PO Box 7286 • San Jose, CA 95150 • www.actc.org

The Black &

Blue Bottom

Almaden Cycle Touring Club, Inc.

August 2007

Tour Tested

Rick Madden

Sometimes a tour incorporates convenient transportation to the

start or home after the finish. (At the end of my last two tours,

which originated from our house, Sarah picked me up in Denver

and Laramie, respectively.) Less often, a tour takes a circular

route back to home or car.

Getting to this year’s tour presented a challenge. The kick-off

city was Eugene, Oregon. I could fly, but the charge to ship my

bike by plane did not appeal to my thrifty nature. I could rent a

car, but I was going alone, so I would have to foot the entire cost

of the car rental and gas (at $3.39 a gallon when I left). Plus,

upon closer investigation, I found that I could not turn in any

rentals in Eugene. My closest drop off city was Portland, over

100 miles to the north. My touring friend, Il Falco, has always

been a proponent of Amtrak. Now was the time for Tour Tested

to ride the rails and report the findings to you.

Purchasing Amtrak tickets was easy. The Amtrak Web site was

full of information on routes, stations, baggage and the like.

The first rate I saw was $79…not bad, but let’s wait a bit and

see just how badly they wanted my business. After a few weeks

the rate slid down a few dollars, to the mid-60s. With a AAA

discount of 10%, my ticket price was $57.60.

Next came transportation of the bike. The airlines wanted $80,

and I have heard quotes $20 higher. Amtrak wanted a $5 ser-

vice charge, plus $10 for a cardboard box. Instant savings! If

you happen to get to an Amtrak station when another traveler

is discarding their box, you are ten bucks to the better. The

grand total was now $72.60, a heady savings over both rental

car and airlines.

I have to say I was a little frantic about the box. I had night-

mares about arriving at Didiron Station an hour before my

train departed and finding they were out of boxes. I went to the

station twice before I left and they assured me they had plenty

of boxes.

In addition to my bike, I was allowed two bags weighing up to

50 lbs. each (I packed my tent and three panniers in a duffel),

plus two carry-on bags. They seemed fairly liberal about carry-

on baggage, as I saw some large suitcases being brought on.

Checked baggage is an important point. It can only be loaded

and unloaded at a manned station, and those stations are few

and far between. For instance, I could only check a bike at San

Jose, Sacramento, Klamath Falls and Eugene. Before planning

an Amtrak trip with your bike, check the Web site for manned

stations.

Ben & Jerry’s Social but not without Sandy

Ben Mandac, Jerry Schonewille, and Sa ndy Lorber

The now annual social event will be on Saturday 4th August.

Many rides will start and end at the picnic site. We will meet

at the Almaden lake park pavilion for the Social. Parking rates

are better at the VTA lot behind the apartments on Coleman

and Winfield. There are many rides to pick from so all should

see one to their liking. It is always good to unload some calories

prior to loading up on more. So plan on riding then enjoying

the B&J Social. Please RSVP by Wednesday 1st August to:

sandy.lorber@comcast.net so we can have a good idea on how

many are coming. Feel free to also volunteer to help out. We

need it all: setup, serving, clean up, mule loaders, potion

makers, varmint extractors, and therapists. Contact us if there

are any questions.

TUESDAY 7th AUGUST 7PM

First Congregational Church

Leigh & Hamilton, San Jose

Terry Shaw (of Shaw’s Lightweight Cycles and an ACTC

founding member) will give an update on track cycling

on the newly refurbished velodrome. If time permits,

he will also show us how to do a proper bike-fit.

Continued on page 2

Lynn Repetsky and Sandy Lorber @ 2006 B&J