I am considering, very seriously, IMNZ in '05. I would appreciate insights from all of you who have done IMNZ. First things that come to mind are the following, but please do not limit your responses to just my questions.
Would you ship your bike via Fedex or take it on the plane? And if you have shipped a bike internationally what was your experience like?
Logistics, where would you recommend I stay?
How difficult is it to acclimate to the change in time zones (having only traveled from the Mid-West USA to Western Europe I am a little concerned with acclimation)?
How early would you recommend I arrive, additionally how long after would you recommend departing so that the flight back is not to uncomfortable?
You can save a few dollars by putting it together yourself, but we had a grand time going through Premium Plus Sports and not having to worry about a thing. $1800/pp. Just becareful of your connecting tickets. We had a tight connection SFO-LAX before LAX-AUK and if it wasn’t for my wife’s 1K status on United we would have been screwed because of how the tickets were coded. We added a day kicking around in Auckland before heading down to Taupo on the PPS bus. Next time I’d have them book me a flight rather than the bus, but it was a neat way to see the country side that connects Auckland with Taupo. The LAX-AUK flight arrives at 8am local time. AUK is three hours off West coast time so it’s like acclimating to Hawaii if you ignore the fact that it’s a day off.
Get the PPS itinerary and see if it looks good to you. Take a moment and price out the components on the web. If you can put it together cheaper with airline miles or web shopping, you’re all set. Otherwise you have a known company to fall back on at a very reasonable price. And they take good care of you while in town.
Fly with your bike and use Air New Zealand (Star Alliance partner of United). They are the race sponsor and will make sure your bike gets there. In 2001 some friends few another carrier and ended up having to borrow everything for race day. Their bikes showed up after the race.
I can’t say enough good things about the town, the race staff & volunteers, the course, or the lattes. Have fun!
Thanks. This was exactly what I was looking for. Right now I am planning on using frequent flyer miles to pay for the ticket. Only problem is they are on American, not sure what that will mean interms of my bike.
Well that depends - no matter what advice the airlines give you in advance it is all dependant on the mood of the person at the check in counter on the day - did IM Brazil a few years back on airmiles and did not pay a dime for my bike - despite being told before hand it would cost something like $75 each way - the check in people said I was allowed 2 pieces of checked bagage except when it comes to certain sports equipment like bikes - these are apparantly supposed to be charged irrespective of weather you only have one other piece of checked bagage. For advise on the race etc try IronClm and TomD - Tom did it this year and raved about it while I seem to remember IronClm heading down that way a year or two ago…
Flew from UK. Had no great problem with acclimatising (13hr time difference) arrived on the sunday before and was already running NZ time on the first flight. Never had to pay extra for a bike - its in weight allowance. No real stopover so no messing with another time zone. Stayed overnight in Auk on arrival then drove down (Anyone who was their and saw the van with the girl sprayed on one side and green graffiti on the other -that was us) and camped. Other than that - race was awesome, i’m going back!
I LOVE IM NZ!!! I’m going back in 2005 and was there in 2001, 2002 and 2003 (and for the 1/2 IM in Dec. 2002).
Would you ship your bike via Fedex or take it on the plane?
Take it on the plane.
Logistics, where would you recommend I stay?
Premium Plus Sports does a good job. Deepak will take care of you. He does my flights, but I do my own B&B or will stay with friends. It’s a summer lake town, so lots of places to stay and the town is not large.
How difficult is it to acclimate to the change in time zones (having only traveled from the Mid-West USA to Western Europe I am a little concerned with acclimation)?
In March, it’s only 3 hours difference from California (plus a day), so no biggie. Worse going back home.
How early would you recommend I arrive, additionally how long after would you recommend departing so that the flight back is not to uncomfortable?
I’d fly on Saturday or Sunday, meaning you arrive on Monday or Tuesday (you lose a day). After? I’ll fly back on the Tuesday. Big party Sunday after the awards, then a day in Auckland with friends, then fly back. But, if you can swing it, I’d stay a couple of weeks and travel.
I will second the referal for Premium Plus, they basically take care of all the hassles for you. The race did not fill last year until about October or November. Other things I would recommend… if you are only staying for a week, you might consider getting a rental car either in Auckland or Taupo. There are a lot of nice things to see/do around the area but if you take the bus to Taupo with Premium Plus you are rather limited. If you get a room with a lake view, realize that probably comes with a good bit of noise though the night as logging trucks run though the fairly busy highway along the lakefront. Your choice. Stay up late the night before leaving. You will sleep like a baby on the plane and be ready to go when you arrive.
Should not mean anything about the bike, the charges are for US travel, bikes fly free Internationally but count as one of your luggage items. They are very careful about the weight though keep it under 70 pounds total.
As For New Zealand I loved my trip, I stayed 2 weeks and my entier planned trip was cheaper than Premium’s package.
There are a lot of hotels right on the water and most have kitchenettes reasonably priced.
Do you live where is is warm all year round? I did not do IMNZ, but a friend of mine did it this past season. It was a great experience for him. He loved it.
Only thing that we talked about form time to time was the timing of the event. Late winter early fall races are brutal. Being from the north east USA, 99.9% of his training was limited to the indoors since base and build are done in the winter time. 2 hour treadmill runs and 6 hour trainer rides got out of hand after a few months.
So, unless you enjoy training indoors or live somewhere warm, training may be tough.
I live in North Carolina, now as opposed to Iowa where I had lived for the last several years. It is not warm year round but winter is warm enough to do all of my runs out doors and some of my rides. Most of my rides during the week will have to be computrainer but Saturdays and Sundays could quite possibly be outdoors since the average temp is about 50 degrees. I do think it will necessitate my early arrival so that i acclimate to the temps of end of summer.
I do think it will necessitate my early arrival so that i acclimate to the temps of end of summer.<<
That will not be a problem. Generally, it’s cool (mid-50s) in the mornings, warming up to maybe 70F. Sun is strong though. And it will likely rain at some point during the day. Wind is a given.
I guess I did not realize that it will be that “cool” but I seem to remeber Tom D posting that the wind was substantial in his post race review. I plan on packing some cool weather cycling clothes just incase.
it is usually quite cool in the mornings in taupo in march. it can be warm too though. when coming back from reporoa (the turn around point for the bike course) there is usually a bit of a southerly wind, which here is a headwind. it is also uphill for a fair proportion of the way.
if u have any questions about the course ask me. as in train in and around the course every week…i live in taupo.
I’m planning on IMNZ for '06 as my first ironman. You might like to know that there is a yahoo discussion group for IMNZ. There are some long race reports in the documents section, along with course maps etc. Should help answer any other questions you might have.