Originally Posted by
Bald Paul
I don't really know if this belongs in this forum, but...
When I was young, I toured quite a bit through New England and Nova Scotia. I carried my tent, sleeping bag, clothing, cooking gear, etc all on the bike.
Well, those days are well behind me now.
Now my idea of touring is traveling from hotel to hotel, eating at local restaurants, and laying my 70 year old body on a nice, comfy mattress after a long, hot shower.
I've been thinking of planning a multi day ride, but my current bike really isn't set up for panniers, or even anything remotely large enough to load some clothes and personal items. Has anyone ever tried calling something like an Uber or Lyft to pick up a small piece of luggage, transport it to the next stop, and drop it off? Of course, this would have to be arranged with the next night's accommodations, as the luggage would arrive before I would, so they would have to keep it somewhere until I arrived to check in. To be honest, I'm not even sure Uber or Lyft would do this, but perhaps there's some other way (taxi? Do they still
have taxis??)
Suggestions welcome. Note - I have looked into the organized tour companies, but most of them are almost $700 per day, if not more. A little steep for my budget.
When I was lugging 100 pounds up the Col du Aravis back in the day, an older gentlemen of around your age would pass me and I would pass him. We got to the top and he waited for me. He bought me a drink at the chalet or some sort of building at the pass. He was just finishing a 6,000 mile or was it Km tour. He bought me the drink and later dinner because when he asked me why I was touring that region, I mentioned a certain cheese that I liked. Turns out he owned the company that makes the cheese equipment. So, I asked where was your luggage. He laughed and said, his secretary sends clean clothing to each night's hotel and the hotel mails it back to her. SO, there is that method.
I have thought myself about your challenge or desire to travel as described. Some of the tours like in Italy are even higher than $700/day, more like $1200-1500/day. Nuts. I have not completely worked it out but plan to do a similar tour as you. One concession is losing the cycling shoes, maybe one spare kit, a lightweight polo shirt and light slacks or maybe black rain pants that look like slacks. Or. Every second day if in the USA, have clothing delivery to your planned hotel using USPS priority mail (about 20 bucks each) and then ship your dirty clothes home. Another alternative is to stay in a really nice hotel every second night, the kind that will clean your clothes overnight for you. I want to tour Europe next spring. So, no USPS. I will be using a tailfin aeropack and maybe a small handlebar bag. The approx. 2 pound 20 liter aeropack will fit onto any bike and is waterproof and pretty light. Part of going light is disconnecting or minimizing electronics, batteries, and chargers. W/O a tent and sleeping bag, such a light approach requires having preplanned hotels booked. With a 17-18 pound bike and if I do not use a handlebar bag, 25-28 pounds total should be doable in temperate conditions. I would not hand my luggage over to an Uber-type operation. Your concern about attaching anything to a carbon post is ill founded. But the tailfin aeropack bears all of the load on your thru axles and very little at the seat post.