OK, I know that some of you are more daring than I am and are willing to tour in places that I wouldn't consider...But - for 2004, I am planning on a tour, not day trips! I just don't know where yet.
Looking back on these two trips to Moab reminds me that I enjoy traveling with my bike, whether or not my ultimate destination and activity is a full-blown bike tour. As I mentioned in the beginning of this short photo journal, I would have been happier on my 2000 hiking trip to the Canadian Rockies if I'd had a bike with me. Don't get me wrong - that really was a hiking trip - but I would have enjoyed riding on one or two days. Obviously I think it is worth the trouble of traveling with a bike. The one negative is that if I bring my bike I have to check luggage on the plane. Well, I guess that's both a negative and a positive - a negative in that I have to wait for the bags at the end of my trip and I have to trust that the airlines will not send my bike to some other destination, and a positive in that I'm not hauling my belongs all over the airport. And while on occasion I have had my bike arrive on a different flight than mine, so far my luck has been good and my bike has always been delivered within a couple of hours of my own arrival. Here's hoping that my good luck with planes and bikes continues...
My Moab trips were somewhat unique in that since Moab is such a mountain bike mecca it would have been easy to rent a decent bike there. Not a road bike - which is one of the reasons my bike traveled with me - but decent mountain bikes are available for rent. It's much harder to find nice road bikes for rent, but I have been known to rent a bike for a few hours when I really want to ride and I don't have my own bike with me. All in all, I'm happier bringing my bike along!
