Help needed
 

For a sheer act of stupidity which is to be announced in due course, I need to be able to get a bicycle from The Valencia area to the UK in mid to late August. It doesn't particularly matter where it gets delivered to as I have someone who will go collect.

It will be packed fairly well, but it is for a charity event and if theres a way of getting it there cheaply I would really really appreciate the help / contact.

And yes ........ I'm taking the bloody bell!

Hope someone can help, many thanks

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My son does triathlons and Ironman events and takes his bike everywhere with him on the aircraft, he reckons it's not that expensive. I know he has done Germany, Switzerland, Lanzarote and is doing Finland in a few weeks, so it's affordable. I can ask him how much if you want.

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I would greatly appreciate that, thanks
If it's Ryanair though they probably charge by the spoke :D

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Mitzy, I remember him telling me he paid about £30, which I didn't think was bad. However, I have asked him, and seems it could be a lot more!:) Might be wrong, but I think the cheaper price he had was with Ryanair. I've always said he has more money than sense!:D

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Apparently it's arms and legs if you want it in the baggage hold, but a few quid cheaper with Ryanair if you don't mind it tied on the wing.

Hope it's street legal in the UK with that weird bell-like device.
The cops may well think it's some strange ultrasonic radar jamming device and give you a tug.

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Where I'm going, I wont be needing a bell :D

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thats not really as memorable as
"Roads? Where we're going, we don't need roads" from Back to the Future...:D

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Please don't tell me you are going to be doing some long distance mad marathon?

At your age you should know better.

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Me thinks maybe he is going to ride it back to Spain. :unsure:

Too old to do the round trip :rofl:

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I know what he's doing:D;)


but I'm not telling:p


Mitz - my dd was looking at taking her bike over to the UK if we went over for a few weeks this summer - it really wasn't much to fly it over

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Can you get a cycle rack for your car and drive over?

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Well I can remember (a very long time ago) when we brought (flew) bikes to Spain when staying with my aunt inland from the Costa Brava.... it was FREE:thumbsup: - and that was a family's worth - 4 bikes!

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Yes, as I said, I think it was £30 with Ryanair, which compared with some charges you pay isn't bad.

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I'll try and figure it out on Ryanairs site then. I don't want to drive over, and in any case that would be a bit of a nightmare

Thanks for the suggestions, any more thoughts then please dont hesitate to let me know

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Well, it's true to say that Ryanair will take it for £40, and the only specification is that it must be protected in a protective bag or box. Nothing about stripping them down.


So now I guess I send them the email asking about it, to which of course I will never receive a reply

Karma sent, I never even thought about asking

This is the ryanair take on bikes, but it doesnt make very clear what kind of protective bag. Of course they are all 0871 numbers so you cant call them from Spain!

Special advice for the carriage of bicycles
The pedals must be removed (or fixed inwards) and the handlebars must be fixed sideways. The bike MUST be contained in a protective box or bag. It is not necessary from a safety perspective to deflate typical tyres found on bikes and wheelchairs for carriage in the hold. However, to eliminate the small risk of them being damaged by bursting, you may wish to deflate the tyres.

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Go to a bike shop and ask them if they have any old bike carton lying around, put the bike in bubblewrap to protect it.

Also if you want to have less packing on your bike, get a little trailer to go behind it. Makes life (Cycling) a lot easier.

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Try a website called saynoto0870.com and put Ryanair's number in, it might come up with a Geographical number for you which you CAN ring from Spain (put 0044 in front and drop the first 0 of the number).

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Yesw, I use that site all the time. Ryanair dont have a UK number to call. The site suggests you call the Irish head office, but when you ring them they give you an 0800 number to call. If you choose the Spanish contact details ... you guessed it .... its an 0800 number

So an International airline, you have to call an 0800 number in the UK :blink:

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A pity you're not going next year, you could have taken high speed rail nearly all the way. Link (in Spanish) explains they are making good progress on the Barcelona to Figueras link, and it should be fully operational in 2012

http://ave-renfe.edreams.es/ave-barc...ave-en-girona/

Of course I suspect the price would be somewhat high, unless they get their marketing act together (SNCF and Renfe and EuroStar)

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you can call 0871 and 0800 on Skype

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Yes .... I know, but for some reason people have great difficulty in hearing what I say when I speak to call centres on skype, so generally I dont bother

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In order to get it in a box, the pedals have to come off, and handlebars turned. As I understand it, that's it, as my son said, 10 minutes.

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is that because you are using a webcam ?
in such cases they are as naff as the systems used by the call centres (you can hardly hear the person but plenty of background noise and voices)
(think you can still get that as a recording to play on your own system to make your business look bigger and busier than really are)

have you tried a voip phone plugged into a usb slot ? this should make things better

I am currently testing a couple of phones, the RTX3088 dual phone has come out top so far, even 50m down the garden.

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Yep, I posted their requirements above somewhere thanks ...

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I seem to remember they have a weight limit of 20 (ish) kgs for bike, so be ready to pack your saddle and pedals in your pocket if necessary :rofl: .

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A decent bike does not weigh more than 15/17 kilogram.

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They do, but mine weighs 16 kilos, aluminium frame. :)

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Can't you hire a bike when you get there ? it would save all the buggering about, just take the famous bell and attatch it !!:rofl::rofl::rofl:

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Well one thing for sure we'll always know when Mitzys coming along the road.

His bell may be virtually inaudible to the human ear, but it will be easy to spot the trail of fifty hungry dogs running along behind him, thinking its the call for suppertime.

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Master of the hounds :rofl::rofl::rofl:

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I'm going to cycle over 1000 miles on a hired bike? :eek:
Nice thought, but the one I have is kitted out now :-)

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I am currently in Uk and have a ladies bike available with a shopping basket on the front

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Ahhh, well obviously not but i didn't know that at the time, good luck :thumbsup::thumbsup:

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I'm sure you're well prepared,Mitzy, but for those that aren't.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nu4QzAIayTU&sns=em

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Yep, he does neglect to say that he did what I would never do, even in the UK. He set off in the dark, on his own.

The bike btw is booked with BMI Baby at €22. The only new problem I have now is that my limit with thm is 18 kilos. The bike weighs 16 kilos. I'm trying to find a bike bag, and they all seem to weigh 3 kilos or more. I found one on ebay that is 2.3 kilos, so I will have to remove bike bits and put them in my luggage to bring it down. I dont suppose anyone knows of a transport bag seller in Spain that has light weight ones

Nothings easy! :eek:

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Have you tried the bike shops in Oliva. If they don't sell them I am sure they would know where you can get one.

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Yes thanks ... well .......... I tried the one on the N332 as it seemed the more likely, as the other is mainly bike sales.

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There's probably a very good reason why not, but why not just use loads of bubblewrap? That's how we packed our bikes for flying - admittedly yonks ago - and nothing came to grief.... and it weighs virtually nothing!

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there's a bike sales/repair/bits & bobs shop in Gata where we take our bikes - maybe they have them