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Websites For Renting A Bicycle
By spokesman | March 24, 2010
Traveling with a bicycle can be difficult. Many people are not comfortable boxing and shipping their bicycle. If you are going on a vacation where you will only bike for part of the time, the logistics of storing the bike on the non-biking days can be a problem. Airline passengers who fly with a bike need to contend with extra fees and getting to and from the airport with the over-sized package.However there are two websites for renting bicycles that can help overcome these problems and allow you to focus your energy on the bicycling.
- Rentabikenow.com allows you to rent a bicycle from any one of 220 shops across the United States. The site allows you to compare prices and choose your model depending on the kind of riding you will be doing and your size. A nice feature of the site is that after you have made your rental reservation, you will be provided a link to a Rails-To-Trails website where you can search on 15,000 miles of trails to help you plan your ride. If you don’t want to ride a trail, consider using the new Google bicycle directions feature to plan your ride.
- Velorental.com focuses on Europe and allows you to rent bicycles in France, Italy, Spain and Switzerland. After you to select the city and the dates of your rental, the site provides you with a list of the available bikes including a picture, the price, quantity and size. You can choose from the list to get more information on the bicycles. The additional information includes a larger picture, detailed specifications of the bike, the location of the bike shop and the hours. Information on renting accessories or arranging for drop-off or pick-up service is also provided.
An additional alternative for getting a bicycle in another city is a bike sharing program. Many cities in both Europe and the United States have bike sharing programs that enable you to rent a bike from a public rack. These programs don’t require a prior reservation and often the bike can be dropped off at another location, so you have quite a bit of flexibility. The process of renting a bike varies by program so you need to do some research to determine if the program is available for tourists. A good starting point is the Bike Sharing Blog, a website that provides information on many bicycle sharing programs.
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Topics: Bicycle Websites |