Asking for advice from seasoned travelers!

I’m sure this isn’t impossible, but has anyone actually done this without another persons help?

I’m thinking of the hassles of checking-in, security checks, negotiating narrow doorways and crowds and picking up/dropping off car rental vehicles when you’ve got two (big) bike boxes plus your other luggage.

Generally when traveling with my OH, one of us can look after the bike/luggage whilst the other is doing the errands.

I get stressed enough with airports at the best of times, doubly so when I’m also traveling with my bike but I’m contemplating a bigger trip when I may want to take both my (XXL-sized) mountain bike and my road bike.

I walked through Manchester security/customs with two bike bags. One on each shoulder. Cumbersome but doable.

Have to take them off the trolley for the last bit.

Girlfriend carried the normal luggage.

Hardest bit was getting them on and off the mono rail at SFO. People get out of the way when the see the massive bags. Easy enough to put in and out of oversize luggage on your own.

It’s a bit stressful but people can see you struggling so get out of the way.

I forgot to mention I purchased them in the USA and had them delivered to my hotel in Calistoga. Turner Cyclosis bikes.

So not quite solo but on a recent trip my partner broke her leg which meant we had to navigate from Northern Norway (Lofoten) to Calgary via LHR for the night with 2 bikes, 2 pieces of luggage and a someone in a wheelchair…..

So lessons learned:

1) People at airports are idiots… even with someone in a wheelchair I had to be very pushy to get space in elevators etc for the whole entourage.  Get rid of the luggage ASAP.

2) Ski straps for the win.  In hindsight we were very lucky we had 2 evoc pro bags with the front wheel as I basically strapped the bags together and could then tow them through the airport with one hand whilst pushing the luggage trolley with the other.

The good news is that it’s so much stuff it’s actually hard (I think) for someone else to steal but even so I’d anticipate it being a lot of hassle…..

If you’re on your own, a trip to the loo could be an issue with all that gear!

If you’re on your own, a trip to the loo could be an issue with all that gear!

Aye! That’s the one item I’m most bothered about! I don’t fancy my chances of leaving $10,000+ of bikes/gear unattended!

It is doable. Slowly and methodically. Loaded everything onto a trolley, took my time and, where necessary, people had to wait for me to finish what I was doing. Simple as that. Bags were all weighed at check-in then bike bags were taken around the back to a special wide X-ray machine etc.

At baggage retrieval at the other end my suitcases came out on the carousel while the bike bags appeared through a side door into a special “over sized items” area.

All perfectly civilized.

It’s quite doable but as you identify the problems are choke points such as lifts which in uk airports aren’t big enough for a bike bag across a trolley (and just plain crap full stop at lhr)and access points with bollards.
People are a nuisance but after about two minutes you get into the mindset that if they can’t recognise a wide difficult to manoeuvre trolley a clout probably won’t effect them too much. Never had a problem with car hire areas
and pay extra to park as close as possible to terminal in UK. Use soft luggage rather than cases for luggage. As sweman said above bags with two sets of wheels are great – biggest failing of standard evoc bag.
Also when traversing terminals at Cape Town I just paid a porter a few quid to move one for me – money well spent!

There are companies that will pick up your bike at home and deliver it to your destination for you. More expensive that taking them yourself but surely less stress if bikes+airport is something you want to avoid. A quick google finds plenty

cardboard boxes? plus other bags unless its all in a backpack I think you’ll struggle. A wheeled bike bag I’ve found is not much worse than a wheelie suitcase, just has a bit of a turning circle issue.

Don’t put them horizontally on a trolley at Heathrow baggage reclaim – you wont get through the nothing to declare customs zig zag.

As above, the main problem is toilet stops. I managed to get three bikes and three huge bags across Manchester airport myself last year after the missus dropped me off in the van at 05:00.

Was a bit like doing the Chalamain gap with the kids to be honest. Cary two bags 10m down the corridor.. dump them and go back for two more… Take them ten metres… Back for the last two bags, take them 20m… Back for bags 3&4, take them 10m…. Back for bags 1&2 and take them 20m..

Etc. After a while someone will get bored of laughing at you and lend a hand.

Once you’ve carried kayak, paddle and huge bag across Atatürk domestic to international terminals then anything with wheels on is a piece of piss. Regardless of how many pieces you have.

If you have time limits then it does of course all go to shit….

At the arrival airport, go to the loo before you collect your bikes. Mistake I won’t make again as your trolley generally has to stay outside the loo out of sight. Buying food was less of an issue at Geneva as the sandwich shop had an open front so I could keep an eye on the bike.

Not necessarily – if you can find a disabled loo you can take the bike with you – I have done this but then I am quite cheeky. I have travelled on my own with one bike, it is much easier now you can check baggage all the way through – LAX was a nitemare when you had to transit your own bags.

Not bikes, but travelling solo with my folding canoe (20kg big bag), week’s paddling gear (same weight but not much bigger than normal backpack) and day sack is something I’ve done a few times. Travelling with big stuff is doable, but needs extra time.

The main thing is to get the things booked in quickly. Go to loo at last services before airport so you can go straight to queue.

Some airports/airlines insist you queue for the bag to be looked at (won’t fit on scales!) at normal check in, then send you to oversize. Others you can go straight to oversize if you checked in on line and then printed out your labels. Occasionally you’ll meet a jobsworth who quizzes you about your massive bags, but actually I’ve found staff generally more helpful with them than normal bags, including taking my word for the weight to save time when it wouldn’t fit on scales, and letting me off a slight overweight bag (as the canoe gear was still wet inside I think!).

Once airside, you will feel even more of a sense of relief. However, baggage collection is somehow far more nervous when waiting for a canoe/bike…

Take electronic scales if you’re close to the limits. Check them for consistency.

The oversized bag pick up isn’t always obvious and can be a fair way from where the rest of your bags will be. Go to the loo immediately upon landing to avoid needing that again.

Do NOT, under any circumstances, forget to bring a pound for a luggage trolley at Gatwick. Carrying 49.7 kg (i cut it very fine with all 3 weight limits!!!) across an airport is not fun and people will not be helpful. Using the valet parking service actually made it worse then, as it was about 300m from the doors extra than the bus pick ups.

I always found people would be very helpful, but that was probably the nice kind of sexism that we all hate to admit can be useful at times. For the record if I saw a bloke struggling across an airport with two bikes I would def help! Even if he had all his shirt buttons done up. I’m good like that.

Douchebag designed a wheeled bike bag for Team Sky that could be coupled together like a train so mechanics could – in theory – wheel multiple bikes across airports. They were/are very expensive, but if you have wheeled bags or cases, it might be something you can bodge.

My experience is that you can get two bike bags and a duffle on an airport luggage trolley, but it’s unwieldy and airport designers love placing bollards that are too narrow for a laterally orientated bike to clear. And then there are the stupid automatic corridor things at Manchester Airport which would be nightmarish with two bikes on a trolley.

ps: a quick google suggests that some airports offer a concierge service complete with luggage porter. eg:

https://www.newcastleairport.com/passengers/at-the-airport/concierge-service/

Or, Manchester Airport offers a check-in your bags from home service, where your bags are collected at taken to the airport for you:

Check-in your bags from Greater Manchester, Chester, Wilmslow, Warrington or Liverpool