Originally Posted by
jonwvara
I thought I'd go into a little more detail about my reasons for wanting to carry my packed-up rinko bike onto the train rather than just putting it into the baggage car in a fully assembled state, which several have suggested would be the easiest course of action.
It's like this: to start the trip, I have to get a ride to the train station in Montpelier, about 20 miles from here. If I put the assembled bike on the rear-mounted bike rack on my car for that, it's going to get sprayed with sand and salt and slush. I could then hand the dirty bike to the baggage guy and hope he accepts it. Alternatively, I could pack the bike for carrying, bring it to the station inside my car, then reassemble it on the freezing cold train station platform (there's no indoor waiting area in Montpelier) and then hand it over to the baggage guy in its assembled state.
Once I get to New York, where I will be staying overnight, I would have to haul the fully assembled bike out of the baggage car, then break it down again so I can fit it in a taxi for the trip to my son's place in Brooklyn.
In the morning, I could take the still-packed-up bike back to Penn Station, reassemble it, and hand it to the baggage guy for the ride to Savannah. When I arrive there, at about 9:30 PM, I'd have the choice of riding it in the dark to a yet-to-be-determined overnight lodging somewhere near the train station, or going through the packing process again so I can fit it in a taxi. After a night in Savannah, I could reassemble it and start riding west on the actual tour.
All that is obviously a lot of effort. On the other hand, if I leave the house with the disassembled bike already packed in its bag, the whole process is a snap--I just carry the bag from car to taxi to train and only reassemble it when I'm ready to start riding. I just don't want to put myself to so much effort and inconvenience when the packed bike seems so clearly (to me, at least) to comply with the spirit, and even the letter, of Amtrak's vague and poorly-worded folding bike policy. What a sorehead, right?
Understood. I have often commented that half of the reason I like the S&S couplers on a bike is so that I can put the bike in the trunk of a taxi along with other luggage. Two of the taxi companies in my community use Prius cars, my S&S case fits just fine in a Prius trunk. If I was taking a bike in a bike box, instead of being able to use a taxi I would have to get a friend with a mini van to take me to airport, which might be inconvenient if I have to get to airport at 4am or leave airport at 12:30 am (those were the times of my last trip to and from airport).
My luggage from my last overseas trip in the photo, the black case is my S&S Backpack case with most of my bike in it (checked as regular luggage), the olive green bag was a bunch of other stuff (also checked), the yellow Ortlieb duffle was my carryon bag, my handlebar bag was my "personal item", and my helmet was worn onto the plane so that there was less chance of damaging it.
My S&S Backpack case also exceeds the Amtrak carry on size for regular carry on bags (it is 26 x 26 x 10 inches). So, that would not be allowed under Amtrak policy as a carry on for anything other than a folding bike. Thus, my S&S case if used for any other purpose would have to be checked, meaning only travel to and from Amtrak stations that handle luggage, because some Amtrak stations are not luggage stops.
And for the heck of it, I had to show off the bike that was in that black S&S case, photo below.
