Tandem bicycles are built to take the rigors of the road, not mistreatment by the airlines.
Dr. David Cleveland and Stacey Butterfield of British Columbia rode their tandem on a 5,000-mile bike trip across Canada this summer to raise at least $10,000 for the Heart and Stroke Foundation.
Returning to Vancouver, they discovered that the tandem had been smashed while on the Air Canada flight home. The back end of the frame was “badly damaged” and the rear wheel was bent.
Limited liability
The bike damage has received more news in the Canadian media than their fund-raising ride from their home in Penticton, British Columbia, to St. John's, Newfoundland. The damage meant they couldn't finish the remaining miles from Vancouver to Penticton for a true transCanadian bike tour.
The Hearts Across Canada website reports that Air Canada has assumed limited liability for damage to the bicycle. The airline is providing their maximum compensation of $1,500, plus $1,000 in travel vouchers.
The pair estimated a new frame would cost $3,000 to $4,000.
They note in the bike tour journal:
“The Air Canada staff pointed out to us that some of the suitcases are heavy and could have fallen against the bike. It seems to me that this damage to a steel frame could not be the result of a heavy suitcase!”
The two left Penticton on June 23 and arrived in St. John's on Aug. 28. They raised $10,000 so far, but expect more from funds raised enroute are tallied.
Planning to fly?
If you plan to ship your bicycle as luggage with an airline, there are a couple of websites worth visiting for some very helpful advice.
For starters there Bike Access, which basically is a clearinghouse for everyone's horror stories about shipping their bicycles as luggage. It also has an airline-by-airline rundown.
There's also iBike, which tracks trends for airline baggage regulations for bicycles primarily for international travel.
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