I'd appreciate some advice relating to the following.

I'm traveling from Edmonton Alberta Canada to the U.K. next Sept for an event;
I'd like to "vacation" about a week and a half before actually needing my bike. In fact I'm continuing directly to the Netherlands via Heathrow for the first week and then returning to the U.K. to continue my travels and THEN "competing" (a lot of time with no need for a bike). My I really don't want to haul it around in the back of a rental car. What suggestions do you have regarding the shipping of my bike.
As far as I can tell right now my options are:
1 - take it with me on the plane and then try to ship it to the race location when I arrive at Heathrow (could be problematic as I'm continuing immediately to Holland.
2 - take it with me on the plane and then try to store it at Heathrow until I return a week later (then I still have to haul it around for almost a week)
3 - take it with me on the plane and then try to store it at the airport in Holland until I return a week later (then I still have to haul it around for almost a week)
4 - ship it ahead of time slightly, from Edmonton directly to the race site (could be expensive) and/or is in even possible?
5 - you tell me

I'm very hopeful someone has some experience with this type of issue and can point me in the right direction.
Thanks in advance for your help.