Travelling with a bicycle (by Air)

Back in 2002 as I was walking in the Sydney Airport Transit Hall , I saw a guy pushing his touring bike. And I asked him whether he carry his bike just like that without boxed it up. He answered (with his French accent) Yes and told me to check with some airlines that allow bikes to be carried without box. And I did checked it out and found out that it is the Malaysia Airlines.

In the South East Asia, it is very convenient and inexpensive to travel with bicycle by plane. I have fly with Qantas, Air Asia, British Midlands, Tiger Airways, Jetstar and of course, the Malaysia Airlines. No hassle and no problem given by them. My only worry is how the airport staff handle my bike at the baggage area and when they unload/off load to/from the plane.

In my past posting (Jan 2009), I have stated that Malaysia Airlines as Cycling Friendly Airlines due to their baggage policy that facilitate cyclist like us. But there are also other airlines, for example Qantas, Jetstar & British Midlands that allows you to carry your bicycle without additional charges as long as the total weight of your luggage + the bike does not exceed the baggage allowance. However, you still need to box up your bike. But you must be warned that the charges for access baggage is expensive. It can be as high as SGD20 per kg in Changi and 20GBP per kg in Heathrow.

Jetstar is another airlines that offer you a good solution. They allow you to purchase your luggage allowance according to your requirements. What I normally do is to declare my bike as a sports equipments and pay SGD35 per sector for my bike. With that I have covered approx. 20kg of weight. Then I purchased 20kg of luggage allowance at SGD15 per sector for my bags, panniers, etc. In addition, I still have 7kg for my hand luggage. Again, I still need to box-up my bike as per their baggage policy.

So next time when you plan to travel with your bicycle, do your homework first. Check out few options on the internet before you choose to travel with which airlines.

Happy travel!

Cycling shows slow beauty of nature

These times require "green life innovation," and reinventing carbon-free bicycles as a main means of transportation is our given task, President Lee Myung-bak said in his bi-weekly radio address on Monday (Apr. 20).

Bicycles fall down when they move too slowly, and likewise we should prepare for a "bicycle era" before it gets too late, the President said.

"By 2012 when the restoration of four rivers – the Han, Geum, Yeongsan and Nakdong Rivers - is complete, bike paths totaling a length of 2,000 kilometers will be set up. Somebody living in Mokpo [in South Jeolla Province] will be able to reach Seoul by bicycle, running along the Yeongsan and Geum Rivers. Another person living in Seoul can reach Busan [South Gyeongsang Province] via the Han and Nakdong Rivers," he said.

He also said that major bike arteries connecting all major provinces will also be connected to the feeder roads of every town and village.

Bicycle tours will show people "the beauty of slowness," which cannot possibly be sensed from inside rushing cars, Lee said. When comparatively less developed towns utilize their resources and provide bicycle riders with attractive spots to rest or stay, it will contribute a great deal to the development of the regional economy, he added.

He regretted that Korea currently imports over 2 million bicycles from China, the Netherlands and Canada, and suggested the country develop core technologies for bicycle manufacturing.

Instead of falling down, bicycles go straight ahead when their riders pedal fast, Lee said. "I hope everyone will have a great start to the week with hope-filled pedaling," he added.

Source: korea.net

Cycling-friendly Airline

This is why I love travel on Malaysia Airlines.

• Bicycle is considered as checked baggage. Therefore no extra charge for 'sporting equipments etc' unless your total baggage is exceeding your allowance.
• 
  
• There is no need to box it like other airlines. Simply push your bike to the check-in counter, remove the pedal & turn the handlebar sideways. Of course, deflate the tires. (although i find it unnecessary!) Then, someone from the airline will bring your bike to the over-size baggage section.

However, there will be a problem when you take a connecting flight. Some carriers might not accept bicycle as checked baggage and require it to be boxed. Furthermore, they might charge you extra.

Therefore, try to avoid taking connecting flight. Otherwise, boxed your bike (aargh!!) or bring your folding bike with you! (yeaa!)

Two Thumbs Up for Malaysia Airlines!

Source: Malaysia Airlines website

Why I love cycling holidays

My friends thought I was tragic trundling off on my cycling holidays, but now I know I was simply fashion-forward (though possibly not in those shorts). These days everyone is doing it.

Well, more people than ever, anyway.Helen Pidd has been taking cycling trips for some time. Little did she know she was one step ahead of a growing trend

Getting a breath of fresh air ... cycling is part of over two million holidays taken by Brits. Photograph: TFL

My friends thought I was tragic trundling off on my cycling holidays, but now I know I was simply fashion-forward (though possibly not in those shorts). These days everyone is doing it. Well, more people than ever, anyway.

Britons spent £120 million on dedicated cycling holidays in 2006, according to research from Mintel. The report estimates that 2.25 million holidays taken by Brits last year included some kind of cycling adventure, such as a day's bike hire or a mounted city sightseeing tour.

I have always enjoyed cycling, but until a few years ago saw it mostly as a way to get from A to B without paying for the bus. It wasn't even a hobby, let alone a mode of holidaying. Then I moved down to London and, after spending weekdays choking on fumes, was quite literally gagging for a bit of fresh air on the weekends.

At first, I - with my far hardier cycling companion and puncture repairer-in-chief - went day tripping. Then we decided to spread our wheels a little, and started our weekend trips an hour out of town from places like Bognor Regis, Oxford and Great Yarmouth, hefting our bikes on to trains and then pedalling off into the countryside. The only downside was having to call National Rail Enquiries and battling with the operators over whether we could take bikes on our chosen route. (If we both called, we would invariably be given different answers.)

One of my best holidays ever was the cycling odyssey I undertook last summer. Too wussy and annual-leave-deprived to tackle the full End to End, we decided to have a go at London to Land's End. We didn't pay tour operators to sort out our itinerary, but set off armed with panniers full of Ordnance Survey maps, a list of B&B phone numbers and a spare inner tube each.

Apart from the tantrum I had just outside Minehead attempting Porlock Hill (gradient: 25% - it was like cycling up a wall), it was a dream, albeit an expensive one. By my reckoning, the cost of 14 nights in B&Bs and youth hostels (we went a very circuitous route), lunches and dinners, and the train back to London from Penzance was about £500. Unless you can be bothered lugging a tent around, cycling holidays are very rarely cheap.

As to why they are en vogue, well, I can only answer for myself. I loved seeing the landscape change, as Berkshire became Wiltshire, Wiltshire became Somerset, and Somerset segued into Devon and then Cornwall. And without being too much of a pathetic girl about it, I was delighted to return with far firmer thighs at the end of the fortnight. I also got off on the knowledge that my holiday wasn't spewing out huge amounts of carbon - apart, of course, from the heavy breathing involved in tackling Porlock Hill.

Source: guardian.co.uk/Travel/ by Helen Pidd