I intend to update this post as Gert and I experience new airports. I have only included airports where I have attempted to ride my bike either to or from the airport.USA
DCA – National Airport (Washington, DC)
LAS – McCarran Airport (Las Vegas, NV)
MCI – Kansas City Airport (Kansas City, MO)
ORD – O’Hare Airport (Chicago, IL)
SEA – Seattle-Tacoma
SFO – San Francisco
Europe
BGO – Bergen
HEL – Helsinki
San Francisco (SFO)
Grade: A
SFO is very easy to ride in and out of. There is a bike lane running along the major roads in the airport. Before every riding my bike into the airport I used to ride through here on my way down the peninsula. There is a shop that sells cardboard boxes which is convenient but they cost ~$40 last time I checked. It was a very high quality cardboard box that was bigger than the average bike box but still, $40 for a cardboard box that I’m going to through away a few hours later is crazy. You can ride in and out of the airport from San Francisco or the nearby towns, or hop on BART or Caltrain and easily get to the east bay or south bay. I vaguely remember seeing some tools there but I can’t remember where.
Seattle-Tacoma (SeaTac) (SEA)
Grade: A
SEA has a built in floor pump in the baggage claim area as well as a tool rack. The airport is easy to ride in and out of but is also convenient for catching the train into Seattle. The first time I flew in here with bikes was 2012. My sister took the train into Seattle to pick up a ZipCar, drove back to the airport where I was waiting patiently with our boxed bikes, then drove back to the ZipCar parking space. It wasn’t terribly convenient but we weren’t familiar with the airport and had never been to Seattle before. I flew here twice in 2018 solo. I built my bike at the airport each time; the first time I rode to Seattle (not super pretty but easy) and the second time I took the train.
National Airport – Washington, DC (DCA)
Grade: A-
The Mount Vernon trail runs past the airport making it really easy to get to DCA. The reason I gave it an A- instead of an A is because I’ve always had trouble figuring out how to get from the trail to the airport. It’s clearly visible but there’s a maze of a parking garage to get through and I’ve always just found it confusing. I have not actually ridden my bike to catch a flight here but I have ridden my bike here and it is very easy to ride from or to catch the Metro if you’re riding outside of rush hour.
Fun fact: my touring bike, Gert, was the last bike to fly on Virgin America as it is very likely (although not totally confirmed) that the evening DCA-SFO flight was the last Virgin America flight to land before the company was fully integrated into Alaska Airlines.
Bergen Airport (BGO)
Grade: A
There are bike routes posted to BGO which makes it pretty straightforward for the foreign bike tourist to find their way from BGO to Bergen, even in the middle of the night. The baggage claim area has tons of space to rebuild your bike. My research suggested that you can easily catch the train into Bergen but I was there in the middle of the night and didn’t see this.
Helsinki Airport (HEL)
Grade: A
The ride from the main city of Helsinki to the airport can be done almost entirely off road on bike trails, including a section that requires crossing a freeway. The trail ends at the terminal door. I had no problems riding here. I also found out that my wrench had rusted shut when I tried to remove my pedals at 2am. I was able to borrow a wrench from the information desk which they happily lent me although they made it clear they wanted it back. On a related but non-bike note, HEL is really well set up if you need to spend the night in the airport. The post-security side has comfy chairs without barriers between the seats, recliners, couches, tons of electrical outlets, and wifi. I know I’m very pro-Helsinki these days but after Singapore, this is the airport I would pick to have an overnight layover.
O’Hare Airport – Chicago, IL (ORD)
Grade: D+
I tried to ride my bike out of O’Hare. I did a few laps of the airport before pulling up alongside an airport police cruiser and asking for directions. He wanted to know how I got in in the first place (the bike came on the plane) and then informed me that I needed to take the train. The only roads feed the freeway. If it was the middle of the night I might chance it but it was rush hour and I was facing a long ride to my sister’s house in the city anyways so I just paid my CTA fare and took the train all the way in. That being said, the train is easily accessible from the airport and runs 24 hours a day, there is a ton of space to rebuild your bike in the baggage area, and everyone I met there while I was trying to get my bike out was very helpful which is why it scores a D+ even though you can’t ride in or out of the airport.
McCarran Airport – Las Vegas, NV (LAS)
Grade: A
McCarran is very close to the strip and Las Vegas has very good bike lanes and trails all around the city. The airport is easy to ride in and out of. I have also walked to LAS a few times which isn’t quite as easy because it involves crossing some big roads that you don’t have to do if you’re on the bike and don’t care about a little bit of extra distance. This was the only airport where I’ve had the airport bike police officers come up to me while I was rebuilding my bike. They genuinely seemed very interested in what I was doing. I think maybe it’s because it is a city that has a bike community but not much bike tourism so they were happy to see someone come to their neck of the woods to explore.
Kansas City Airport – Kansas City, MO (MCI)
Grade: B
I actually took the bus to MCI but I did do a bit of research on how to ride here. It is possible but it is a long ride from the city center (about 30 miles north). I took the bus which was a bit over an hour but is a regular city bus with the front bike rack so for $1.50 I avoided the heavy rain and possible flood zones on my way to the airport. The airport itself has plenty of space to spread out so packing was easy and there are plugs conveniently located so I could charge my phone without worrying about it being stolen or reported abandoned while I was packing. If the airport was closer to the city I would bump up the grade but it’s just a really long bike ride unless you happen to be in the northern KC suburbs already.
