggest pain is getting it into the coach. The vestibules are not spacious enough to allow you to maneuver the bike with panniers attached. I removed them on the platform and put them in a sleeping bag mesh storage bag that I didn't have any need for and carried them on that way. You could also use a thick trash bag.
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Since it has been more than a week, I hope by now he has decided on a method of transport and done it and is riding. Would be nice if the OP chimed in with what happened. Tailwinds, John
#23
Senior Member
Why can’t you just box the bike in one of amtrak’s boxes they are huge, just remove pedals and turn handlebars. It can then be taken off at any station that has checked baggage. I have traveled this way twice it works well. I was able to buy a box at the Amtrak station in KC both times for 15 dollars, it then takes place of one of your checked bags.
On the other hand I have often found a rental car faster and cheaper depending on the situation. I sometimes felt kind of wasteful going the rental car route, but when it was cheaper, faster, and more convenient it was hard to resist. I like the idea of using the train and do so when it works for me, but have not too often found it makes sense for me.
Where they serve the route where I need them light rail services OTOH have been great and are often a slam dunk, cheap, fast, and convenient. Just not available enough places.
BTW, OP if you are reading how did you make out?
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