The Cost of Traveling to Races

I have just returned from my first race of the year. I participated in the Passionman Triathlon at Bucknell University (http://passionman.wordpress.com/). I thought that this race would be the best way for me to start the season as it is a sprint triathlon and a course that I knew well (as I should, I designed part of it). It went very well, but more details to come on that later. One giant take away from the weekend is the cost of traveling as a triathlete.

As you can see, the race fee turned out to be the least of my worries. First, never fly NWA (now Delta) if you are traveling with a bike. I have compared all the airline policies and NWAs calls for a $175 oversize fee. In my case they made a mistake on the way there and I talked my way down on the way back. The only reason I was able to do so was because their policy is even to confusing for them to understand. However, I assure you that it is supposed to be a $175 fee each way. The wonderful part about that is that I weigh about 130lbs more than my bike box when packed and am given a seat in the pressurized cabin, and yet the charged me about $60 more for the bike.......... Next time I should just get my Fuji a seat on the plane!

In the end, I had an excellent weekend back at the fraternity house and an excellent race so I am not disappointed that I went. However, there needs to be serious consideration and a bit more research before I will fly with my bike again.