All Aboard!

Bikes and trains are a magic combination. And hella rare.

Public Domain image by Ian Livesay, courtesy of CreativeCommons. For more of Livesay’s work, visit his website.

I’m standing on a railroad platform, and I’m about to do something I’ve wanted to do for years.

It’s nothing crazy. It may be the simplest thing you can do while standing up.

With one hand, I clutch my handlebars. With the other, I hold my saddle to steady the bike. My Dahon Curl is heavy — weighed down by loaded panniers, a four-season sleeping bag, and a tent. I push forward, through the door, and into the waiting train.

And that’s it. That’s what I’ve waited much of my adult life to do: put my bike on a train.

Even now, as I steady my Dahon against the wall and push down a retractable seat, I feel like I’m getting away with a crime. Even though the online schedule says “bikes permitted.” Even though there’s a bicycle graphic printed on the side of this passenger car. Even though there’s a rack built into the wall, so you can safely fasten your bike with two rubber straps. It still feels too good to be true.

The train is practically empty. It’s 11 a.m., after all. I ask a conductor where, exactly, I can put my bike. I explain that…