Liftoff and Touchdown headed to @LAMarathon #betteryourbest

The day started early Friday to head to LA for the PAIN and TORTURE of dealing with perfect weather and looking forward to the LA Marathon. 

I hit the road at 3:30am KC time at 38 degrees. Brrrr.

It was dark.  I was cold.

Then, I made my way to the KC airport to start my adventure.  The boards had us at the wrong gate and after a trek across the terminal, and through security again I awaited in a secure area with no bathrooms.  After a bio break, on to the flight!

Look, the grand canyon!

Good thing we didn't bring the kids.  We would have never made it out of the Mattel store in LAX.

And then it was on to being pampered!  Need a private driver from LAX to the hotel?  Why yes, please.

Not a horrible view coming in.

Not a bad hotel... at the finish line... across the highway from the beach.  It was ok... and I might have walked down and tried to swim in the ocean for a good open water swim... and the ocean may or may not have thrown me back.

Hit the expo and got my bib and gear.  ASICS has been top notch as they have provided this entire experience at no cost to me with gear and all the amenities.  They didn't really ask anything in return other than just commenting on the experience.  It's been a no pressure gig so far (minus training for a marathon).

Look.. a California Pizza Kitchen in California... how ironic.

And arrived at my room to find the ASICS shoe they made specifically for the LA Marathon (LAM GEL-Lyte33 3) in my size waiting in my room!  I might start to like this treatment way too much.

And I also met some interesting people on the way to LA on the flight from Topeka.  Claire Phillips is raising funds for the Breakthrough House Clubhouse at the LA Marathon.  Read a bit about her HERE and I'll write up more later about her efforts!

Claire Phillips

 More to come!  Stay tuned!

Trying out TriBikeTransport for #Ironman Lake Tahoe!

If you have used and plan to you Tribike Transport in 2013, sign up NOW!
I'm trying them out for Ironman Lake Tahoe 2013 instead of paying $100 or so each way to fly, taking apart and re-assembling my bike or driving it all out there.  Not to mention there's the chance my bike would get crushed in transport... but we all know that the airlines are nothing but meticulous when handling your luggage... cough cough.

But, I plan on using them and I'll report on how the process works when the time comes!

But, on to their early bird deal!

Tribike has some great deals for December!

In addition to their $50 price reduction for all 2013 transport services booked this month, Tribike is giving you an additional incentive to sign up early!

If you sign up with Tribike Transport in December, you will automatically be entered to win one of 3 prizes!
- a 2013 Cervelo P3 Frameset
- a pair of Zipp race wheels or
- one of 10 free bike transports

Two free transports will be drawn on Friday of each week until the end of December. So, the sooner you sign up, the better your chances!

You most likely already know which races you'll be traveling to. Why not sign up for transport now to enjoy the discount, plus possibly win your transport fee, a new Cervelo frameset or a Zipp wheelset?

Sign up Today!

@BRDSPORTS Preview, travel tips and more!

If you travel at all for work, I'm sure you have thought of all of the following tips...

So the big cliff hanger from the last post is that I was in Chi town (that’s Chicago, for the lay person) for work…

Flew out of KCI at 6am (had to get up at 3:30am to make the flight) to spend all day Monday and half day Tuesday in Chicago to help our regional office with some “stuff”.

Some tips about traveling for an endurance athlete type person…

1. Go to be at a decent time the day before an early flight.  To bed at 11pm, up at 3:30am… you do the math.  I was tired.
2. Find healthy snacks to take with you.  I had no more PR bars left and Em had no protein bars to be found.  I was at the mercy of on-board snacks and convenience store food.  That hit hard Tuesday morning when the hotel I was at didn’t have a breakfast offering and I was across the street from the office with no place to hit on the way there.  I had to settle for a popcorn bag and my vice, diet mountain dew.  Low blood sugar and jittery best described it.
3. Eat healthy when you can.  Luckily they treated me great at the office and had Panera for lunch one day and somewhat healthy sandwich food the other.
4. Plan your training accordingly.  I planned a long run Sunday and using Monday and Tuesday as rest days.  I knew I wasn't getting up at 2am for a workout before flying out and the hotel I stayed at didn't have a fitness center.  Sure, I could have run outside or ran the steps in the hotel stairwell, but I didn't want to pack two bags and the hotel smelled musty and smokey.  I planed ahead on that one.
5. Always find something interesting.  Blues Brothers anyone?  "We're on a mission from God."  You might have noticed that picture if you followed me on twitter.
6. Plan for the weather.  They had a wee little bit of snow while we got about and inch in Kansas City.  sad to miss the first recordable snow of the year and playing in it with the kids.  Oh well.  I'm sure I will shoveling plenty of snow this winter.

