Sent my bike, via a bike transport service, off to Honu this morning. She'll be spending a few relaxing days on the beach before her big adventure at the Ironman 70.3 June 2 on the Big Island.
This was my first experience with bike transport and I have to admit it was mostly convenient.
Except for:
1. The incredible expense. For $351 (which included $6 in extra insurance) I might as well have bought my bike its own plane ticket and buckled it in right next to me. Good LORD this sport is expensive.
2. Nearly missing the drop-off: My confirmation said "Your drop-off time: 12:00." Because I work on the other side of the city, noon didn't work for me. So I brought my bike in early. That's when the guy at Sports Basement informed me that 12 p.m. was the CUT-OFF time to drop off your bike. YIKES! Good thing I went early.
3. The confusing wheel bag reference: I brought an empty wheel bag because during registration I was asked: Will you provide your own wheel bag? Turns out you only need one if you're bringing extra race wheels. So the aforementioned Sports Basement guy laughed at me, and sent me home with my empty wheel bag.
4. I don't have my bike for 11 days before my race: I know next week is taper week, but still, 11 days seems like a long time to be without my trusty Kestral.
On the upside, I won't have to lug my bike through the airport, assemble it myself or get it to the race start early in the morning. And this eliminates the chance that my airline will lose my bike (though I guess bike transport could still lose it). Those are conveniences worth paying for. Just hoping no other issues pop up for this bike transport rookie.
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