kmgould

To Dana Connors (President, Maine Chamber of Commerce; NNEPRA board member):


Mr. Connors-


For the third time in the last four years, I've cancelled my one-week summer bike trip to the beautiful state of Maine. My plan was to bicycle the NH and ME coasts, staying in hotels and B&B's in Ogunquit, Portland, Brunswick, Camden and Bar Harbor, returning on Amtrak's Downeaster line (Brunswick, ME to Boston, MA).


In each case, I've cancelled my trip for the same reason: Amtrak's Downeaster needs to send the bike transport car in for maintenance -- I can't get back home with my bike. It's very difficult to make alternate bike transport plans (like a one-way van rental) when Amtrak provides me less than two-week's notice on a reservation made last winter.


That's a lot of lost hotel and restaurant sales for Maine! NNEPRA needs to get its customer-service act together with respect to bicycle tourism. It's failing on that front right now and Maine's tourism industry is losing out on a key revenue source. I've done bicycle-rail touring in Europe and in the western U.S. states. Amtrak's Downeaster is easily the least reliable rail service for bicycle transportation I've experienced. My views are shared by many fellow bicycle tourists.


As president of the Maine Chamber of Commerce and a NNEPRA board member, I hope you can guide your organizations toward a solution to this problem.


Thank you,
Ken Gould

cb400bill

Sorry to hear of your trip being cancelled.

We are moving your thread from our General Cycling forum to our Touring forum.

BobG

No need to cancel your trip. Concord Coach bus lines has two trips per day between Brunswick and Boston's South Station. AC, Wi-Fi, every bit as nice as the train! You may have to find a box although they have been known to accept bikes without if the bus is not crowded...

10:25 AM > 1:25 PM
2:25 PM > 5:25 PM

https://goo.gl/4ZL1cS

"Can I bring a bicycle on the bus?

Bicycles may be carried underneath the bus when there is sufficient room after all baggage has been loaded. Bicycles must be carried in a separate compartment or placed in such a way as to not damage the bicycle or any baggage. Bicycles in a box are preferred and will be carried with no question. Please be advised that other carriers will only take a bicycle if it is in a box. We ask that the passenger load and unload his/her bicycle as Concord Coach lines assumes no responsibilities for a bicycle that is not boxed."

mulveyr 

I've used Amtrak for bike trips within NY many times, but they totally messed up my most recent one; they just started roll-up service on the Lakeshore Limited last year, which sounded like an awesome way to get our bikes to NYC without dealing with boxes.

When my son and I arrived there, we went to the baggage car to get them... and the bikes were missing. Their theory was that when the Lakeshore was split into two trains in Albany, the baggage employees "overlooked" them when moving the other checked baggage to the correct baggage car. ( How does one overlook bikes that are LITERALLY the first thing you see when you open the baggage car door? )

They then couldn't locate the bikes for two more days. So we were stuck in NYC, adding up additional unexpected costs in one of the most expensive cities in the world, before they finally got them to us. And all during that time we had no idea if they were stolen, or when they'd show up again because there's no way of tracking them.

I'm still waiting for a response from Amtrak as to how exactly this happened.

BobG

There are two bike shops within walking distance of the Brunswick Amtrak/bus station. Why not drop off the bike at one and have them box and UPS it to your home, walk to station and travel unemcumbered? That would eliminate the uncertainty of room on the bus and you could then travel either bus or train.

alan s 

Mr. Gould,

Why would you need a van to transport your bike? Just rent a small car and remove the wheels. Sorry, but you are just not trying hard enough.

Sincerely,
Dana Conners

markjenn

Amtrak should provide more reliable bike transport service, but as others have said, there are other options to get your bike home. Bikeflights will ship your bike for $50 and I suspect you could roll into any of several different bike shops in Brunswick and they'd box it up for you for $30 or so. The one-way car rental is likely $150 or so, but you would save the train fare. Virtually any size car can take one person and a bicycle if you remove the wheels.

- Mark

Timequake

UPS and FedEX will both ship bikes for ~ $60. Or just reroute your trip and ride home. Seems like you just want to complain about Amtrak. Yes, it's frustrating having your plans not work exactly as you'd like, but there are plenty of other options.

