Transporting a bike bag!?

CyclingBantam

I am riding to Italy this summer and the last big logistical problem I have left is transporting my bike home!

I have booked an overnight train from Nice to Paris and then the Eurostar to London. The bike will be a Hewitt Cheviot SE with Panniers front and back. My plan is to dismantle it in Nice and put it in a bike bag. The problem is I don't want to have to cycle the whole way carrying a bike bag.

How do other people manage on tours that are not a round trip? Is posting a bike bag out ahead to Nice post office workable?

Any advice much appreciated.

priory

how about carrying a survival bag, double size is even easier to pack , and a roll of parcel tape to hold everything together by generous encirclement. if you must have a handle the tape will do for that as well.
you could buy it or large sheet of something when you approach nice but it might take a while to find something cheap and effective, and the survival bag doesn't weigh much.

do they not mind you carrying two or three very large parcels on the train ?

CyclingBantam

From what I have read you are allowed to take a bike on all trains if it is in a bike bag. In effect it is just a large peice of luggage. That is an idea making my own however it still means carrying my stuff all the way or taking the risk in Nice.

crankycrank

You could try to find a storage business in Nice and ask if they'll accept your bag through the mail. Another option is to just get a box from a bike shop in Nice and purchase some bubble wrap or some such for protection. Bring your own axle spacers and ties since they don't take up much space and one less thing to have to purchase.

Radioactiveman

Might be a daft suggestion but why not arrange to have the bike shipped back? Would cost quite a bit though I guess.

Probably best getting a bike bag out there, I am sure you could contact a bike shop by phone/internet in advance

richa

Buy a bike bag at the other end? Sell on ebay when you get back.

GyatsoLa

You could get the CTC bike bag, just a few quid. You could carry it with you (it is less than a kg), or send it on poste restante

http://www.ctc.org.uk/resources/Travel_ ... ikeBag.pdf

Groundeffect also do good bike bags that are small enough they can be carried with you.

pneumatic

We've posted bike bags on to our destination in the past. It certainly worked in Spain without a hitch. We just sent them to the main post office at our destination.

French bureaucacy is legendary, however.

Rule 1, never accept no for an answer. In France "non" is just a negotiating position.
Rule 2, make the uniformed person believe they are doing you a favour (even if they are only doing their job).
Rule 3, never grovel and don't say thank you more than you need to (the French think that we are pathetically and cringingly polite).

andymiller

Alternative 1 - buy a Ground effect Tardis bag - these fold up small and you can easily pop them into a polythene mailer and send it to the hotel at your final destination. Of send poste restante to Nice (but I thought you were going to Italy?)

I've never had any problem with anyone in a french post office. The only thing to remember is to put your surname first if you send poste restante and present your passport: no ID - no deal. 'Non' means 'non' - just as it would in the UK.

Alternative 2 - there's bound to be a branch of Decathlon within striking distance of your final destination - buy one from there.

CyclingBantam

Thanks for all the advice.

Andy, I am going to Italy but only as far as San Remo so not far in to it really!!!!

I will then be cycling back to Nice.

I think I may go down the Decathalon route.

pneumatic

andymiller wrote:

'Non' means 'non' - just as it would in the UK.

.

Having lived in France for a while, I have to disagree. To give an example, on our honeymoon, Mrs Pneumatic and I strayed into a branch of Avis to get a hire car. All they had left was a brand new clio that the proprietor wanted to test drive himself. I quote:

"Le Clio? Impossible! Non, non, non, et . . . . . NON! Pas le Clio!"

30 minutes later we drove away in the Clio.

One of countless examples over the years. Don't get me wrong: I love the French but the culture is distinctly different.

andymiller

I was referring to getting a package from a French post office without ID.

bigjim

we got all our packaging, bubble wrap, cardboard and some foam from a skip in Palma. Roll of 1 euro tape from the shop and job done.