Ben -

I had a good experience using Amtrak to send my tandem from Albuquerque
NM to San Diego. Specifically...
1. The station supplied a bike box ($5) designed for singles that still
have the wheels mounted, so my medium tandem, with the wheels displaced,
fit well.
2. I got to the station a couple hours early, wrapped all the tubing in
bubble wrap and stuffed crumpled newspaper to fill out the box. I also
reinforced the side walls near the axles and the derailleur with extra
cardboard. I strapped fiber tape around the box in suitable places.
3. With my passenger ticket, the additional cost for shipping the bike
was less than $20. Without a ticket, I think the shipping charge is
less than $50 for a bike. That charge must depend on the route.
4. My tandem arrived in San Diego the next day on time. I have the
impression Amtrak knows well how to handle bikes that are shipped in
THEIR boxes.

I intend to fly to Oakland and ship the bike by Amtrak; those stations
are near one another. For your Miami trip, that approach seems like a
candidate.

I wish you luck.

- Tim Knowles

-----Original Message-----
From: Ben Willetts [mailto:ben@...]
Sent: Thursday, November 25, 2004 8:36 AM
To: sandiegotandem@yahoogroups.com
Cc: Jenny Melnick
Subject: [SanDiegoTandem]



Hi fellow tandemers,

We've been out of the scene for, oh, a year or so because of injuries,
etc. But we're officially back on the bike and looking forward to
participating in more stuff with you all. (Like that Borrego ride looks
to be quite nice, and we've enjoyed the Palm Springs ride a lot in the
past.)

Our first biggie is going to be riding from Miami to Key West and back
during the week between Christmas & New Year's Day with a group of
friends from that neck of the woods. Our only real challenge is getting
our tandem there, or getting one to use while there.

Any suggestions?

The shop our Miami friend favors wasn't any help regarding tandems.
We'd consider buying a hard case to ship our Cannondale in since we
plan at least one more trip to the East coast this summer, but I've
heard there may be UPS size limit issues. (Plus we could buy another
bike for the price of some cases :-) Not sure how to proceed, so any or
pointers to good sources will be greatly appreciated!

--Ben & Jenny





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