Getting out of town for even the briefest respite seems to be part of the human condition just as much being a wage slave. Summer breaks came about in the mid 19th century mostly due to standardization between rural and urban calendar schedules, tax structures and my favorite being the belief that too much learning in hot weather was bad for one’s health. I guess that last one was ignored by every school I ever attended which at latest begun the first week of September when it was always still blast furnace hot. I cannot say for certain if I became any dumber due to this, but I did learn that barely five years into mountain biking I wanted to be able to travel with my bike. Going places with my bike has been a thing for me for more than thirty years as I took my first trip/vacation specifically with cycling in mind in 1994. Traveling with one’s bike seems to be a hot topic (see what I did there? Sorry.) of late and there are tons of videos on this sort of thing. As I am wont to do, I will share some tips and anecdotes on the matter, but first cue this up.
Calibro 35: Summertime Killer (Extended Version) I have previously mentioned my longstanding fondness for the offerings from SomaFM. Lately, I’ve been captivated by Secret Agent a station consisting of music to soundtrack old spy movies. This is a fun palate-cleanser when you need a break from heaviness and noise. I’ve come across all sorts of old and new stuff there including today’s selection. Calibro 35 is an Italian combo focusing on funky 70s cop and spy movie music. This song caught my attention with its bugged out Farfisa grind and fuzz riffing, but their entire oeuvre is worth digging into.
On that first bike trip, I went with a cardboard bike box donated by a shop and haphazardly packed my candy-apple red Klein Rascal within. Upon retrieving the bike in Denver, I had to take it a local bike shop to put it back together and get it running. The extra money required for this was not really something I wanted to spend being a recent graduate with little money to burn, but I sucked it up and made it happen. The trip was great, the trails humbled me, and I learned a great deal about someplace I’d never been and how to manage getting my bike to and from such places in a more efficient manner for my future adventures.
It would be a few more years before I would begin traveling with my bike again, but now I knew I did not want to depend on a cardboard box any longer. Investing in a travel case now made sense. The Trico Ironcase was introduced in the early 1990’s and it became the choice for traveling cyclists for years. I put thousands of miles on mine including going all over North America and Europe. The best thing about the Ironcase was how protective it was. You could pack it like a clod, and your bike would still be fine when it arrived. This protection came at a cost as it was and still is big and heavy. This was never an issue until more recently when airlines became particular about baggage weights. Currently the maximum weight of checked baggage cannot exceed fifty-two pounds (Delta*) less you get hit with high additional fees. The Ironcase alone weighs thirty-five pounds. Just bringing a road bike you are mostly still going be okay, but modern mountain bikes weigh more, and you’ll hit that limit quickly. This isn’t the end of the world, and I still think if you want the most durable protective case then the Trico is the one to get, but there are other options.
*I fly Delta predominately as they are kind of a big deal here in Georgia and generally do a good job.
I had grown tired of paying excess baggage weight fees and the Trico now was just too cumbersome. As a long time Dakine fan I came across the Dakine bike roller bag. It weighs only seventeen pounds and finding one on sale for about half of the current retail price made it a no brainer. It has simple to follow instructions on packing (printed on an inside fold) and any concerns I may have had with its protective capabilities have been dispelled now after multiple trips. It has handled everything from cyclocross bikes to heavy duty enduro sleds with equal aplomb. I had my routine fairly dialed when it came to travel by the time I put the Dakine into use, but it has become even more dialed in the ensuing years. Doing the following I can have my bike either packed up with everything ready to go or built up ready to ride in less than twenty minutes.
- Know your gear. Figure out specifically what you need at bare minimum to assemble your bike. There are “need to have” and “nice to have” tools. For example, I run the OneUp EDC tool threaded in my steerer. I technically could completely assemble my bike with this alone. However, certain efforts are not as easy (or slower to do) with just a mini tool. 3-way wrenches are much faster and easier to use. As such, I bring along an inexpensive 4/5/6 Y-hex tool and Park 3-way Torx wrench. Having the threaded EDC in my steerer is great, but it does mean I need to have a way to remove the lockring top cap. Again, the EDC mini tool has spline keys, but it is not all that practical. Additionally, pedals are difficult to install with a mini tool. My pedals use an 8mm hex and trying to get the torque needed for that is futile. I killed both birds** by grabbing an 8mm wrench from an inexpensive Allen wrench kit and then drilling a hole in a socket lockring tool. The Allen wrench then becomes a handle for the lockring and still is ready for pedal service. See masthead pic.
**It’s a cliched saying; be nice to critters, dammit.
- Keep a list. Know exactly what you are going to bring and write it down. I keep this in my phone, and it rarely changes for any 3-4x day trips. Now if you are going on an extended excursion, you’ll need to make additions/modifications, but the basics stay the same.
- Be fluid. If you need to move stuff to shift weight between bags know where you can do so. For example, I remove my brake rotors, pedals and the EDC tool as well as anything that might be in a frame storage compartment (if you have one). This stuff goes in my standard roller case along with my clothes, shoes, etc. I will put my helmet in a soft bag and place it neatly within the bike roller bag along with empty bottles and maybe hydration pack. If I am over the limit with these, I can move them either to my other bag or my carry on.
Maybe this shit is obvious, but I have not come across these details very often with others traveling with bikes. However, maybe it was just an excuse to show off my cool homemade tool.
