Train to bike tour

[Opiatephoto]

I've got some AGR points burning a hole in my pocket and so next year's vacation will involve my girlfriend and I riding bicycles from Pittsburg to Washington DC and LD trains to and from. Having ridden the Zephyr before, I know late arrivals are part of the trip. I'm pretty sure they wouldn't bus us since boxed bikes are too big, baggage wise, for a bus. So should we look in to getting a reservation for a hotel room in Chicago just to be safe, or will Amtrak offer us accommodations?

Thanks!

 

[caravanman]

Hi,

I am not sure how Amtrak deals with checked luggage when putting passengers on a bus. If you have concerns about connections, and awkward size luggage as in a packed bike, it might be easier to break your trip in Chicago for peace of mind... and you can have a nice ride along the lake shore too!

Ed

 

[PaulM]

I would suspect that bikes could be accommodated in the bottom of an intercity type bus. I once took a bike from Quincy, IL to East Lansing. I bootlegged it in a soft case with strap as far as Battle Creek where it went in the bottom of a Throughway bus for the last leg. No problems.

I don't know how likely it is, but if they use a van to catch up with the Capitol Limited, you will probably wind up being put up overnight in Chicago because of the bike. This happened to us on a MSP - QCY trip; see trip report. I understand your problem if they put you up overnight in Chicago, even if you aren't downgraded from sleeper to coach the next day. You would have to peddle extra hard to make up for the lost day.

PS. I've biked Cumberland to DC, Pittsburgh to DC, and most recently PGH to CUM, arriving and departing by train each time. I'm waiting for the Pinkerton Horn daylighting project to be finished before I go again. 5:03AM is early enough to be rousted out of bed to start the ride.

It is not considered politically correct to bicycle through the gap in the GAP near Pittsburgh. But if you are arriving in PGH by Amtrak, your only two choices are bike or bus from downtown to the Waterfront. If you are doing this next year, it should not be a problem since the last remaining gap in the trail is scheduled for completion this Fall. But in case it gets delayed, my trip report gives a routing from the Amtrak Station to the Waterfront (actually to Duquesne since the Waterfront to Duquesne section had not been completed).

IMO the GAP is the best long distance trail in the country - well worth a train ride to get there.

 

[Opiatephoto]

IMO the GAP is the best long distance trail in the country - well worth a train ride to get there.

As I recall, last time on the CZ it was a van, and we have full size bikes, so I don't know if we can count on it. I'll build in an extra day just to make sure. We've ridden the Katy Trail before and we're both excited to ride this one. Thanks for the link to your ride report.