Mr. Wayne Bingham's much more thorough description of packing posted just after I sent my mail, and that is very much the way my bike was shipped, with the following exceptions:
1. my box was designed to hold the frame sans real wheel attached, instead the wheels were in their own separate boxes w/bubble wrap, inside of the main box.
2. stem was removed from the bars, both were secured in the void between the fork and the down tube.
3. steel bolts were used to brace the drop outs.
4. no plywood, just cardboard re-enforcement.
Michael Lebron
NYC