Ever heard of BRD Sports?  They are up and coming in the world of orthopedic support products...
Check out their Christmas lists, discounts and giveaways!
http://www.brdsport.com/blog/item/brd-fitness-and-fun-holiday-gift-guide

96 Hours of Adrenaline

It's a new event that starts in Kansas City, takes you thousands of miles to Los Angeles, and ends back in Kansas City.  You will drive, fly, run, swim and walk for 4 days straight and whenever you are awake, you have to keep track of a 3 and a 1 year old child that you have to take with you and bring back to Kansas City ALIVE and uninjured.  Sounds like a daunting task, doesn't it?

The odd thing is, parents do this ALL THE TIME!  Good grief how do they do it?  I was a little leery of missing out on some training days, but managing small children at beaches and amusement parks required amounts of physical endurance I didn't know I had and I'm still recovering!

And here is the top 5 ways a family trip will prepare you for your next ironman race:

1. While your wife will manage the kids and a diaper bag, you will get strength and endurance training by carrying your luggage in a transition bag backpack, your wife's bag, and 3 smaller bags for the kids.  You must carry these on the plane, through the plane, throw them on the overheads (down the isle from your seats since everyone put their stuff in the front bins) and then carry them off.
2. Organization.  Your planning skills will be put to the test to make sure you have all you need for 4 days AND all your 2 kids will need for 4 days.  You will need to pack your gear as such to get to the liquids (for YOU and KIDS) and any computers at security WITHOUT holding up the line for 30 minutes.  Did you bring enough diapers?  Bring enough formula?  Bring snacks?  Bring enough changes of clothes?  Bring the right clothes for the weather?  Bring a stroller to lessen the load for item #1?
3. Patience.  Triathletes are known for a lack of patience at times on race day.  So many are tempted to get on the bike and just GO GO GO and "burn their matches" or not "save their legs" for the run, or whatever your cliche is.  You can't blow your patience in the first leg of the flight out.  If you lose it day 1, you're done and the kids will take over.  Pace yourself.  Manage expectations and get plenty of rest in the days before so you are prepared to manage the trip.  If you are done on day one, that's not fair for your spouse when they need a break.  Don't go all out, it's a marathon, not a sprint.
4. Nutrition.  BRING SOMETHING TO EAT!  Unless you want oversalted and overpriced airport food, bring snacks.  TSA are a uptight group, but they do allow snacks!  Don't bring a bunch of sugar and candy, though.  Sure, it's all happy and hyper at first but a sugar crash is ugly, and that's just the adults.  Sugar only gets you so far.  Nutrition will get you to the finish line or destroy you.  Don't forget hydration.  If you're dehydrated and trying to entertain a 3 year old and 1 year old for a 2 hours flight in a tiny 3 seat isle and dehydrated, then all you want to do is sleep and zone out and let the kids scream and cry.  Stay in the game and give your body what it needs to function.
5. Have a plan.  If you get to your destination and don't have at least a loose game plan, you will be playing catch-up the entire time.  What's more fun than flying for 6 hours to get somewhere and waste 2 or 3 hours trying to entertain kids while you are trying to figure out what you are going to do?  Not much.  Race day will be upon you before you know it.  Be ready.  Don't be loosey goosey!

From me to you, vacations with small children can be fun, but they are taxing and rest will be hard to come by.  Don't get caught behind the eight ball!



Cousin Claire (tall) and R2 with Jessie - happy kids = happy trip



Is traveling to destination events worth it?

If you have been keeping up with Man Versus Triathlon (MVT), then you are up to speed with the latest adventures related to traveling by air to a long distance triathlon.

That was my first experience flying to a race with my gear and a bike (Scicon bike bag review HERE).  I was very nervous if I could get everything there in one piece and not pay an arm and a leg to get it all there and back.  This in addition to the normal jitters of racing a half Ironman.

From me to you, here are some lessons and tips I learned about endurance traveling.

