Just a general question, but it’s also specific to my situation. I’m visiting my mom and brother this weekend out of state (I’ll be flying) and registered to do a race while I’m there for the long weekend. As I don’t live there, I’m going to have to bring my bike on the flight, which will be a $150 fee from Delta airlines. I’m pretty new to multi-sport and so far my race results have been in a word…meh. I’m trying to figure out what the smarter move is, eating the $60 race fee and not racing OR bringing my bike on the plane, paying the fees and probably just doing ‘eh’ in the race. The race fee is a sunk cost, so that’s gone and I wont have to pay for lodging since I’ll be staying with my family. The only cost left are the fees related with bringing the bike with me. I looked into renting a bike and it’s the same cost as bringing it on the plane. In any case, as much as I’ve been talking $$$ in this post, money isn’t really the issue here. My question really i, does it make sense to travel to a race, pay travel fees etc. to be be mediocre in a local race. By travel, I mean flying or driving over 2-3 hours.
If paying the bike travel fee isn’t going to hurt your pocketbook why not? Racing is supposed to be fun, so if you want to race go for it. I don’t see the difference if you were trying to win or just going to do it. Plus, racing more will help you improve.
The other option would be to rent a bike locally and race for fun.
Only you can decide if it’s “worth it.” Many “local races” are a lot of fun. If it is a small race you may finish a lot higher than in a big race. Maybe win your AG. In any event, you are likely to race a course that you haven’t seen before and meet cool people that you otherwise wouldn’t. since you paid the $60, you must have wanted to do it. airline bike fees suck but it’s part of the gig.
Our bikes won’t fit in our coffins so we need to use them while we can. Summer (and life) is short, race!
Here’s some advice from a guy who knows all about being mediocre at races:
Race.
Do it for fun. If you’re just getting started, then do it so you can beat your time next year. Do it for the experience. Do it for the joy of racing.
Not to sound like a Nike commercial but seriously, just do it. You won’t regret it.
It might be too late, but next time this happens i would recommend taking your bike to your LBS and getting them to package it up in a UPS box, sending it to your mom, getting her to take it to a LBS and put it back together, or if your good with a bike you can do this yourself. If you do this enough in advance no problem and might be able to save a little money (especially if you can take it apart and put it together yourself). This might be dumb but its just something to think about.
X2 on the UPS. If you have a LBS that will help out, it can be cheaper to ship from an LBS (or someone that has a UPS account). Should be cheaper than the plane ride for the bike.
Plan ahead and contact the local tri clubs in the area. If you bring your own pedals and shoes, I bet someone will be able to have a bike to loan you.
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Racing is fun, so yeah, definitely do it.
Check out bikeflights. Might be cheaper than taking it on the plane depending on who you’re flying with.