Author Topic: Return to beginning of ride info  (Read 5162 times)

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Offline Stephen Hoover

Return to beginning of ride info
« on: January 12, 2023, 09:26:39 pm »
Is there a preferred way of returning to the beginning of a ride after riding to Bar Habor, Maine?

Offline John Nettles

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Re: Return to beginning of ride info
« Reply #1 on: January 12, 2023, 09:49:41 pm »
First, welcome to the  ACA Forums!!

Your question is a bit difficult to answer since you don't say where the start of the tour is or if you mean home. 

Assuming you rode the Northern Tier, I would probably ride to Portland, ME (about a 3 day ride) and then take an Amtrak assuming you could do a roll-on or curb check (NOT boxed) bike add-on to Seattle.  Good part is that it allows you to partly retrace your route and "decompress" on the long 81+ hour ride back to Seattle. 

Option two would be to ride to Portland and drop the bike off at a bike shop and have them ship it home while you fly back to Seattle.  A lot quicker but more expensive and better chance of the bike getting damaged. 

Option three would be to ride to Portland (see a theme here) and rent a car one-way.  This allows you the most flexibility and safety of the bike but the cost is by far the highest and it about 3200 miles one-way assuming no major detours. 

Option four would be to ride to Portland and take the dreaded Greyhound back to Seattle.  This is by far the worst option to me.  It takes 7 transfers and 78 hours and is more expensive than the train which to me would be much nicer.

Of course, you could ride your bike back but then I doubt you would be asking this question if that was a viable answer.

Basically, the 4 options could apply to any ending point so long as the option is available, i.e. Amtrak or a car rental agency that allows one-way rentals is nearby. It basically boils down to your preference and budget.

Hope you have a wonderful trip!  Tailwinds, John

Offline eorogers

Re: Return to beginning of ride info
« Reply #2 on: January 13, 2023, 09:37:08 am »
John

Last I heard Greyhound was not accepting bicycles anymore.  Do you know something I don't?

Eric

Offline aggie

Re: Return to beginning of ride info
« Reply #3 on: January 13, 2023, 10:44:20 am »
It might be easier to ride to Bangor, ME and rent a car one way.  There a a couple of rental places closer but they may not offer one way rentals.

Offline John Nettles

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Re: Return to beginning of ride info
« Reply #4 on: January 13, 2023, 10:45:52 am »
Eric, that is news to me.  I called my local Greyhound station in Tulsa and they said that yes, they do accept "broken down and boxed bicycles".  I then tried to call the station in Portland and there is not phone number as they changed that station to an "express" station meaning it is just a spot beside the road and no physical station building or personnel.  You must buy your ticket online or in advance at a full-service station.  I then tried calling the national Greyhound phone line but of course, it kept disconnecting before answering and their "contact us" link keeps circling back to the FAQ under Help but no actual way to contact anyone.

I personally do not like Greyhound though some of the other lines like Jefferson (central plains) is OK.

Offline John Nettles

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  • I ride for smiles, not miles.
Re: Return to beginning of ride info
« Reply #5 on: January 13, 2023, 10:47:33 am »
It might be easier to ride to Bangor, ME and rent a car one way.  There a a couple of rental places closer but they may not offer one way rentals.
You should be able to use an aggregator like Kayak to see where you can do it.  Then try to book directly with the actual car rental agency if it says that "Hertz" or whomever does. If so, you should be able to book with any online website and be able to do a one-way rental.