I respectfully disagree... reliable secondary transportation can be vital
on a long trip. I bicycled many a mile through Buffalo, Wyoming while my
van was laid up with a dead alternator. It's a small town, but the two auto
parts stores are on opposite ends.

The key (for me) was to get a fold-down hitch-mounted rack, so the bike can
be easily folded down out of the way when I want to open the rear hatch.
The rack I have lets me do this while the bike is still locked onto the rack.

Sure, I probably reduced my gas mileage a bit, but it was nice to be able
to pedal around a town or campground while the westie was parked. I didn't
use it every day (by any means), but the
times I used it made it worth the weight to bring along.

My $.02 (US)

Tim

At 09:09 AM 5/26/2005 -0700, mark drillock wrote:
>Bikes can be one of the worst
>things to bring along. If you are not a hardcore and disciplined rider
>don't bring them traveling.