SBR Utopia ---- Permanently OPEN!! (Page 46)

Yes, he did. I'm still laughing at the pre-race for both him and that of Angela Naeth. Especially after reading Angela's perspective.

Interesting idea. Would need to see about LC nats for 2015 first though. Can't get the idea of 2016 LC Worlds (a triple Oly) out of my head as it's based at the Redman course.

Ha, that was before my time with this group.  That was awesome.  

Love the idea (not at all because it's almost local, of course)!

Welcome Dale! Glad to see you in here!

Hey all, I'm back home, had a great vacation, feeling refreshed.

Good to see you Rudy, drop in once in awhile!

I'll see if I can put together a race report for the rest of you, once I get pics off my camera.  Maybe I'll finish it before Yanti completes her IMNZ 2013 report

Interesting idea.  Google maps says that's actually a shorter drive for me than Mt Tremblant.

BTW, it was hardly a shellacking.    Had we all started in the same wave, at the 10k turnaround point I think we were all within 4 mins of each other.

Got in a 2 x 20' on the bike and somehow survived masters, all after work.

Welcome, Dale and Rudy!  Good to add you to the mix

I spent a long weekend in CA last weekend....that meant I didn't get to bike, but it meant I got to do a bit more running than I usually do, and I got to swim in an LCM pool for the first time!  I wasn't sure how much the time difference would be between my normal SCM pool and the LCM pool, especially given that I have pretty crappy flip turns and a somewhat (okay, really) lazy streamline push off the wall.  Turns out that my crappy flip turn and lazy stream line are still faster than not doing them!  I was probably a good 2s/100m slower than my SCM times.  But it was pretty cool.

Heading out for a biking / camping trip with friends this weekend.  We're leaving Friday and will do a short ride when we get in to make sure everything is good to go....long, HILLY ride on Saturday, and a shorter (~2 hours?) ride Sunday followed by a short run.  Should be a fun training weekend.  I'll be looking forward to an easy day come Monday! 

Looking for opinions here.

I have a tri in Michigan 6/8.  I live just outside Boston.  Looooong drive (~15 hours if straight through), but I could stop in Cleveland and stay at MIL's or friends' to split the trip up some.  I don't mind driving, but this is getting long enough to be almost silly.

Other option is to fly, of course.  I have never flown with a bike, nor to a race.  I know many of you here do this routinely, but I admit it's a bit daunting (never done it, no bike box yet, no clue whether or how best to ship or take the bike on the plane, etc.).  I know this has been discussed before (yep - I used the search engine), but most of the threads I found dealt with specifics around airlines or whether or not to rent and such...

If driving, it's no sweat.  Load and go - easy peasy.

If flying, then the bike seems to be the biggest hurdle.  Do you ship (FedEx, UPS, other?) or check?  What's your preferred bike box (soft, hard, best one)?  If not shipping to the hotel, do you have to rent a van/pickup truck to hold the box (or is that why you ship to the hotel)?  Any other "gotchas" flying with a race bag?

ARGH!   OK… calming down now.    It did hit me today that I need to figure this out, though, as I need to make arrangements in the not too distant future if I do anything but drive.

Thoughts?  What are your preferences/recommendations over this kind of distance?

Thanks in advance, and your indulging a tri-travel noob is much appreciated.

Matt

15 hours?  I'd probably drive but it would depend on how much time you have.  I'd likely split it over two days, long drive day on Thursday, shorter drive on Friday to arrive early to mid afternoon.  Then relax late friday and do what needs to be done on Saturday.  Are you travelling with someone or alone?

I've flown with bikes 3 times now and while it's a bit of a hassle, it's not that big of a deal.  First time we borrowed hard case boxes and that was the most difficult for sure.  Those things don't fit well in many cars, we were lucky to have a rental that had fold down flat seats that the cases fit in.  The soft cases we have now fit much better in cars and will go in the trunk of most taxis I think.

Edit to add:  Mont Tremblant is about 13.5 hrs from here.  The first time we drove straight through, second time we split it up like I described above.  I asked Tab which she liked better and she picked drive straight through because it was a PITA to unpack and repack the car for the overnight stop.  At first I thought I liked the split better but now that she mentions that, I'm inclined to agree with her (I'm learning after 13 yrs....).  

I've been lucky enough to have tri bike transport access, and it's a little more money but a lot less hassle.  When they canceled new orleans service and i was looking around, I was pointed to the ruster bags.  Designed by a pro (tollaksen?) uses two bags so there is no overweight/bike charges.   Of course, may be extra baggage charges.....  I am sure it's easy to do, but breaking down the bike and putting it back together is a bit daunting....

