Once in the airport, we found a space to prep the bikes into ‘flight-mode’ and bag them up. This took about half an hour and we had arrived thirty minutes earlier than we normally would have to account for this.

I’d recommend doing a ‘dress-rehearsal’ of this at home, prior to the flight. Having done this made the process much quicker and less stressful for us. It also meant that we arrived prepared with various bits of kit to aid the process. First up was some cardboard (a mid-quality pizza box!), to protect the back de-railers. This was held in place using the big roll of sticky tape we had also brought.

A yogurt carton protected the front light and after twisting the handlebars, these, and the front wheel, were locked into place using some straps, cut from an old rucksack.

I also used my towel to give the brake and gear levers a bit of padding too. Waterbottles were left in the holders to stop them from getting snapped.

Once the peddles were off, we put the bikes into the clear plastic bags and taped up the ends to seal them in. Now, obviously a box or a padded bag will give more protection, but our thinking was that if a baggage handler can see that it’s a bike, they might be more inclined to treat it gently and not throw it about or stack a load of heavy suitcases on top of it. The other advantage to us, was that after the flight we could fold up the bag and stash it in the bottom of a pannier while we went on our cycle tour. Then once back at the airport, we could reuse it for the homeward journey.

As a team of two, once the bikes were packed, we used the remaining tape to bundle the panniers into a heavy duty big plastic bag. (Clare used a couple of bin bags and I had an old orange emergency bivi bag that mountain walkers carry). This created us a single package each which could be checked into the plane as normal luggage. Clare was able to push the pannier parcels on a baggage trolley, while I was able to lift the bikes by the seats by standing between them and walk them to the check-in desk. Once flight labels were stuck on, we took them to the ‘outsided baggage’ area and handed them over.

Having flown to the desired destination, all we had to do was complete the process in reverse. Panniers were retrieved from their bin bag parcels, packaging and cardboard disposed of.

We then folded the bags up carefully and stashed them away ready for next time. If you’re lucky enough to land in a bike-friendly city like Copenhagen, you might even find a designated area to do this, complete with bins, bike pump and mechanic rack!

With the bikes back together, we pushed through the customs zone and out into the sunshine and peddled off….