I traveled to Washington DC last week on business and Jenny was able to come along. While we were there we talked a lot about taking some long distance bike trips in the future instead of flying or driving to a destination.
While we were sitting in the airport waiting out a 2+ hour flight delay I came up with the following list of advantages of traveling by bike vs. flying.
No extra charges for bags.
Wearing lycra is acceptable if you're riding a bike
Delays are never caused by weather in a city a 1000 miles away
Fresh air vs. Recycled air. Tough choice
By bike I can eat Snicker bars and drink Gatorade all day long and still lose weight
It's tough to get a tan when you're flying
You never have to remove your shoes, walk through a metal detector or get swabbed for bombs before you depart on a bike trip
They don't sell Velonews in any of the airport book stores
Water bottles aren't prohibited on a bike
Launching snot rockets is NEVER acceptable on an airplane
In flying's defense there were a couple of advantages that I could think for flying
Your bike seat doesn't make a very good flotation device in the case of a water landing
Barf bags are typically not available on a bike ride.
I'm not totally ruling out flying but I'm seriously considering some bike touring in the future.
While we were sitting in the airport waiting out a 2+ hour flight delay I came up with the following list of advantages of traveling by bike vs. flying.
In flying's defense there were a couple of advantages that I could think for flying
- Your bike seat doesn't make a very good flotation device in the case of a water landing
- Barf bags are typically not available on a bike ride.
I'm not totally ruling out flying but I'm seriously considering some bike touring in the future.