Many Ironman Alaska athletes are scrambling after Alaska Airlines notified them that bicycles shipped through them may not arrive in time for the triathlon in Juneau, which is less than two weeks away.
I’m not sure how this was a surprise to Alaska Airlines since they were offering vouchers to residents to give up their accommodations for this race months and months ago.
It is too late to throw bikes on Tribike Transport for most folks.
Hope my bike makes it. If not I’ll be scrounging something to ride for the race.
So the race is Aug 7, are they saying for anyone flying on Alaska air between now and the race, if you check your bike as luggage that it potentially would not show up with you when the flight lands? Huh?
I’m not racing so maybe I don’t know necessary details about this airline and checking bikes but seems insane, if you check a bike as luggage does it not go on the plane with you? I get the cargo service may be different and just a shipping service delay or whatever…but the checked bag part is not clear.
“In an email to customers on Tuesday, Alaska Airlines said that applies to bikes checked as baggage or shipped by Alaska Air Cargo.”
Planes don’t have unlimited room for bags… especially on narrowbodies like the 737 which is mostly what AA flies.
I deferred my registration to next year because this had all the signs of becoming a total shitshow. I said months ago that the lack of accommodations, cargo space on planes, and rental cars was going to be a potential nightmare. It has unfortunately played out as such so far. A lot of athletes had already bailed because they couldn’t find accommodations.
I hope it all comes together and goes off without too many hiccups. I didn’t want to be a a year one beta tester though.
It’s almost as if putting a huge event in a tiny town with limited accommodations and resources was a poorly conceived idea. Huh. Maybe we were all right when we criticized this idea 24 hours after it was launched. Maybe you could charter a floatplane. Strap your p5
To the wings of a souped up piper cub.
Maybe this guy could help out. He might be in the area or at least close enough.
looks like peter reid to me, dude is impressive. maybe he’s a pilot too?
Let me reach out to Alaska Airlines on this and see what can be done. On my pullup thread, the guy who challenged me is the CEO of Alaska Airlines. The guy is a gravel racer, cross racer and former IMC finisher (he did it in 11.00.22 in 1995). They fly 737’s from what I gather. If there is an Airline CEO who would care about getting bikes over it would be him. This guy wants to do a bike riding camp in the Italian Dolomites with me next year, so he knows what “getting your bike there” means.
Surely is is possible to get all the bikes over to Juneau if the Island hoppers going to St. Croix can get all our bikes over when we used to fly there for the half Ironman.
I’m racing IM Alaska next week, coming in from LA and get the email from Alaska Airlines. I am shipping my bike up to a local bike store in Juneau (so many locals on the IMAK FB page, they are very accommodating). That being said, I think many athletes are freaking out for no reason. Granted there’s only so much space on the planes for bikes but we’re talking 737’s, with a large cargo hold. Plus not every passenger is checking a bike. I think everyone will be fine, but for piece of mind, shipping is what I am doing.
So the race is Aug 7, are they saying for anyone flying on Alaska air between now and the race, if you check your bike as luggage that it potentially would not show up with you when the flight lands? Huh?
I’m not racing so maybe I don’t know necessary details about this airline and checking bikes but seems insane, if you check a bike as luggage does it not go on the plane with you? I get the cargo service may be different and just a shipping service delay or whatever…but the checked bag part is not clear.
“In an email to customers on Tuesday, Alaska Airlines said that applies to bikes checked as baggage or shipped by Alaska Air Cargo.”
When I first saw the article I thought the same thing. When I fly with my bike it goes with me as checked baggage. Are they saying that if you have a flight to Alaska at certain times that your checked baggage isn’t going to make it?
looks like peter reid to me, dude is impressive. maybe he’s a pilot too?
Serious? Yes, hes a bush pilot
I really loved the idea of this race. But the logistics were just too hard and uncertain unless IM had set up special accommodations for where people can stay and how to get them and their gear there and back. I didn’t see any evidence they were actually accounting for that, so I wasn’t willing to register and am glad I’m not dealing with the stress, cost, and uncertainty now.
When I first saw the article I thought the same thing. When I fly with my bike it goes with me as checked baggage. Are they saying that if you have a flight to Alaska at certain times that your checked baggage isn’t going to make it?
For bikes, this is a thing with every airline (especially on the planes normally used for domestic flights). If you dig around the sports equipment page a lot of times you can find the maximum number they’ll take per flight (e.g., Aer Lingus takes up to six on their intra-Europe flights). Sometimes this ends up being a thing when people are doing a cycling camp and all flying together. In non-race scenarios they can more easily pop it on the next flight, but I imagine for Alaska and a race there are only so many flights and the capacity will get used up pretty quickly.
It’s almost as if putting a huge event in a tiny town with limited accommodations and resources was a poorly conceived idea. Huh. Maybe we were all right when we criticized this idea 24 hours after it was launched. Maybe you could charter a floatplane. Strap your p5
To the wings of a souped up piper cub.
Like this
I really loved the idea of this race. But the logistics were just too hard and uncertain unless IM had set up special accommodations for where people can stay and how to get them and their gear there and back. I didn’t see any evidence they were actually accounting for that, so I wasn’t willing to register and am glad I’m not dealing with the stress, cost, and uncertainty now.
I registered for this race but deferred to next year. Not for logistics reasons, but for fitness reasons.
There’s has been an awful lot of hand wringing but I would bet things will play out just fine. There is now lodging available and IM is working on a transportation plan. This isn’t IMs first rodeo and they have the full support of the community,
Just a guess, but I think AA will get the bikes there and just threw out this email to try to reduce demand.
So I was someone caught out by the email. It showed up a day after the deadline had passed for using TBT locally, and I had planned on checking in my bike on the flight. It was a risk I was semi-aware of going into the race, but since I had not seen or heard anything officially from the RD or Alaska Airlines up to that point, I was willing to do it in order to save hundreds of $ on an already pricey trip. I did contemplate cancelling my trip as a result of the email, but a friend at a bike shop sorted me out with Bike Flights, so, for now we’re headed up next week. That said, the shipping cost was pricey AF.
The locals on the unofficial IMAK FB page have been awesome, offering to help out anytime an issue popped up. Some of them did warn that this could be a problem, but, dummy me, I either glossed over or figured I’d wait for more official word on this issue. This is going to be a unique race and frankly, I’d rather IM focus on race day logistics instead of how I get my bike up there. A heads up would have been nice, for sure, but I’m focused on what I can control at this point. I trust the locals are going to make the race awesome. If my worst problem in the world is getting my tri bike to a race on time, I’m pretty effing charmed.
It’s almost as if putting a huge event in a tiny town with limited accommodations and resources was a poorly conceived idea. Huh. Maybe we were all right when we criticized this idea 24 hours after it was launched. Maybe you could charter a floatplane. Strap your p5
To the wings of a souped up piper cub.
Like this
Given the amount of hand wringing for aerodynamics we all engage in, you could tell the pilot exactly how many watts of aero penalty he would have, and how grateful he should be that you 28 mm hookless tires because it would save a TON of plane fuel over 25 mm GP5000s with latex tubes.
Same here. the way the locals have been so incredibly helpful makes me think if I had to scrounge a bike to borrow it would happen. Very interesting and cool venue and I’m excited to do a race there. This will be my 4th debut venue IM and they’ve all been great - even Tahoe with the snow.
I know the folks at Ironman are working hard and are jazzed about the race too.
I ended up with Bike Flight as well - not a cost I planned for but not much above Tribike despite the last minute booking and now no hassle of toting a bike around as we vacation after.
I agree the locals have been awesome. There have been some logistical questions but I’m excited and think it will go off just fine.