Hawkes Bay NZ Water trail

Monday, May 20, 2013

Folding Bike Travel by Air / Fitting It All In



Assuming my bathroom scales are accurate, the cardboard box weighs less than 50  lbs. I may take a small roll of tape to the check in counter anyway, just in case I need to readjust the contents. Sometimes the TSA lets you take the tape onboard. Sometimes they don't. So I plan to toss the roll out. Everything else I need for my 7 weeks exploring Germany and Alsace, France, is packed in the black Brompton bag. Under the bike helmet, which will be clipped onto the bag's shoulder strap when I board, are my dress shoes, a tissue-wrapped wedding outfit folded in a resealable plastic bag, makeup and jewelry. I've learned from other international flights that checked bags can go missing for a few days, so into my carry on goes a change of clothes, and anything else I can't live without. So if, god forbid, the cardboard box goes AWOL, I will be visiting Frankfurt stylishly dressed for a formal wedding. The black bag will fit the dimensions of United's carry on. And, yes, I can lift it.

The final touch tomorrow will be me boarding the plane wearing my Kentucky Derby-worthy picture hat. It is impossible to fit this confection in the carry on, so I will wear it. The flight attendants won't blink, as I know they've seen it all before.

Ah, the strange things we do to go a-travelin' by bicycle.



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