Van Rental

[cyclingfool]

Seven seems ambitious if you mean 7 bikes, 7 seated adults, and all gear in one vehicle. But a cargo van (bikes and gear plus two seated in front) plus a car big enough to seat the other 5 adult passengers would probably still be pretty affordable split seven ways. I recently (just for shiggles) checked out the cost of a small car on Enterprise to drive from NoVA to Pbgh for my imaginary GAP-C&O ride. I was pleasantly surprised how cheap a one way rental on a gas-sipping economy car would be. Kinda sad, but made me realize that when I finally do said trip, it won’t even be worth it to mess with a train or bus, between cost competitiveness, time, and scheduling. If you get an early enough start, you should be able to drop off rentals in Pgbh and make it out to one of the closer in camping spots along the GAP before dark.

[n18]

You could rent a cargo trailer from U-Haul, or Budget.

Other options:

https://www.google.com/?gws_rd=ssl#q=bus+Rental

[eminva]

Hello –

kayakcindy and I rented a minivan from Enterprise and returned it in downtown Pittsburgh for our GAP trip a couple of months ago. There were only two of us so we were able to roll our bikes right into the back without even needing to remove the front wheels. For seven of you, I would think cyclingfool’s approach would be best.

And yes, cyclingfool, you can do it exactly as you are speculating. The Enterprise office downtown is right near the trailhead. They have a key drop if you get there after hours. See Strava. We didn’t quite make it to camp before dark, although if we’d left DC a bit earlier, or stopped for fewer photos, we certainly would have.

Liz

[culimerc]

I’ve seen listings for 15 passenger vans. My thinking was that we could take out the last -2- rows of seats in order fit the bikes, sideways w/out frt wheels.

We’re staying in B&B’s along the way, so luggage will be at a minimum. I’d like to keep the number of vehicles to a minimum if at all possible.

[UnknownCyclist]

Rent a 12′ van from U-Haul and put the extra passengers in back. Can you say coyote?

[eminva]

@culimerc 92092 wrote:

I’ve seen listings for 15 passenger vans. My thinking was that we could take out the last -2- rows of seats in order fit the bikes, sideways w/out frt wheels.

We’re staying in B&B’s along the way, so luggage will be at a minimum. I’d like to keep the number of vehicles to a minimum if at all possible.

Where are you going to put the seats then? Don’t you have to turn them in in Pittsburgh with the vehicle?

[Emm]

@eminva 92100 wrote:

Where are you going to put the seats then? Don’t you have to turn them in in Pittsburgh with the vehicle?

There is a point to be made about the car’s seats–a few weeks ago I set my bike’s front wheel on the floor of my car (the rest of my bike was on a roof rack), and it rested lightly against a leather seat. This left a permanent mark on the leather where the quick release lever touched it. The leather on that spot is ruined, and it was only touching it for a 5 mile trip.

It sucks for my car, but would be way worse if it was a rental. They charge you a TON for those types of fixes.

[Author]

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