Over the next 18 months or so, I’m going to be doing alot of traveling for work. No, really… a lot! Probably 2-3 weeks/month. It will be mostly over to Europe, but some here in the States as well as a trip to Shanghai (with thoughts of doing IM China), Osaka Japan, and Sydney Australia. I’m struggling with what to do…
My first thought was to just leave the bike at home and focus on the run (which is by far my weakest of the 3 disciplines). I could jump on an exercise bike at the hotel if one is available for some intervals, but most of my workouts would be spent running. When I’m home, I would try to put the run on maintenance mode and hit the bike hard. Am I asking for a cycling related injury with this approach?
Now I’m wondering if there would be any benefit to getting a nice C&C coupled frame (either road or cyclocross) and take that along when I know I’ll be able to get some riding in.
Any thoughts on the training approach of run focus while away and bike focus while home? Anyone with experience traveling frequently with a bike and trying to get quality training rides in? Is it going to be too much of a pain to find safe routes to ride on? Most of the places I’ll be going will be my first time there - I would need to do plenty of recon ahead of time to find routes.
I think that having a bike is a great way to see an area.
In my experience there are two downsides: First, if you are going somewhere for the first time it will take several attempts to find a decent ride route. If you will only be somewhere once for week or less you will may spend the entire time trying to find a route. This is especially true as a triathlete since you don’t necessarily ride every day. Second is the additional amount of stuff that you have to lug around, not only the bike but tools, helmet, additional stinky clothes…
Now when I travel I try to minimize. If I’m traveling by myself I don’t check any luggage regardless of the trip length. I run every other day, and mostly I walk alot in the evenings, if I can.
Sounds like you have plenty of opportunities to figure out what works for you.
Running while traveling for work or pleasure has always been a pleasure of mine. Getting up at dawn no matter where you may be, is one of the best ways to get a feel for a place. My reccomendation would be to forget about the bike. Traveling with a bike is becoming more and more of a hassle these days. Also, if you may be staying in a place that is not that great for riding. Running by contrast needs little equipment and can be done and enjoyed almost anywhere - from big-city urban centers, to country roads and trails.
In some places you may be able to rent a decent bike from a local bike shop. You can plan this ahead of the time. Otherwise I would just run. You even said that a running focus would do you a world of good.
traveling with a bike sucks. But you are gone a long time. If I were in your shoes, I might pick one trip to take your bike and test the beating factor (both on you and your bike). Otherewise, you can rent bikes (of varying quality) around the world. Take your pedals shoes and a good pair of shorts and you have greatly minimized your travel headache.
I do tons of travel myself, in fact this is probably my biggest “limiter”. Traveling with a bike only works if you stay in the same place more than 10 days. In my case I travel no more than 1 week in the same place so I never bring a bike with me. I am trying to stay at hotels with pools so that I can at least run and swim.
If you are travelling 3weeks per month it will be a challenge to train.
I’m a yes on the S&S coupled bike, I have one from Bilenky Cycleworks. They had a very high-value travel Ultegra bike 853 that has been awesome. Not sure if they still have them. Another guy to check is Glenn Ericksson in Seattle, he has built some super Ti S&S coupled bikes among others.
Check the S&S page for builders.
I recommend getting a mapping capable GPS unit, not the very limited sport models that only record where you have been, but Navigation capable units like a Garmin Vista CX or better. Then get the mapping software for the places you are going. These are incredibly detailed and have never failed me. You can discern much about the roads from these maps. Plot your route on the PC map, then upload and go riding, following your GPS. I presume you travel with a laptop? If you get onto roads you don’t like, you can reroute yourself with the GPS itself, and when you get home, make a note of changes and save the route for next time you are in the same place. You will also make friends along the way if they think you know where you are going.
Those Ritchey BreakAway frames work really well. I travel a lot as well, and I have been jealous of several people with those as I paid the $100 for flying with my TriAll3 case.
One thing that has proven helpful to me is to put a note in the case with your cell number. Mine is addressed to the TSA agent who has openned the case. It is worded very nicely, but basically says that the item they are inspecting is very expensive. I am more than willing to cooperate with their inspection, but if they are having trouble seeing something they need to see, or repacking my box, please call me, because I am in the same airport they are, and will be glad to help.
