Posted: 投稿者： Kham_Spokes (65) 投稿日時： 水, 2006-07-12 04:09 | 件名: tips for traveling with bikes in China

please feel free to add to this. I'm going to stay away from touring advice, mainly because I thinks it's a no brainer, get on bike, peddle and try not to get killed along the way. I travel with a big bike (Kona Coiler with a 170mm fork and 150mm rear travel) and while I do a fair amount of road touring on this bike I also travel by bus and train alot as well. being that even the most hardend cycle tourist will some times take other transport, unless of course you name is Janne Corax, some of this may come in handy.

heres the tips.

with busses the first thing you going to hear it no. you got to be assertive, and showing the baggage handlers that your bike breaks down into small parts by taking the wheels off goes a long ways to getting your bike on the bus. with sleeper busses or short distance busses it's going to ride on top. The baggage handelers here have no idea the amount of damage that can happen to a porely loaded bike. they are use to the indistucable chinise bikes. get up there and watch them tie it down. as with any one, telling some one how to do there job it going to cause some tension, but it's worth it. if you have to, let them finnish and re-doit. and at the end of all this you will be asked to pay a little bit (~ 10 RMB) to the baggage guy. it's your call if you want to pay it, but I generaly do. and if the bus is load with cargo, then you may have to pay a charge higher them this to the bus driver.

with the express busses, you bike will ride under the bus, and there will most likely be a charge to get it onboard, as much as half the price of a ticket.

on the trains you will have to ship it as cargo. the system goes like this, buy your ticket. then take you bike to the sent luggage department, generaly located off to the side of the station. if you want you bike to arrive with you you may have to do this a few days in advance. show them your ticket and the whole thing will be taken care of for you. you don't have to package you bike, just wheel it in.

thats it kids. keep the rubber side down and remember, you could always be working...