Over the last week we received several stories from people who have been doing some traveling with their SwissBikes. The one below seems to epitomize the versatility and portability of the SwissBikes.
Jon from Boston, MA writes:
“My brother was recently in New York on business. He lives clear across the country so I decided to take the short trip from Boston to the big apple to visit him for the weekend. On Friday I commuted to work on my TX. At the end of the day I was able to ride my bike down to the T. I have one of your carrying cases so I folded it up into the case and carried my bike on to the T. I took the T to South Station where I was able to catch a bus to the Port Authority in New York City. I stored the bike with the other luggage in the baggage hold of the Bus.
Once I arrive in New York, I unfolded my bike and road to the Upper Westside to meet my brother for dinner at Bello Sguardo (pretty good Mediterranean food if you are in the area). Given the traffic it was much quicker and cheaper than a cab ride. Since I had my bike in the case, the restaurant was very cool and allowed me to store it in the coat check area (try doing that with a normal full size bike). After dinner we took a taxi back to the hotel. Again, the bike in its carrying case went easily in the trunk of the cab. At the hotel I went right through the lobby and into the elevator with the bike in its bag on my shoulder.
As my brother did not bring his bike, the next day was spent touring the city by foot. Though I missed it, it was at least good to know that it was safe in the hotel rather than locked outside. Sunday, I checked out the Manhattan Waterfront Greenway, a 32-mile bike path that virtually circles the entire island. I highly recommend it. After my ride I cut back across to the Port Authority. I made the 2:00 bus back to Boston with no problems. Tired but satisfied, I was able to make one last ride home from South Station. I call my trip: Trains, Buses and Automobiles and I couldn’t have done it without my TX. Thanks“
-Jon
If that’s not a story about using your folding bike to your complete advantage I don’t know what is. After reading this story I looked into the Manhattan Waterfront Greenway. A great map for the path can be found here at transalt.org and A brief history lesson and description can be located on the NYC Department of City Planning website.
(Note: For those not familiar with the Boston transit system the “T” is Boston’s version of the subway, also known as the “L” in Chicago, “Bart” in San Francisco and for those international travelers the “Metro” in Paris.)
Mating a Montague full size folding bike like the SwissBike LX with the new SwissBike soft case makes perfect sense for traveling. I took the Amtrak Cascades train from Seattle to Portland, rode with a friend in his RV to Anacortes, took the ferry to Vancouver Island and the fast ferry back to Seattle, flew from Seattle to Dallas & drove from Dallas to New Orleans.
The entire time, I had my full size Montague folding bike and soft case carry bag with me. Sometimes, I used the carry bag; other times I didn’t. Without it or the Montague folding bike, this fabulous trip would not have been possible.
Despite being transported so many different ways, being stored in the carry bag and being handled by airline baggage handlers, the bike was not damaged in any way (photos are up on my site to prove it too). Nice going, Montague.
Following is one of the stories about the trip I just referenced above. Of particular interest to readers of this blog would be the photos of the Montague full size folding bike in the carry bag on the Amtrak train as well as the photo of the bike unfolded at the train station. Strapped onto the back of the bike is a 26″ suitcase…
RideTHISbike.com/2007/08/my-journey-to-traillink-2007.html
Thanks for information.
many interesting things
Celpjefscylc
I’m just getting ready to return from California to Iowa via Amtrak, bringing along my Montague Navigator in its bag. I’ve found it easy my first five journeys across the country. Each trip I refine the process a little. For instance, this time I’m using the Chain Johnny to cover the drive train. On another trip, I also took the Burley Travoy folding trailer, something I’m still playing around with and will cover more this summer on my blog. Below is the blog post of one Amtrak trip: http://www.tomkeplerbicycling.com/2014/05/coming-home-amtrak-and-folding-bicycle.html.
Great post Tom! We’re glad our bikes have worked so well for your travels, and we appreciate you writing about your experiences.
Hi, I’m from Italy.
Here folding bikes are allowed for free on all short range trains (“Regionali”), better if stored in a carryng bag (80x110x40 cm) but also without it.
I think I can carry my Paratrooper easier with the bag and I like to to know if the soft Montague soft bag can be folded to carry it in a small backpack while I’m riding the bike.
What is the size of the folded soft bag?
Thank you for your reply.
Our carrying case can be folded down to fit in a backpack pretty easily. When folded it’s probably about 12″ x 5″ x 4″.