Using a Bump Box while biking

[BikeliciousBabe]

I always choose one-post-office towns. Hours for all post offices are available online.

Good point. My last experience with GD was way back in 2000.  Didn't even have a cell phone back then.

[John Nettles]

I agree with John Nelson regarding one post office towns. 

The few times I have used them, I look only like either on Google Maps or PostalLocations.com  I try to call the actual office, not the 800 number to confirm.  I aim for towns that are in the 2000-4000 polpulation range as they POs tend to be open at least 5 days and the offices tend to be in the central business district as they were the original one.

I also always target to hit between a Tuesday and Thursday as I rarely am ahead of schedule and if it arrives on a Tuesday, I have several days of buffer before the weekend closure.

Using these methods, I have had very good luck the handful or so of times I have used them.

Tailwinds, John

[staehpj1]

My last experience with GD was way back in 2000.

It has been a while for me as well.  Not quite that long but quite a while.  The last time I recall was in 2007.  I have mailed stuff home since then and there were times when I should have had things mailed to me, but didn't.

[sdotkling]

Ran across a guy a couple of summers ago on the Blue Ridge Parkway. He was riding from New Orleans to Philadelphia, I believe, doing 90-120 miles a day on a lightweight road bike, with absolutely no gear except what fit into a small seat bag. In response to our astonishment (we each had 35 pounds of the usual touring stuff) he told us of his drop-shipping scheme to hotels all along the way, cost be damned. After those 14-mile hills in North Carolina, that idea sure sounded good to me.

[Westinghouse]

It is possible but typically not needed except for possibly parts of the Great Divide.  If you do need certain supplies, like medicine, refilled, a lot of cyclists mail it to themselves via General Delivery.

Some long-term touring cyclists (touring for 6+ months) very well may ship appropriate seasonal clothing ahead instead of carrying it with them the entire time, but stuff like tubes, tires, etc. can typically be found locally unless you have some unusual situation.  This is assuming you do carry at least some extras of the essentials with you, i.e. tubes, patch kits, food, etc.
Remember, most places you can pick up a box has something around, or at least a way to get somewhere to get what you need. 

In 40+ years, I have never needed a bump box other than for my meds, which are usually not available in smaller towns and are much cheaper to mail order.  However, when I do go on a remote and/or multi-month tour, I do have a few different sizes of the shipping boxes (USPS, Fed-Ex, etc.) at home along with a stock pile of possible items (tires, Gates belt, extra meds, etc.) that the better half can expedite to me if needed.  Obviously, if I am outside the USA, then the boxes are international boxes.  Again, never had to use it.

Hope this helps.  Tailwinds, John

I have cycled about 40,000 miles through 19 countries. There was never a time when I needed  a shipment from anywhere. A need is different from a want. You can buy and carry the bits you will need. An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure. If something breaks, why wait for a shipment. Carry it and fix it. I do not remember anything ever breaking, and I always use lower-end components.

[BikeliciousBabe]

A guy on my cross country trip basically trashed two wheels with one monster pothole. Fortunately, we were close enough to a city with a good LBS. He was able to limp there the next day. (We split up his group gear.) The shop was able to replace both wheels. Guess he should have been carrying an extra wheelset?

[staehpj1]

I have been fortunate enough to have never needed to have to wait for parts to be shipped to me, but it certainly could happen.  It has happened to others that I have either ridden with or met on the road.  One guy needed some proprietary parts that were peculiar to his bike.  Another needed a fork after dropping a wheel into a monster pot hole and none that fit his bike was available.  He called all the shops within a couple hundred miles and then ordered one.  When I met him he was waiting for delivery.

Many of us may never need to rely on having parts shipped, but to think it could never happen is naive in my opinion.  Things can and do break and some things may not be available where you are without ordering and having them shipped.  Any part can fail and you can't carry them all.  So when/if it breaks somewhere that a replacement isn't available waiting for one to be shipped may be the best or only reasonable option.

Some folks may need to have medications or other necessities shipped to them for one reason or another.  I never have, but as I get older I guess that possibility gets more likely.  I have only had things shipped from home for pure convenience, but never had to wait around for them and getting a package from home has been pretty nice the few times I have done it.

When I have done the bump box thing, it was way more trouble than it was worth.