TIPS for traveling

1. Packing list. I didn't have time to make one (do as I say, not as I do), but I treated packing my gear as if I was packing the night before for a race. Laid it all out and packed it in the transition bag. I then laid it by the bike bag as I needed to distribute some items to the bike bag in order to get non-tri gear into the bag so I only had 3 bags. Bike bag less than 50 pounds. Transition bag. Small backpack for personal carry on.
2. Padding. Add more padding. Then, add some more padding. Have you seen what happens to suitcase on airplanes? Imagine that being done to your carbon fiber triathlon bike. I especially was fond of using pipe insulation from the hardware store and Velcro strip roles that you can cut to whatever length you want. Using tape would have been a MESS, especially to take a part later. I covered every part of the frame I could find.
3. Don't take your tools in carry ons. I didn't, but I could have easily spaced that out. I'm sure TSA would not hesitate to gank your pedal wrench and allen wrenches. They go through your checked luggage and they have no problem trashing your stuff.
4. Count on TSA rifling through your bike bag. It's large, it sticks out like a sore thumb and you have some funky shaped metal objects in there. They may even take some stuff out and the best part is YOU WON'T KNOW WHAT THEY TOOK! You just get a post card in your bag. I guess that's what we have to accept this day and age and it's better they take anything that looks like a bomb than the alternative.
5. Don't count on making it with your CO2 refills for your flat repair stash. Somehow they did not take mine, but others I ran in to were not so lucky.
6. Deflate your bike tires. What happens to your tooth paste or shampoo in checked bags? Did they blow up? Think about your tires. They are already at 100psi or higher... BOOM. I deflated and left the valves open, no problems.
7. Take your derailleur off. IT WILL GET BENT if you don't. Trust me. I took mine off and glad I did.
8. Take your break pads off. On the rear of the frame the break pads are the furthest out and make a nice hook to grab stuff and bend the breaks and who knows what else.
9. Get there in advance. I got there two days before the race and leading up to it I was collected and cool. No frantic running around and I was rested.
10. Don't fly back the day of the event. I did and it sucked. There was no regaling my accomplishments or kicking back. It was PACK PACK PACK and GO GO GO to pack the bike, check the car in, get through security and get to the terminal. It was just as stressful as running the half ironman.
11. Make sure rentals are big enough. I just barely fit my bike bag in the ford focus I had. JUST BARELY. rental car places get you with "you can get upgrade for $10 more now, but if you come back in afterwards it will be $20 more a day". Nice.
12. Find someone you know in the area. You could score a free "hotel" and a tour guide that knows the area so you don't have to waste time and spend money being a total tourist.

Jackson County Triathlon behind the scenes

 I posted the recap of this past weekend HERE for the Jackson County Triathlon.

Overall I think it turned out well considering the demands of my personal and endurance schedule.

Once back from IM Boulder, my tri bike sat in the Scicon bag for two weeks and I put the bike back together the Saturday before the race.  The bike worked like a charm and no issues from two flights from KC to Denver!  Count my blessings on that one!

On a sad note, I ran out of Grease Monkey wipes (GMW) in the canister since they are GREAT at getting the bike chain grease off my hands.  Word of advice, get some gloves or GMW!  I planned ahead with the travel packs to Boulder and used the canister up at home.  Sad.

The race was a part of the Man Versus Triathlon project where we had the RD of the race and Push Endurance on board.  Enough cannot be said about the hard work that goes in to directing a triathlon and duathlon and providing a quality supplement.  Yes, there were some issues with the swim course at the race and I will go into that a little deeper when the survey results get published.

As always my routine included Sockguy socks, Push Endurance, Fluid Recovery mixed with my crack chocolate milk, Skin Strong Slather.

I'd also like to point out that you always need to be prepared.  Bring your wetsuit because you never know!  I ALWAYS pack the trusty XTERRA suit no matter what time of year it is.  Just goes to show you that in August in Kansas City, the water CAN be wetsuit legal.  I'm a firm believer in the extra edge a wetsuit can give you and I never reach 35th out of 253... NEVER!  With over half the field not wearing suits, I had the advantage that day!

And I never forget the TMAT pro.  It's been invaluable in helping me find my bike every time.

It was also cool to finally meet twitter and blog stalker ScottyTris.  We had been missing each other at a few races but finally met up where he promptly blew past me on the race course.  All the more motivation for next season.  He's working hard for a half ironman in the fall and they way he is going, it shouldn't be a problem.  As he put it on his race report post "The remainder of the 45 minutes went quickly as I bumped into a bunch of peeps, including Travis (and his friend Michael who just completed his first triathlon!) and Mark from Twitter. Mark has a blog I follow as well. No.. not that Mark. ".  So many people, so little time.  It's also weird to be referred to by my twitter name when being introduced...

