Bicycle Rental

Bicycle Rental Overseas

Cycling overseas in a foreign country can be a great experience. If you decide to hire a bike when on holiday then getting your bike to the start of the trail is usually one of the biggest challenges. If you are lucky you can cycle it from the rental shop just like I did when on vacation in Bath, England. The store, Avon Valley Cycle Hire was near the town centre and behind the centrally located train station. Fortunately the cycle path was less that 1/2KM from store. Contrast this with the time I hired four bikes from a cycle store for my wife, my two four year old children (twins) and I in Noirmoutier France. This time I had to rent the bikes from a near by small village five miles from the intended cycle path. Peddles were hanging out of the back of the car they were everywhere! The trunk was held open with string to prevent the protruding bikes from tumbling onto the highway. In addition passports were required before I was allowed to remove the bikes from Madam Memechat's store along with a means of payment that I have never heard of "carte blu"?

I was on the verge of leaving one of my children as a deposit when the owner of the cycle store must have had sympathy for me and decided that I could leave my driving license and a promise to pay when we had finished the rental for that week. Don't get me wrong. Noirmoutier was an excellent place to cycle but obtaining the bikes for the family including two MTB's was tantamount to a military operation. At one point the Peugeot 204 we had rented (not a SUV by the way) was receiving some very strong stares from the locals who must have though I had been stealing the cycles from local lamposts and piling them into the back of the car for onward sale to Parisian families in dire need of new bikes. Is there a point to this story? I suppose if there is it is do the leg work from a computer before heading out on a cycling vacation. Find out where the cycle hire shop is in relation to your accommodation. Can you walk there?(the ideal situation). Do you need to drive? Do a route map if going by car and find the nearest parking and make sure you have enough cash to pay for the parking! What does the cycle shop need from you to release their bikes? When abroad I take my passport with me everywhere. My driving license is in English and not everyone can recognize its validity especially in non city destinations.

Let's be honest which would you feel safer with if you were leasing your bikes to a foreigner a driving license or a passport? At least you can understand part of a passport. Before leaving your house speak to the shop on the telephone. Inquire about shop opening times, cycle rates, conditions of hire in advance. This will give you an idea of your ability to communicate with them and how many interpreters you may need to assist the process. As a general rule when you get to the cycle shop get the conditions of hire in writing, pay by credit card or check, examine the bike before leaving the shop and most importantly make sure the bikes fit in the boot of your car!

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