Author Topic: To whom can I send my bike in Denver/Salt Lake City/Seattle or nearby  (Read 1466 times)

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Offline JeanAbel

Hi everyone, I'm from Germany and plan to make a trip by bike in August 2025, before that I am going to see my relatives in Wisconsin.
It is difficult to organize the trip, the transportation of the bike and the panniers etc.
For the transportation of the bike I have an important question, perhaps you can help me:
Do you know anybody living either in Dallas or in Salt Lake City or in Seattle? Or nearby?[/li][/list]
Someone to whom I could send the bike.

These are the cities from where I could start my trip, therefore it would be extremely helpful to have someone, to whom I could send my bike from Germany. An address and someone who can accept the parcel.
It turned out, that it is really complicated to come to Chicago, leave the plane, travel to Wisconsin, back to Chicago and then to Denver/Salt Lake City/Seattle. What to do with the bike in the meantime? I would have to box and unbox it several times, because it must be transported in a carton.

Thank you so much and greetings to all of you!
Martin

Offline John Nettles

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Re: To whom can I send my bike in Denver/Salt Lake City/Seattle or nearby
« Reply #1 on: December 18, 2024, 05:43:54 pm »
Jean, first welcome to the ACA Forums!

Are you familiar with WarmShowers?  It is a reciprocal hosting group for touring cyclists only.  There are several hosts in those cities so you should probably be able to ship the bike to one of them.  Would probably be pretty easy to find a host to accept your boxed bike for a couple of weeks since you are not sleeping there.

You could also ship the bike to a hotel or bike shop in one of those town assuming you have the bike shop put it together for you (they will charge) or you are staying at the hotel. However, most won't want to hold it for more than a few days.

Another option to consider is to rent a car one-way, especially if you have not already booked your flights to Wisconsin and/or starting town.  It would probably cost the same overall and it may not take but a day or two longer plus you would get to see more of the USA.  Gas is substantially cheaper here (roughly $0.75/liter).  Cars currently start at about $100/day without checking around. Just be sure NOT to rent a car at the airport but outside the airport as airport's add on a LOT of extra taxes when a $10 Uber ride could save you literally hundreds. 

You could also take the train (not nearly as nice and as punctual as European trains) especially since Chicago is the main hub for Amtrak routes west of the east coast.  You could have a WarmShower in Chicago or airport area hold you boxed bike and then take the train (bike still boxed) to a lot of locations.  I have attached an train system map (see bottom of this post).  Most interstate trains west of the east coast only run once per day at most. Some, only a few times a week.  This would definitely be the cheapest if you do not require a sleeping cabin. 

Unless you are a glutton for punishment, I would avoid the USA's bus companies, especially Greyhound. 

A final option would be to fly directly to the starting city, drop all your gear, and then fly to Wisconsin and back to the starting city.  Depending on the cities involved, this might be the least stressful way to do it and probably close to one of the cheaper options.

Out of curiosity, if you start in Dallas, in August (hottest time of year), where do you plan to ride?  Dallas' temperatures average 35.5 celsius for the high and 25 for the lows in mid-August.   It can easily be 40+ also.  I live in Oklahoma which is very slightly cooler than Texas and I usually tour in other parts of the country/world during July and August that are cooler because it can get so hot.

Hope this helps.  If you have further questions, let us know.

Tailwinds, John

Offline John Nelson

Re: To whom can I send my bike in Denver/Salt Lake City/Seattle or nearby
« Reply #2 on: December 18, 2024, 09:27:18 pm »
You said Denver in one place and Dallas in another. Which one do you mean? Or do you mean both?

Have you found an economically feasible shipping service for sending your bike from Germany to the US and back again? Which one? I've investigated this several times in the past and have never found anything reasonably priced (i.e., cheaper than just renting a bike at the destination, depending on the length of your tour).

I agree with John Nettles about finding a bike shop, hotel or Warm Showers host to send your bike to. I think the hotel option might be best. Find a hotel near enough to the airport to have shuttle service from the airport. Most larger hotels will be happy to store the box for weeks before your arrival. The last time I did this they held it for six weeks until I got there. They can also hold the empty box while you are on tour.

Offline Westinghouse

Re: To whom can I send my bike in Denver/Salt Lake City/Seattle or nearby
« Reply #3 on: December 19, 2024, 09:11:05 am »
You have the information you need. Just one more thing. You got good advice on a subject that was explained only once briefly. I will repeat it to highlight the facts: DO NOT TAKE GREYHOUND BUS long distance. It is the offscourings. If you want to go cross-country and see the country, get your ticket on AMTRAK. It is stars and clouds above and superior to the bus in every amenity, convenience, comfort and dimension.
« Last Edit: December 19, 2024, 09:15:52 am by Westinghouse »

Offline Pat Lamb

Re: To whom can I send my bike in Denver/Salt Lake City/Seattle or nearby
« Reply #4 on: December 19, 2024, 11:42:31 am »
If I understand you correctly, you're going to fly with your bike as checked luggage into Chicago, or ship it separately to the start of your tour.  I suspect it will be less expensive to fly into and out of Chicago, paying to check the bike twice, than to ship it separately.  You might check out Shipbike or Bikeflights to ship it from Chicago, but the checked luggage fee was less expensive (on American, at least) this year; who knows what it will be next year?

