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Not even looking at how much of a ball ache trying to sort out which trains and what stupid requirements they have, it's the price/time that kills it. It's why I fly most of the time. At least they're pretty consistently shit and I know how to work around it. Trains w/ bikes seem so random. The same journey you've taken one time - you take again but get a different train or different conductor and you're fucked.
hippy-
UK train travel with bikes is a pain - other than maybe going to Scotland when you have bike reservations lined up. And it takes more time both to plan a train journey and to do it - so it simply doesn't work for some people or for some trips.
But I do have a thing about doing long journeys across Europe by train - in many ways its at least as much fun as doing it by bike. Sure it takes more research and preparation, but it is fun in a way that travelling by plane never is.
I got hooked on it after I had to quit the TCR in 2019. The train journey back from Austria was both fun and a good opportunity to spend time reflecting.
Going to Zagreb and back last year worked well - 24 hours each way including a sleeper. Highlights included bantering with football fans from Slovenia and Serbia, and the scenery: the Vosges, Strasbourg, Sava Valley through Slovenia - some places I've cycled through and some I haven't.
Having rinko sorted makes it less stressful as I don't have to do the bike reservation element, which adds too much complexity. I find spending an extra hour taking a bike to bits is less tedious than spending the same amount of time researching bike reservations.
frank9755
It's the lack of decent connections (much) beyond Barcelona that kills it. If you had an hour between trains you'd be there for tea time, 24 hours total.