Handling boxed bicycle shipments yourself on your
own is significantly more difficult and risky
than letting our mechanic or your local bike shop handle
them for you and we strongly discourage you
from doing so.
This is particularly true before the start
of the event because any problems that arise can also
jeopardize your bike being fully assembled and ready
for you to ride on the first day of the event.
We can not support shipping through anyone else other
other than our mechanic, such as any bike shop in any
stopping town. If you choose to ship your bike through
any other location you will need to take care of everything
on your own, including picking it up and dropping it
off.
- Click
Here for more information about
shipping your bike through our mechanic.
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Scheduling
and Timing
You will need to make sure that your travel schedule properly accounts for everything
you will need to do and everywhere you will need to go in order to everything
done during the possible time frames. If you are not able to get everything done
in time you may be stuck.
You will need to properly account for such considerations
as:
- Travel times and methods between locations in town
- The business hours of a bike shop
- Discarding and/or acquiring a cardboard bicycle box
- Dropping off and/or picking up your reusable shipping
container
- The time it takes to get your bike unboxed and reassembled
before the start of the event and/or disassembled and boxed
after the end of the event
- The business hours of the shipping hub location (UPS,
FedEx, etc.)
- Click
Here for additional travel schedule and
timing considerations.
Shipping Locations
If you use a bike shop as your shipping
location you should assume that your boxed bike will be
assembled unless otherwise indicated. You should mark
'DO
NOT
ASSEMBLE'
on the shipping container and
also on a piece of masking tape
on your bicycle frame, both wheels, and every other individually packed
item so he they do not accidentally reassemble it
for you.
If you do not use a bike shop as
the shipping location, you will
need to arrange to have your boxed bicycle shipped into
or out of another location and there may be a fee to
do so. There are several facilities in each stopping town
that you could use as a shipping location
other than a bike shop. We will not support
any shipping location other than our mechanic
and none of our main lodging
locations can be used as a shipping location, even if
you will be staying there.
The
supported hotel
would make the most
sense if you are staying there because you would
only have to transport your boxed bicycle between the
front desk or
office and your room, although they might not let you
do it if you are not actually staying
there. Another possibility is using a United
Parcel Service (UPS)
or Federal
Express (FedEx)
retail shipping hub, particularly
a UPS
Store or FedEx
Office (Kinko's) location, many of
which are open 24 hours.
We recommend establishing and contacting a potential location
well ahead of time to confirm that they expect and can in
fact handle your shipment plans, particularly if they are
not used to dealing with boxed bicycles, rather than having
yours show up unexpectedly. Note that it is much easier
for locations to accept an incoming boxed bicycle than it
is to ship one out. Transporting Your Boxed Bicycle
In Town
It can be extremely cumbersome to lug your
boxed bicycle and all your baggage with you all at the same
time
yourself, especially if you are using local public transportation
or
if you are also carrying a lot of large baggage. You can
very easily leave something behind or get lost,
particularly if you are unfamiliar with the stopping town or
if you are travelling to an unsupported location not included
on
our
in town cue sheets or maps.
- Click
Here for more information about in town
transportation.
You will
need to transport your boxed bicycle and all your baggage
with you all at the same time yourself between the various
locations
in town as necessary, such as:
- The ride starting and/or ending locations
- The transportation staging point
- The supported hotel
- The main lodging site
- A bike shop
- Local and long distance transportation stations and stops
- A shipping hub (UPS, FedEx, etc.)
Bicycle
Shipping Containers
If you ship your bike in a cardboard bicycle box, we will
not transport the box during our events. Accordingly, you
may need to prearrange where to discard it before the start
of the event and some locations may not allow
you
to
do so
because
they
are so big and bulky or there may be a fee. After the
end of the event, you will need to acquire another cardboard
bicycle box, most likely from a bike shop, and there may be
a fee to do so. If you want to
reuse
your
cardboard
bicycle box after the end of the event,
you must prearrange a location at which to leave it during
the
event,
such as at
a bike shop, the supported hotel, a shipping
hub (UPS or FedEx), or with friends and family, and there may
be
a fee to do so. You will also need to transport the cardboard
bicycle box yourself both to the location
where you will disassemble and box your bicycle and also to
your
shipping
location.
If you shipped your bike in a reusable shipping container
we strongly prefer that you prearrange to leave it somewhere
during the event, and there may be a fee to do so. If you
are absolutely unable to store it anywhere during the event
or must take it with you, we will allow you to transport
it on our baggage truck but it will be your one and only
allowable piece of baggage and you must keep all your personal
items inside it. In addition, it will be handled as part
of our normal baggage delivery service and will only be dropped
off or picked up directly at the event ending location, main
lodging site, or supported hotel as appropriate. We will
not pick up or drop off your bicycle and reusable shipping
container at any other location, such as a bike
shop, and it will be your own responsibility to transport
it there yourself.
If you want to save and reuse any shipping supplies you
used, you can either prearrange to leave them somewhere
or transport them with you
during the event as part of your allowed baggage. Otherwise,
you must discard them before the start
of the event and acquire more after the end of the event.
- Click
Here for more information about bicycle
shipping containers.
Boxing
and Unboxing Your Bicycle
Particularly for boxing, we strongly recommend
letting a bike shop or our mechanic pack it professionally.
If they pack it there will be
much less
risk of damage or additional assembly charges related to improper disassembly.
In addition, if you disassemble and box your bike yourself and it is damaged
in
transit
and
you
have to submit
an
insurance
claim,
it
is more likely to be denied due to improper
packaging.
If you decide to disassemble and
box and/or unbox
and reassemble your bicycle yourself,
you must have
all the knowledge, parts, tools, and accessories you need
at all
times to properly
do it. We will not be able to provide any mechanical assistance
to you and if a problem comes up, we cannot guarantee that
we or any bike shop will
have the specific part, tool, accessory, or mechanical ability
you will need to fix it, particularly if anything gets lost
or
broken
in transit or during
the event itself.
- Click
Here for our information about our mechanical
support services.
In addition, you must determine where you can unbox
and reassemble and/or disassemble and box your bicycle. We
recommend establishing and contacting a potential location
well ahead of time to confirm that they expect you and that
you can in fact use that location, particularly if they are
not used to
having
someone do it there, rather than
having them unexpectedly not allow it or kick you out. Hotels
may not allow you to do so in your room due to the possibility
of soiling
the room with dirt or
grease. If you want to do it in a public location (such as
a park, parking lot, airport, bus or train station or stop,
or shipping hub) be aware that passers by may gawk and interrupt
you and you may
have to
worry about your personal items getting lost or stolen.
Disassembling and Boxing Your Bicycle
It is extremely important to make sure your bicycle is
properly packaged and protected so that nothing is damaged
in transit.
As
you pack your bike you should carefully protect it by placing
padding all over it, particulary the frame, wheels, forks,
derailleurs since these are the parts
most commonly damaged during
shipping. Styrofoam pipe insulation
and zip ties are inexpensive,
easily available, and work great. You can also use some
larger extra soft personal items as padding such as sleeping
bags, soft
clothing, and shoes which also frees up room in your other
baggage! You can also ask your local bike shop for the
special packing items that come with every newly manufactured
bike
that usually get thrown away when a bike is uncrated, such
as
plastic fork blocks, plastic spacers, and cardboard padding.
If you use a cardboard box as your shipping container,
you should put extra paddng and reinforcement to the areas
where
parts of your bike might poke through, particularly at
the end of the forks, the brake levers, and the sides of
the
hubs. these areas with extra cardboard. Just be careful
about overloading your shipping container or exceeding your
shipping
carrier's size or weight
limitations.
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