That would just leave you needing a large car or small truck rental to drive up to Wisconsin, or take a shuttle bus (with a large luggage bay) to Madison or Milwaukee, or pay for a large vehicle Lyft or Uber.

Offline JeanAbel

Re: To whom can I send my bike in Denver/Salt Lake City/Seattle or nearby
« Reply #5 on: December 19, 2024, 04:42:00 pm »
Thank you so much for your answers.
First of all, I meant Denver not Dallas.
I researched for many hours and you are absolutly right, it is far too expensive, to send the bike from Germany to anywhere in the US (about $ 3.000!). So I will probably fly to the US with my bike in the plane, contact someone from warmshowers, let my bike and the lugagge there, take a flight to Wisconsin and back, and then I will start the trip by bike.
You helped me a lot, the biker community is unbeatable! :)

Offline John Nettles

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Re: To whom can I send my bike in Denver/Salt Lake City/Seattle or nearby
« Reply #6 on: December 19, 2024, 08:45:35 pm »
Hope you have a great tour! 

Just a note of caution:  If you plan to tour out of Denver or Salt Lake City, be sure to acclimate to the altitude.  It is recommended that you spend about 1 day per 300 meters difference from your home altitude.  Altitude sickness is not something to blow off.

Have you come up with a route(s) you would like to do? 

Tailwinds, John

Offline John Nelson

Re: To whom can I send my bike in Denver/Salt Lake City/Seattle or nearby
« Reply #7 on: December 20, 2024, 01:38:53 am »
1 day per 300 meters difference
Interesting rule of thumb. I'm not disputing it, but where did you get it?

Touring in the mountains of Colorado is certainly wonderful, but as John said, can induce altitude sickness. To reduce the risk, keep your mileage low, try to overnight at lower altitudes, take rest days, drink plenty of water, avoid caffeine and alcohol. If you start having headaches or getting nauseated or dizzy, rest and descend to a lower altitude if possible.

Offline John Nettles

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Re: To whom can I send my bike in Denver/Salt Lake City/Seattle or nearby
« Reply #8 on: December 20, 2024, 02:32:05 am »
Interesting rule of thumb. I'm not disputing it, but where did you get it?
I originally heard this ratio years ago (don't remember the source) but it shows up here https://www.adventure-life.com/travel/articles/tips-to-help-avoid-altitude-sickness .  However, additional reading shows that you should basically start the acclimatization around 8200'/2500meters https://my.clevelandclinic.org/health/diseases/15111-altitude-sickness .  I personally take it easy (try to do the 1k per day) beginning at around 5000ft / 1500meters until I have ridden 10+ days above 5000'/1500meters.  Of course, everyone acclimates differently but overall, you generally should take it easy until you know what your body can handle.

If Jean heads west from Denver, the altitude can climb to 12,000'/3,650meters (about 7,000'/2,100 meters difference from Denver) in about 70 miles or 112km. I personally would not be able to make that climb if I tried to ascended the first day, or second day probably, as I come from about 600'/200meters. It is tough enough without being acclimated. 

Tailwinds, John

Offline davidbonn

Re: To whom can I send my bike in Denver/Salt Lake City/Seattle or nearby
« Reply #9 on: December 20, 2024, 10:14:58 am »
On altitude sickness.

It is more important to only increase the elevation you sleep at by 300m per day.  It is okay if you feel up to it to climb up to much higher elevations as long as you can quickly descend that same day.  A lot of high-altitude acclimation techniques recommend doing exactly that.

Altitude sickness affects younger people more than older people for some reason.  Being dehydrated or over-exertion also can make it worse.  Much worse.

Offline John Nettles

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Re: To whom can I send my bike in Denver/Salt Lake City/Seattle or nearby
« Reply #10 on: December 20, 2024, 10:27:38 am »
Altitude sickness affects younger people more than older people for some reason.  Being dehydrated or over-exertion also can make it worse.  Much worse.
Interesting about the younger vs. older.  That is probably why I am paranoid a bit.  I used to live in Vail, CO, which is at 8,000'/2400m, in my early 20s.  I would have friends come up to ski or hike and they would frequently get altitude sickness.  I became sort of hyper-vigilant about it.  The thing that seemed to help the most was to drink a ton of water and to not drink alcohol (not easy to do for males in their 20s). 

I guess now that I am "older", I can adjust better.  At least 1 good thing about getting older.  ;)