BobG

Or have the bike boxed at Gorham Bike and Ski and carry it or bum a ride 322 feet to the Concord Coach station. Then the bike will go for free with you on the bus and "will be carried with no question" Again, the Concord Coach will carry the bike without a box if there is an empty bay with no other luggage but you won't know that until you arrive. You may need to arrange a pick up at South Station unless you are prepared to reassemble the bike and ride away.

saddlesores

according to mr. googles, the distance from brunswick to boston is only 132 miles.

have you considered maybe renting a bicycle and riding that short stretch?

reppans

One of the reasons I like to tour on a folding bike - it's just carry-on luggage.

indyfabz

I sense an alternative motive here.

BigAura

+1. I used the Concord Coach in 2012, Bangor to Boston, and the service was very good. I did box my bike as recommended by the ticketing people. If I remember correctly they said I didn't need a box for Concord, but I was taking a bus out of Boston to NYC for which I did need a box. I bought a used bike box at the terminal in Bangor for $10.

J.Higgins 

Perceptive. The Force is strong with you.

Doug64

My wife and I put 2 bikes and all our gear into a rental Toyota Camry. We had a family emergency that required us to get home ASAP. We did not have a choice of cars; the Toyota was all we could get where we were on short notice.

In Europe we also used a very small Opal to haul 2 bikes and gear when a bus or train was not available.

jonc123

Dana, the rental car people won't be happy if you remove the wheels from the small car!

FBinNY 

I can understand cancelling one trip, but not 3. It seems that the OP suffers from tunnel vision, and has limited coping skills.

I wonder what he would have done if he were already mid tour when informed of the issue. If he would have found a way, then he certainly could with greater notice.

Maybe, he just doesn't want to enough.

TO THE OP.
Sorry if my post seems harsh, but I truly don't understand why you let this issue derail (no pun) you, not just once, but three times.

alan s 

Mr. Gould,

Quit trying to find excuses. Think the problem through and I'm sure you will find a reasonable solution. My crack staff of volunteers has already suggested numerous alternatives. If you really don't want to remove the wheels from the car, try removing them from the bike, for example.

Very truly yours,
Dana Conners

Philly Tandem

While I agree there are alternate possibilities that easily come to mind, I don't get why everyone ganging up on the OP for advocating for public-transport that benefits all of us? I thought his letter was well written and made a good tourism argument to keeping the bike service on the Downeaster active. I, too, have looked into using this in the past to start a trip and thought it was cool that they offered bike service (they only have it on certain trains there, though, not each one).

Doug64

If push came to shove, the OP could probably rent a small U-Haul van for a little more than the train ticket.

We have rented a van near the airport when we decided not to ride the 2 days from the airport to our home after returning from a long tour. We were able to find a nice sized vehicle with less than 1 day's notice. A week should be plenty of time to set up alternate transportation. A one day rental in Portland, OR was less than $90.

I tend to agree with the folks who think that he did not really want to make this ride very badly.

indyfabz

Who knows whether this was scheduled maintenance or necessitated by unforeseen damages. Who knows how Amtrak schedules routine maintenance of its rolling stock? Maybe the OP just got unlucky with his timing three times.


But I have to agree that the OP didn't seem to want to explore alternatives. Two weeks' (Yes. The apostrophe comes after the "s.") notice seems like sufficient time to explore other arrangements.

Doug64

I don't believe anyone is "ganging up" on the OP for advocating bikes on public transportation. I believe that the cancelling of a tour 3 times without looking at options just seems more like whining than making useful suggestions to Amtrak or the Maine Chamber of Commerce. Amtrak may have caused an inconvenience, but they were not the reason the OP had to cancel his tour.

My wife and I have used trains dozens of times at the start or end of a tour with mostly good results, but also some adventures. We ride the 40 miles from our house to the Amtrak station on almost every tour. We just reverse the route coming home.

njkayaker

It's a bad argument.

Cancelling once doesn't make much sense.

Cancelling three times is ridiculous (It's not very believable).

It might make sense to advocate "bikes on public transportation" but using a BS argument isn't likely to get any traction.

FBinNY 

I don't believe anyone is down on the OP for trying to get the Downeaster on track. I can't speak for anyone else, but I'm not down on him at all, since it's his vacations that he cancelled, not mine.

OTOH - maybe a kick in the behind can open his eyes to possibilities and motivate him to overcome the challenges and get to Maine after all (if he wants to).

saddlesores

maybe because OP is not interested in a discussion?
just helicopters in to cut&paste his complaint, then
flitters off to the next forum...

https://www.bentrideronline.com/mess...d.php?t=135818

"Mr. Connors-
For the third time in the last four years, I've cancelled............"