shipping a bike to the start of the Trans America trail.

[rwinot25]

This forum has answered so many of my questions without having to ask. Almost everything I needed to find out was answered previously in other post. Thank you.

I am flying to Portland Oregon May 18th to start my first major tour. Trans Am to the Underground Railway, north to the Northern Tier and on to Maine.

I'm looking for suggestion as to where to ship my bike using Bike flights. I have seen the another post recommending Bikes and Beyond in Astoria. Are there any shops in Portland you would recommend. I see there is public transportation from Portland to Astoria that accepts bikes. is that a viable option?

I am a confident bike mechanic and I have the ability to assemble my own bike. Has anyone ever shipped there bike to a hotel in Astoria? If so what hotel do you recommend.

My thought was to rent a car in Portland, drive to Astoria, spend a day or two getting ready (obtaining provisions, building the bike etc.) before starting out. Or doing the same thing in Portland and using public transportation to Astoria.

Any thoughts and recommendations are appreciated.


 

[John Nettles]

I rarely ship my bike to a bike shop and have them assemble it as I am, like you, a confident in assembling my own bike.  I usually bring it with me or ship it to a hotel so I can assemble it.  While I personally have not used the Portland to Astoria bus that accepts bikes (I know what you are writing about), I think that would be a perfectly fine option is the timing works for you.  You just may need to take a non-rush hour time as you will have lots of bags and it will take a few extra minutes to load the bike and gear.  Maybe someone from PDX will chime in or you could call the bus company and ask (and report the answers here  ).

Another option is to ride your bike from Portland to Astoria.  Portland offers much more sources for provisions than Astoria but Astoria should have most anything you need.  There are some back roads and rail trails so most of the route would be nice once you got out of the urban area.

Have a great trip!  John

[danny dea]

There are several REI locations in Portland and the surrounding smaller cities.  There should be one in most any area of  Portland you will be in.  I checked with the Clackamas REI and they will accept a bike from  Bike Flite.  What they charge is the cost of a tune-up ( $40 when I checked a year ago) and that includes assembly.  The ride from Portland to Astoria via Hwy 30 is a nice ride along the Columbia River.  Enjoy.   

[BikePacker]

My view, Rwin, would be to try to use REI if any way possible.
For me, they have proven so effective that their locations have been frequently influential in my route selection/planning.... particularly when I can ship REI to REI out to start and back to home.

[BikeliciousBabe]

+2 on REI. I have used the Missoula one three times. Also been charged only $40. Where I am from, it would cost between $75 and $100.

Just one word of warning: Give them a good lead time. The bike department can get busy after sales. Since you are starting May 18th, I would call today and ask when you need to have the bike there so it will be ready when you arrive.

Another option is The Bike Gallery. They do the service for the 2,000+ people Cycle Oregon. There are a couple of locations in Portland, including one downtown.

[rootchopper]

Bike Flights has recommendations on its app. I used West End Bikes to break down and pack my bike on my return from a cross country ride last year. They were very easy to deal with. They get tons of work with packing bikes because of the Seattle to Portland ride and being near Astoria and an airport. I'm sure they could accept your bike and put it together.

As for getting to Astoria, why not ride? You could do one route west and a different one back to Portland.

There is a free bike house to stay at in Clatskanie. It's about 30 - 35 miles east of Astoria.

One other thing, Astoria is not quite on the coast. You'll have to ride about 10 miles to Sunset Beach or Fort Stevens to do a wheel dip in the Pacific.

[JHamelman]

FYI: The Bike Inn in Clatskanie has closed and camping is no longer allowed in the City Park. However there is camping at Hudson-Parcher County Park a few miles west of Rainier.

Jennifer

[John Nelson]

Astoria is not quite on the coast. You'll have to ride about 10 miles to Sunset Beach or Fort Stevens to do a wheel dip in the Pacific.

True, but if you're going to start in Astoria and follow the TransAm, you will have many chances to touch the ocean as you travel south from Astoria without going out of your way.

[rwinot25]

Thank you all. I have shipped my bike by Bikeflights to a hotel in Astoria. They were happy to accept it, and were not surprised when i asked. I fly into Portland on Saturday, hoping to start riding on Monday. Now if the sun would only come out.

[adventurepdx]

FYI: The Bike Inn in Clatskanie has closed and camping is no longer allowed in the City Park. However there is camping at Hudson-Parcher County Park a few miles west of Rainier.

Dang, that's a shame. I had hoped to check out the Bike Inn at some point, I heard a lot of good things about it.

There's been a couple other casualties, too. The bike hostel in Baker City, Oregon only lasted a season, then (from what I heard) the owners decided to go the standard AirBnB route. Appears that the place in Mt Vernon, Ore. is also gone.

Still looks like the Spoke'n Hostel in Mitchell, Ore. and the bike hostel in Dayville, Ore. are going strong. Then again, they are non-profits in churches. It's probably a tough business model to only appeal to cyclists, even if you are on the Trans-Am.

[BikeliciousBabe]

It's probably a tough business model to only appeal to cyclists, even if you are on the Trans-Am.

I have stayed at the Bike Camp in Twin Bridges, MT (on the TransAm) three times for a total of five nights. It has power, a plumbed toilet and a shower along with used furniture inside. A good number of other cyclist spent nights there while I was there. I always left monetary donations commensurate with my stay.  One year we grilled and left behind the charcoal and lighter fluid for future users.  The last time I was there I bought a four-pack of TP for the bathroom. I would wonder how many other visitors left donations to keep the place going.

[staehpj1]

Most bike shops and most motels are typically willing to accept your bike, but I like to fly with mine when possible if I can fly with Southwest (always my first choice).  It is kind of fun to assemble in the airport and ride right out of the airport.  Sometime I have used some form of ground transportation after leaving the airport (shuttles, buses, rental car) and sometimes I just commenced riding my tour immediately.

I much prefer to do the assembly myself rather than have a shop that I am not familiar with do it, but that is just me.

Oh, I have also used a warmshowers.org host as a shipping end point (and been one myself).

If you are getting a room or staying with a host anyway, I'd ask them first.