It's a bummer that Amtrak reduced bike capacity without alerting customers, but help is on the way.
I booked with a bicycle on Hiawatha last weekend and Amtrak called me two hours before departure to tell me that they were cancelling the bicycle reservation. When I went down to MKE intermodal to see what they could do for me, they told me they'd honor the reservation. :)
"The reliability issue with the NPCU’s has also cost us checked baggage on the Hiawatha trains, which affects all potential passengers, cyclists and otherwise," Magliari said.