Chris, how long did it take for you to get those bags?  I have a bike box (two, actually....a single, and a double), but I hate traveling with it because it's just so big and bulky.  I'm curious if you can give me a recap on how you like it after NOLA 70.3 and if I'll have time to get one to me before May. 

DC Rainmaker reviewed the Aerus Biospeed and really liked it, but they say the bag is out of stock "indefinitely", so I've been toying with the idea of finding something similar but didn't really know what to pick.

Oh, and Tri Bike Transport also canceled on St. George 70.3.....really disappointing.

We have two of the Aerus Biospeed bags but you are right, they aren't making them any more.  Supposedly this is the exact same thing and from the pictures it looks the same.

http://www.swiftcarbon.com/gear/ochrana-bike-pack/

TBT canceled their service from the west coast to NOLA, then just after I requested a refund, they reinstated it, as they got sufficient nubers I guess.  A bit frustrating that they would take my money and then cancel when they didn't get enough people.  So I never ended up buying one (and was actually going to borrow one from a friend anyway)

yup - was just logging on to post the same thing - it is the same right down to the inclusion of the albopads. I too am in the market for another bike transport option as well. As one of our cases has finally bitten the dust after 20 years of fairly heavy use. We travel with our bikes fairly frequently for races and vacation, usually at least 4 times per year and often 6+ times - been doing that regularly since 1993 when we traveled out to California for "Mike and Rob's Most Excellent Triathlon" (yeah, that was a real thing - back when there were only 12 Kona Qualifiers). For that trip we purchased 2 Tri All Three cases and we have used them every time w have flown or wanted to ship our bikes. They are very sturdy, easy to travel with, and requires minimal bike disassembly. That said you will never sneak them through an airport - you will always pay bike fees. I have always been willing to do that for the piece of mind a hard case provides me. Over the years we have found them very easy to travel with - much, much easier than a traditional clamshell case. But you do need a pickup, SUV, or even better a mini van to cart them around. When we go to races we always rent a Grand Caravan as it will hold 4 people, 4 bikes/cases and all our other luggage. 

I am looking at maybe trying a soft case out and would probably go with the Biospeed/Swift one. The Biknd Jetpack also looks good. The Ruster requires you to disconnect your front brake and remove your front fork which is too much if you ask me - I really like cases (hard or soft) that hold the bike in place by the front fork. Thule's newest Round trip series (Pro=Soft, Transition =Hard) both have an integrated bike stand designed to help you assemble/disassemble the bike which is kind of slick - got a chance to check out the Transition at my LBS last week - they are selling them like crazy.

I have used our TriAllThree cases to ship both FedEx and UPS a number of times - it has always worked out well. I have never used them but a friend used shipbikes.com for a vacation we all went on two years ago - their aircaddy shipping box is slick - probably the least tear down I have ever seen needed to pack a bike, and very sturdy and they fold completely flat when not in use. If you have a couple of bikes and don't mind being without one for several days this is a good option.

All that said, we always use a transport service if it available: TBT has worked out great for us (never suffered a cancelation - that would really stink) and out LBS transports to a lot of races as well - they are our first choice always.

Oh, and bikeflights.com is supposed to be a good one for shipping also - but I think you have to provide your own packaging, I think - not sure. 

Thanks for the info, Arend!

After watching the video and realizing that I'd have to take my fork and rear derailleur off, I think the Ruster bag is over my ability level!

I'm looking into that Ochrana bag and also the Evoc bag.  I've contacted both dealers and hopefully one can get one to me before my race. 

Rear derailleur is a good idea even with hard cases because you don't want pressure on it when something else gets stacked on top of your case.  It's just one thing to unscrew, pretty easy.

The fork is a bit annoying but might be worth it for the split case.  I just wish that thing had wheels on it.  The Ruster armored case has wheels but it also weighs a lot more.

Survived another evening of bike intervals and masters. 5 x 4' VO2 focused this time. Hopefully means I'm getting the hang of it.

Yeah, that one. I stepped up each interval throughout the workout. And even getting to the last one, it was quite hard, but not as hard as it could have been. That's something I've had to work on and is likely why this has been working. Going hard enough to push the intended aspect in these workouts, but not doing so much that I bury myself for the next one. Even without masters right after, going until I'm ready to drop can negatively affect performance for days afterward. Even with a lower TSS ride that *should* be easier to recover from.