Keeping bikes secure on urban tours?
#26
bicycle tourist
When touring I have stayed in and crossed larger cities e.g. Lima, Medellin, Novosibirsk, Bangkok, Chicago, etc..
However, I find that when I am in these cities, a bicycle is not my primary mode of transport. Instead, I find a route that gets me to a reasonably central part of the city and typically find a hotel where I can bring my bicycle inside. Often these cities have their own transport so I've learned some about buses and subways. Also since I am fairly central I can walk to many areas. I've also occasionally signed up and taken a city tour - some of them have hop on/hop off type buses so I can use that to explore.
With exception of some mid-range hotels in India, I haven't had problems bringing a bicycle inside. The issue I found with India is the more expensive hotels are fine because they are used to eccentric customers - and the really inexpensive hotels are also fine because they don't have other facilities. It is the ones in-between where they have their own security and a sense that this security should watch things rather than bringing bikes in rooms.
Now for touring in general, I do bring a basic lock - but more to discourage opportunity theft than as a serious deterrent.
However, I find that when I am in these cities, a bicycle is not my primary mode of transport. Instead, I find a route that gets me to a reasonably central part of the city and typically find a hotel where I can bring my bicycle inside. Often these cities have their own transport so I've learned some about buses and subways. Also since I am fairly central I can walk to many areas. I've also occasionally signed up and taken a city tour - some of them have hop on/hop off type buses so I can use that to explore.
With exception of some mid-range hotels in India, I haven't had problems bringing a bicycle inside. The issue I found with India is the more expensive hotels are fine because they are used to eccentric customers - and the really inexpensive hotels are also fine because they don't have other facilities. It is the ones in-between where they have their own security and a sense that this security should watch things rather than bringing bikes in rooms.
Now for touring in general, I do bring a basic lock - but more to discourage opportunity theft than as a serious deterrent.
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#27
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Exploring a city on a bike share bike that's not as nice as the bike you rode in on is not the end of the world. Not even close.