Place to leave a bicycle box in London?

[Greenband]

Hello,

I am hoping to do a bike tour in Britain. My plans for storing my bicycle box may not work out. Anyone know of a place to store a suitcase sized box in London? I would like to find something less expensive than the train station left luggage option.


Thanks

 

[Riding in Circles]

I imagine some kind person on here could find some space for it in return for a couple of beers.

 

[gaz]

I imagine some kind person on here could find some space for it in return for a couple of beers.

That's probably your best option..

Where abouts in london would you like to leave the box? It's a pretty big place and there are a few of us scattered over it.

 

[slowmotion]

How big is the box? If it fits through our loft hatch, you might be able to stash it in Hammersmith.

 

[longers]

You could leave it here, but I'm not in London (near Manchester).

Have a good trip and please bring some decent weather with you.

 

[Paulus]

I may have room in my shed if you wanted, how long would the storage be for?

 

[johnr]

Hello,

I am hoping to do a bike tour in Britain

Have you seen the weather forecasts? ...

but don't worry, it's always sunny in Yorkshire. Enjoy your visit.

 

[Greenband]

Thanks all.

I'm staying by Queensway now. The bike in box is stored in Waterloo now. I can get anywhere with the tube easily.

It's a suitcase sized box since the bike has couplers to break it apart. The box is 61 cm x 61 cm x 26 cm. https://lh4.googleus...y%252520007.jpg

I'm not sure how long I will be going, probably around 12 days. My plan is to go to Stonehenge on Tuesday for the solstice. Maybe without the bike to make logistics easier.

I would like to take a train to Land's End and start riding north. Eventually I would like to ride through Wales and Scotland but I will probably have to come back another time to complete the journey. I could probably get as far as Bristol this time. The guidebook I have, Lonely Planet Cycling Britain (1st ed from 2000ish), breaks the days up into about 100 km. That's an enjoyable pace. About 20 days to John O'Groats, but without visiting Wales. I may stop earlier to have more time visit friends in France and potentially catch the TdF early stages in Brittany.

The train station storage is also possible if I'm not able to connect with anyone here. I would be happy to buy some beers and share cycling stories.

Any comments are appreciated. I don't know about taking bikes on trains towards Stonehenge or Land's End for example. I am planning to ask at the train station.

Thanks.

 

[Globalti]

You do realise that you won't be allowed anywhere near Stonehenge?

 

[PaulSB]

Any comments are appreciated. I don't know about taking bikes on trains towards Stonehenge or Land's End for example. I am planning to ask at the train station.

Bikes on trains is not generally a problem, I do live in the north though!! My one piece of advice re bikes and trains would be to always, always make sure you get a bike reservation. This may be an actual bike ticket or just a reference number. Without a reservation you can be refused entry to the train for your bike - it depends very much on the attitude of the train staff. For example on Friday last I saw several people refused put their bikes on a train to Glasgow as they had no reservation, I was getting the next train to Edinburgh and had a reservation. I had expected to be asked for this but wasn't despite having to store my bike across a carriage door for the whole journey. In theory the number of bikes per train is severly limited and so a reservation always pays off.

 

[benb]

I've got room in my garage and would be happy to store it for a few weeks/months.
I'm in Epsom though, so not sure if that fits in with your plans.

 

[HLaB]

Bikes on trains is not generally a problem, I do live in the north though!! My one piece of advice re bikes and trains would be to always, always make sure you get a bike reservation. This may be an actual bike ticket or just a reference number. Without a reservation you can be refused entry to the train for your bike - it depends very much on the attitude of the train staff. For example on Friday last I saw several people refused put their bikes on a train to Glasgow as they had no reservation, I was getting the next train to Edinburgh and had a reservation. I had expected to be asked for this but wasn't despite having to store my bike across a carriage door for the whole journey. In theory the number of bikes per train is severly limited and so a reservation always pays off.

Yet on the train on most of the trains within central Scotland you can't actually book a space, just on the longer distance services. Touchwood the only time I have been refused on board with my bike was on one of those longer distance trains (Inverness to Edinburgh, I was getting on at Perth).

 

[mistral]

I've got space close to Waterloo - it will be safe & secure, drop me a pm

 

[Greenband]

I thought there is some kind of festival for the solstice at Stonehenge. The website says the site is opened up. I didn't realize it is tonight through.

http://www.efestivals.co.uk/festivals/stonehenge/
http://www.efestivals.co.uk/festivals/stonehenge/2011/

 

[Greenband]

Thanks for the welcomes.

I checked the weather for Scotland before leaving to see what kind of clothes to bring. I saw it was getting down to about 4 C at night. I should be good to ride and camp with what I have but I could buy an additional layer or full gloves if needed.

I asked at the train station about bike reservations and he said I didn't need any.

PM sent to Paulus and mistral with my email for coordinating. Thanks a lot!