I have only been called once, and I didn’t have to go there, they just had a question about repacking. Turns out what they were asking about wasn’t really critical, but I was really surprised they called.
I have also been allowed to stand there while they inspected the case at a smaller airport.
I agree with the posts about the GPS as well. I map out my routes ahead of time, and try to follow. Sometimes I decide to make other turns, so I usually mark several waypoints, including my current home. That way, if I decide to follow other roads, I can at least get a vector and distance to my home, or other waypoint.
If you are travelling to new areas with a bike, the most important thing to bring with you is common sense. You are going to end up in situations you would never dream of back home. I have ridden down the interstate shoulder (illegal by the way), been the wrong way up congested one way streets, etc. You basically just have to decide what is the best way out of this situation, sometimes it isn’t something that you would do at home, but not knowing where you are, you improvise.
As someone who spends a lot of time traveling (mostly by air), I’ve thought about this very question a lot. When it comes down to it, if you travel on business, checking baggage is a hassle to be avoided at all costs. When you’re on a lot of flights you start to do anything to streamline your travel and reduce your time in the airport. I would love to be able to take a nice ride when I hit my hotel but if I’m honest with myself I know that 9 out of 10 times, I would be rushing and would leave the bike at home and even if I did take it there would be a lot of days where I’d be tight on time and wouldn’t take the time to assemble it.
So my opinion is if you’re going to be on flights frequently and will always be on the move then don’t even bother, just work on your run and make due with the occasional spin/exercise bike. However, if your travel means you’ll fly somewhere and stay there for a week or two, then it would probably be worth the investment.
First of all, I agree with BK. I have been on the 2-3 weeks travel per month for several months to many of the location you speak of (I’m doing Seoul-Shanghai-Shenzhen-Hong Kong-Bangalore in November…Munich-Paris-London-Stockholm-Gotenburg-Helsinki in Sep, each trip is 2-3 weeks). My recommendation is that even on long trips you try to survive with a carry on only. That is what I do for 2 week trips and fortunately, I do not have to wear a suit. Makes connections way easier.
No way I can travel through all that mess with all those connections with a bike and moreover, in many places, there is nowhere really rideable.
If you can keep the trips down to 2 weeks per month, then run and lift weights every day on travel (and it takes a ton of discipline with 12 hour jetlag) and then when you get home, ride EVERY DAY regardless of weather and try and swim as often as possible. A 10 m hotel pool is not an excuse for not swimming…I’ve lasted 40 minutes swimming with a Tshirt on to make it more strokes per length.
The reality is if you are in such a job, to some extent you are the master of your travel and scheduling (up to a point). If you can manage things, then you can slot your travel in when you do not have a build for a big race, or you can slot things in after a race or build. Most 2-3 week trips are not last minute things…they are planned up front. Its those short 3 days emergency trips that are harder to deal with.
Also, you may find that you can ride the lifecycle at the hotel gym or a spin bike, or even a rental on weekends. This is enough for “maintenance mode” till ya get home.
I’ve spent the past three years on the road, averaging 18-25 days out per month - and occasionally more. My trips have been as short as two days, and as long as two weeks. Early on, I thought a lot about getting a Ritchey Break-Away or an S&S coupled bike to take with me. When I really thought about it however, I almost never have time to work out, let alone ride. In the past three years there have been less than a dozen times where I would have had the time and energy to go out and ride. A lot of this of course depends on your hours when traveling, but for me 14-16hr days were not uncommon. This pretty much killed any motivation I had to train, let alone assemble a bike and then go out for a ride. Much of the time even finding dinner and eating is a chore.
If your hours are sane, and you plan on spending more than a week in a given location, it might be an option to explore. But if you plan on working long days, have short trips, or travel with a team (which completely changes things and not in your favour), it probably isn’t worth it.
Wow - thanks everyone! Great stuff here. I was leaning towards leaving the bike at home and focusing on the run and this certainly confirmed that, as well as gave me some good ideas to try out for a training approach.
Dev - I’m curious…have you been traveling with that frequency over the last 6 - 12 months while you were training for your IM(s) and still continue to improve with each race? That’s quite impressive and really doesn’t leave me many excuses!
And I’m definitely NOT a checker! Having to check a bike through alone should be enough to answer my question.
