Foreign Travel

[Karla]

Trying to decide whether to go to Italy next week. is the hassle worth it or has lockdown just shrunk my horizons.
Further question on top of PCR related ones - has anyone had issues bringing their expensive bike back into UK out Brexit - presumably it's my bike I took it out and am now bringing it back remains the case without additional paperwork

You know that it’s your bike, but how does a border official know. A friend provides race service across Europe at events including cycling. He has a Carnet for everything he brings into the U.K.
It all depends on the official of course. As a minimum I’d have some date and location stamped and witnessed photos of the bike. It might not be necessary, but you don’t want an issue.Details of the event, ideally listing you and the bike would also be handy.
I can remember the old days when one went out to race in Belgium with old worn parts on the bike, to return with shiny new Campag ( these were the days of purchase tax in the U.K.).

Over the years I have travelled quite a lot with a bike and I know a lot of others that do too. Going through “nothing to declare” I have never been stopped (including coming back from Italy at the weekend). It would be different if you were travelling with a van load of unaccompanied bikes in which case paperwork would definitely be required.

Over the years we’ve been in the EU though.

Eh?  There will be no issue whatsoever.  I've traveled to dozens of non-EU countries with a bike and the rest of the forum have traveled to hundreds more.  I've never ever, before or since Brexit or even going to countries that have nothing to do with Brexit, had a problem with customs when taking a bike as luggage and I've never heard of anyone else having a problem either.

[quixoticgeek]

Eh?  There will be no issue whatsoever.  I've traveled to dozens of non-EU countries with a bike and the rest of the forum have traveled to hundreds more.  I've never ever, before or since Brexit or even going to countries that have nothing to do with Brexit, had a problem with customs when taking a bike as luggage and I've never heard of anyone else having a problem either.

Given the total number of countries in the world is in the region of 190. 27 of them are EU, a further handful or so are EEA, and similar immigration policies. That leaves about 150-160... To say "hundreds more" seems... utter bollocks. As there aren't even hundreds to start with...

J

[FifeingEejit]

What's the deal with shipping bikes anyway?
If they're attended are they covered by the international conventions on road traffic and therefore covered by its rules of recognition or is it something else that means when you wrap up a bike and put it to the whim of baggage handlers you don't get hammered for customs in the same way you do when you hand it to a courier to ship?
Know a few people who've got fairly hefty bills from the later.

Would also be interested to know what the countries that aren't signatories of the conventions do with bikes, I vaugely remember reading thst China and possibly Russia charge an import fee, register your car in their system and give you a local plate for motorised vehicles.

Sent from my BKL-L09 using Tapatalk

[Davef]

Eh?  There will be no issue whatsoever.  I've traveled to dozens of non-EU countries with a bike and the rest of the forum have traveled to hundreds more.  I've never ever, before or since Brexit or even going to countries that have nothing to do with Brexit, had a problem with customs when taking a bike as luggage and I've never heard of anyone else having a problem either.

Given the total number of countries in the world is in the region of 190. 27 of them are EU, a further handful or so are EEA, and similar immigration policies. That leaves about 150-160... To say "hundreds more" seems... utter bollocks. As there aren't even hundreds to start with...

J

Perhaps the word “nations” would have been better. When you include autonomous dependent territories and other “stuff” international travel options are in the hundreds. Most people would include for example going to the the Turks and Caicos islands as foreign travel. Despite using US dollars and requiring you to show your passport and never being part of the EU it is not a separate “country” to the U.K.

On one 600km ride I made 8 international border crossings (4 borders x 2 crossings each) but only visited one foreign country. My bike was not seized.

[LittleWheelsandBig]

I had to go through the bollocks of paperwork to fly with my bike between Oz, the UK and return. Despite that, I got the third degree from a uniformed bureaucrat about taking a bike out and back. Somehow my near-dead cheap touring bike transmuted into a nice Guerciotti while abroad and my approved form couldn’t tell the difference (neither could the stuffed shirt). That was over 30 years ago though.

[ppg]

Eh?  There will be no issue whatsoever.  I've traveled to dozens of non-EU countries with a bike and the rest of the forum have traveled to hundreds more.  I've never ever, before or since Brexit or even going to countries that have nothing to do with Brexit, had a problem with customs when taking a bike as luggage and I've never heard of anyone else having a problem either.

Given the total number of countries in the world is in the region of 190. 27 of them are EU, a further handful or so are EEA, and similar immigration policies. That leaves about 150-160... To say "hundreds more" seems... utter bollocks. As there aren't even hundreds to start with...

J

Perhaps the word “nations” would have been better. When you include autonomous dependent territories and other “stuff” international travel options are in the hundreds. Most people would include for example going to the the Turks and Caicos islands as foreign travel. Despite using US dollars and requiring you to show your passport and never being part of the EU it is not a separate “country” to the U.K.

On one 600km ride I made 8 international border crossings (4 borders x 2 crossings each) but only visited one foreign country. My bike was not seized.

249 by ISO country code apparently, so hundreds is technically not t*st*cul*r

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ISO_3166-1

[quixoticgeek]

249 by ISO country code apparently, so hundreds is technically not t*st*cul*r

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ISO_3166-1

Except they are not mapped 1:1. For instance GB and UK are both assigned to the same country...

https://youtu.be/4AivEQmfPpk

Suggests there 193 recognised by the UN, and 202 recognised by the Olympics. Tho given how the Olympics treats Porto Rico as a country when it is part of the US, and also includes a number of UK over seas territories. Unless someone here has visited North Korea with a bike, it would be very difficult to tip us collectively over the 200 mark. And that would require we as a collective to have literally visited every single country in existence.

