Summer Driving

Here is my brain dump on driving to resorts for downhill mountain biking. It mostly applies to long distance road trips in the US southeast. It may not fully apply to other locales of the country. It isn’t a check list per se, but is meant to give you a mental bump draft when you are in the planning phase of a trip and you find yourself having to shift mentally from, for example, driving to soccer tournaments or planning a birthday party or making a work presentation to driving to bike parks.

• Keep your car serviced, get oil changes and check tires and fluid levels and brakes and wind shield wipers before the season starts.
• Keep your device’s iOS updated.
• Check the weather forecast for the dates of travel. Expect rain and abrupt changes in weather once you are in the mountains. Avoid traveling at night when heavy rain or severe thunderstorms are forecast. But if you find yourself driving in a heavy rain storm and you feel concerned, put on your hazard lights and pull over in a parking lot as soon as possible.
• Before a trip, wash and vacuum your car (this is optional but it’s very helpful bc your car will get pretty dirty from the trip and it helps to keep the sanity).
• Get gas (or charge your EV)
• Check map and route before setting out. Consider printing the route or saving it to your phone. You may lose gps service en route. Find EV charging stations if necessary.
• Load roof top carrier to transport extra gear. In my case, it’s two person job and so I have to make a point to do that task when help is available even if that’s well before the trip.
• Grocery shop and pack coolers and load suitcases before putting the bike rack on the rear of the car if your bike rack impedes your rear hatch.
• When traveling with a roof top carrier and/or a rear bike rack, devise your own mental reminder of the added height and length of your car. I always think of myself as wearing a very tall top hat and having a comically huge backside (Like a pachyderm wearing a top hat and a bustle dress 😜). I also make a mental note that fast food drive throughs and tight parking lots are strictly prohibited. I tend to park in the farthest most open spots of retail parking.
• Have spare change in case you have to drive through toll booths.
• When traveling with bikes, make extra certain the bikes are securely attached to the rack. We have had bikes take flight off of the back of our car while going down an interstate. It’s no fun.
• When traveling with expensive bikes, it’s smart to lock up the bike or always have a person stay in the car at pit stops along the way. 
• When booking hotel rooms or vrbo, ask yourself, where will the bikes go? Are bikes allowed in the hotel room or rental unit? Is there a bike washing station nearby?
• When traveling with bikes, you are always limited by the number of bikes your rack can carry. So if you need to add a person to the trip, or, for example, you buy or rent a bike while on the trip for a side excursion, you always have to think through the bike rack limit. This sounds very elementary. But when the fun starts and you meet up with friends and plans change, problem solving can get truncated in the moment and you don’t want to be the last car to pull out of the parking lot with one extra bike that can’t fit in or on your car.
• When traveling in the mountains, go the speed limit because: deer, potholes, rock slides and hydroplaning are all possibilities. We have a friend who was dive bombed by a buzzard.
• When traveling in most places in the US, but especially in small mountain towns, be aware of lone pedestrians walking on narrow shoulders of the road while wearing dark clothing. They blend into the scenery. Be alert to keep them safe and avoid any tragedy.
• Do not drive while drowsy and wear seat belts at all times. Pull over at a safe spot and nap if you need to.
• Give 18-wheelers and especially logging trucks a lot of space. We recently passed a truck that had taken an escape ramp and was nestled into the deep gulley of the structure like road kill. It left an impression on me. The size and force of trucks in the mountains and the chances they lose their braking ability isn’t something to wave off. It happens.
• After a trip, insist that kids help unload the car and throw away trash and wrappers from the trip.
• After the trip get your car washed and vacuumed (insist that kids help). If you normally take your car through a car wash, the car top carrier (obviously) and bike rack have to be removed first. I add this bc I sometimes keep the bike rack on all summer and I’ll get in a car line at the car wash and once I am locked into the line, then I remember the rack is on the car and just completely waste my own time.
• After every trip, check the roof top carrier’s linkage to your car if you plan to keep it in all summer. Ours has knobs on the inside that screw down and tighten clamps on the railing. The screws can loosen over time. It’s also possible for thieves to easily unscrew and steal an expensive car top carrier so keep it locked at all times. Keep your keys n a special place.
• After and during trips, check the bike rack linkage and keep the rack locked at the tow package insert.
• If you remove the bike rack or car top carrier, label and store the keys and locks and any specific hardware you need such as a hex wrench so you can easily find everything fit the next trip.
• After the trip insist that your kids wash and lube their own bikes.