BICYCLES

[Tony McGinty]

Re bikes on French trains:

Paris to Le Puy with a bike on a train should be pretty easy. If you fly to
Airport Charles de Gaulle  in Paris you can get on a fast TGV train to the
south of France right from the airport. Reservations suggested. Go to the
SNCF website: sncf.com. The trains have luggage racks at the end of each car.
There is one bottom rack that will fit a bicycle packed in a travel case with
the wheels removed.  (in other words a case that is the size of the bike
frame). In April, I had to move some people's luggage to get my case into
that spot when I went from Paris to Bayonne, but no one seemed to mind. On my
return trip, the luggage racks were hopelessly clogged  by the time I got
onto the train and I had to stand the case next to the luggage rack. I lashed
it there with a strap. You may want to pack a bit of rope or some straps for
that purpose in case you need them.

By train with a bike from Santiago....good luck. The routes are not very
direct and the Spanish railroad website's rules on when you can bring a bike
are confusing to say the least. I found it easier to rent a car to travel
from Santiago back to the French border. There's an Avis in Santiago right at
the railroad station. I think the 24-hour rental cost was about  US $120.

Re bikes and airlines. Try to check ahead with your airline about your bike.
On my way to Europe, Air France said my bike case was too big and charged me
an extra $90. On the way home they said the case size was fine, but it was
too heavy. I ended up taking a couple of things out right at the baggage
counter to get it down to an acceptable weight. My point: the rules seem
somewhat arbitrarily interpreted and enforced. You will be in a better
position to deal with the agents if you have exact information from the
airline about what they will accept. Try to get it in writing.

Have fun.

Tony McGinty
amcg65aaol.com