Hundreds we have not.

Why yes, I am being pedantic, but as the person I replied to has told me I'm an obese woman who doesn't want to do intensity. I have some time on my hands this weekend.

J

[Cudzoziemiec]

"Unless someone here has visited North Korea with a bike,"

Can be done, it seems:
https://www.serk.cc/northkorea/

For the first time ever, Koryo Tours and Serk Cycling have negotiated access for a group of foreign cyclists to ride through North Korea.

For the inaugural Pyongyang Randonnée in 2021, we will ride south from Pyongyang to Kaesong (near the border with South Korea), cycle around the iconic May Day stadium in the heart of the city, test our legs on Dragon Mountain outside the capital, and then charter a plane to fly to the remote mountain roads of the fabled Mt Paektu in the far north - the sacred birthplace of the Korean people.

To enter North Korea it is necessary to fly through our home city of Beijing. Beijing is home to some some of Asia's best unfound cycling so we've curated a special 4 day Beijing experience to blow your socks off and boost the total km for the ride.

https://www.uritours.com/tours/north-korea-bike-tour/

7 NIGHTS  –  FROM €1580
** DPRK Visa and return flights from Beijing included! Taking the train is possible and you’ll be eligible for a discount. Contact us! **

Our North Korea Bike Tour is unlike any tour ever offered! It’s geared towards the active traveler rather than professional cyclists, offering a healthy mix of traditional sightseeing opportunities and intimate encounters with North Korea’s untouched landscape and culture. We cover an unprecedented number of routes, take a look at our blog post for an inside look!

https://www.youngpioneertours.com/cycling-around-pyongyang/

In 2016 YPT led the first ever group of tourists for a city bicycle tour of Pyongyang. This was a major milestone achieved; a new way to explore the capital city, as previously tourists have been restricted to hopping off and on buses. Now we can spend more time outdoors, stay active, and experience how a North Korean makes their way around Pyongyang – giving us foreigners a better understanding of their daily life. Here’s why we love cycling around Pyongyang.

Your chance to be the first, three times over!

[Davef]

Are there tens of countries, hundreds of countries or thousands of countries ?

Perhaps there is a hole in the logarithmic continuum and the answer is none of the above.

[Pingu]

Dozens.

[Pingu]

Scores.

[Pingu]

A several.

[jsabine]

Many.

[Mr Larrington]

Twelvety!

[Karla]

Millions!

Why yes, I am being pedantic, but as the person I replied to has told me I'm an obese woman who doesn't want to do intensity. I have some time on my hands this weekend.

To be a successful pedant, you need to start by being correct.  Try working on that.

[quixoticgeek]

To be a successful pedant, you need to start by being correct.  Try working on that.

193 is not hundreds.

193 minus 27 is not hundreds.

Even 202 minus 27 is not hundreds.

And that's ignoring the additional countries outside the EU, but which share free movement with the EU, and thus the reduced hassle of taking a bike across the border.

You say I am not right.

[Citation needed]

J

[Davef]

Thousands of years ago the son of god was crucified and then reincarnated.

No, total bullshit, it was less than 2 thousand so not thousands (plural) of years. Clearly I have totally debunked the Christianity.

To celebrate this achievement I shall therefore indulge myself in a slice of toast (1.97 slice of toast to be precise but still not quite slices).

[quixoticgeek]

Thousands of years ago the son of god was crucified and then reincarnated.

No, total bullshit, it was less than 2 thousand so not thousands (plural) of years. Clearly I have totally debunked the Christianity.

To celebrate this achievement I shall therefore indulge myself in a slice of toast (1.97 slice of toast to be precise but still not quite slices).

[citation needed]

Also, nice work to bring religion in with a reductio ad absurdum attempt...

J

[mrcharly-YHT]

Shouldn't we be counting countries by London buses, or 'size of wales', or swimming pools.

[quixoticgeek]

Shouldn't we be counting countries by London buses, or 'size of wales', or swimming pools.

I did love the headline of when a country the size of Wales played football against a country the size of Belgium...

J

[Regulator]

One must also remember that there is a difference between a country (basically a geographic concept), a nation (a social concept) and a state (a legal concept) - although accept there are overlaps.

The UK (1 UN member state) comprises 4 countries and arguably 5-6 nations (depending on whether you're Cornish or not).

[Davef]

One must also remember that there is a difference between a country (basically a geographic concept), a nation (a social concept) and a state (a legal concept) - although accept there are overlaps.

The UK (1 UN member state) comprises 4 countries and arguably 5-6 nations (depending on whether you're Cornish or not).

I think integers are too restrictive. The republic of Kosovo should count as approximately half a country as it is recognised by 97 of the 195 members of the UN.

[grams]

The UK usage of “country” is a weird inversion to make a semi-autonomous province the size of Wales stop bombing shit and excuse us having too many football teams.

[Davef]

Liechtenstein and Vatican City are proper countries but Bermuda isn’t.

Perhaps Karla should have phrased it more precisely - “the number of countries not in the EU is an order of magnitude greater than the number within the EU.”

[Regulator]

Liechtenstein and Vatican City are proper countries but Bermuda isn’t.

Perhaps Karla should have phrased it more precisely - “the number of countries not in the EU is an order of magnitude greater than the number within the EU.”

Err... technically, the Vatican is not a country.  It is a city state.