So there you have some of the behind the scenes junk.  It takes a lot to pull off a race and it helps when you have good sponsors and partners on board.

SALES
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Flying with Scicon Technical Bike Bags

Get your bags packed, we’re going on a trip!

I know I was freaking out flying with my bike to IM Boulder last week!  (wow...feels like two weeks ago!)  I was originally thinking I was going to drive from Kansas City and have it be a family trip where we visit some family and race a half ironman. That was then, this is now.

Plans evolved and I ended up flying solo to the event. My wife was just too worn out and trying to manage two young children while traveling AND managing a nervous triathlete husband was just not in the cards. I don’t blame her. I had a place to crash to save money and it turned out cheaper to fly thanks to Frontier offering regular priced checked bag fees for bikes!

More on the whole traveling to a destination event later.

The problem at hand was I didn’t have a bike travel case.

Off to the trusty internet for my traveling solutions. Of course I hit DCRainmaker’s blog for his traveling tips. He advocated a soft case over a hard case as hard cases have a shorter life span and for airlines that hit you with bike fees, the bag is less conspicuous. I was sold.

Which one to use? There are a lot out there ranging from $175 to $600 depending on the comfort level you want to buy. This is where I ran into Scicon Technical Bags on twitter. I performed a little research, struck up a dialog and low and behold they were in with Man Versus Triathlon and I had a bag.

The Scicon AeroComfort Plus was what they hooked me up with. It’s a soft vinyl case bag with lots of padding.

I put them to the test for IM Boulder and MVT, and here’s what I came away with:
PROS

• The side flaps had a zippered pocket for wheels and extra padding. I took no chances and wrapped the hubs with Styrofoam and they slipped right in and fit perfect!
• The bag has ample padding without becoming too bulky or clunky.
• Sturdy sippers.
• Sturdy handle straps to carry the bag by if needed.
• Ample space for the bike and some of your gear if you want to stow it in the bag and free up room in your carry on.
• The bottom is tied to a metal frame that has adjustable supports for the fork and rear wheel bracket. In the end if you didn’t want to use it, you could take it out but I know I felt more comfortable knowing my bike was secured and the fork would not be flopping around.
• Material appeared to be pretty sturdy.
• There’s a nice strap on the inside that connects the flaps together for extra support after you zip the bag shut.
• Wheels on the bottom and a pull strap on the front! Need I say more?
• It’s a nice looking bag.
• It comes with a handy cinch bag to place the empty bag in when storing to keep it nice and tidy.

CONS

• It’s a nice bag and they like to advertise what they provide. WARNING : BIKE INSIDE : HANDLE WITH CARE was pasted on both sides plain as day. To a ticket counter, that says “charge me a huge fee!”. I ended up creatively applying some black permanent marker to the BIKE INSIDE portion as to not tip off eager ticket agents.
• The bag is designed so that you could leave your handlebars on in place. I don’t know about most of you, but there’s no way I’m leaving handlebars on for a flight. It’s a little bit of wasted space and makes the bag a little larger than it needs to be.
• I wish it had straps on the outside to cinch it up on the exterior to avoid any slack in the bag. Smaller the better for traveling.
• It could have used a few more pockets on the inside for stuff like pedals, seat and post, misc gear, etc. They had one, but I’m greedy and wanted more.
• Scicon is based in Italy. You can buy direct from them but shipping will be a killer. There are several retailers in the US that carries them, but they are pricey. Always remember, though, you get what you pay for.

In the end, the AeroComfort bag worked great for me.

I packed, traveled and came back in one piece and had no major issues. The stress of hoping I would have a bike after a flight that wasn’t scratched up or in pieces was quickly dissipated when I landed safe and sound back home Sunday night after the race. I would not hesitate to use their bag for any future traveling with either of my bikes (and I LOVE my bikes – just as my wife).

*Writer’s note, Scicon provided the AeroComfort plus at no charge for review and did not influence the writer for a positive or negative review.

You can also see my Examiner write up HERE.

SALES

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Smooth sailing, er landing

I made it!

If you recall my pre-flight post to IM Boulder, there were many questions about traveling as a triathlete.

• I didn’t get bumped.  I guess enough people took vouchers and later flights that they shoe horned us in after they down-sized the plane.
• I got on with my transition bag packed and a small backpack for the laptop and miscellaneous items.
• No overweight charges for the bike bag!  Frontier held true to their baggage guidelines and did not charge me an outrageous fee to travel with my bike.  $15 for a checked bag.  SCORE one for the broke triathlete!
• Thank the lord – Starbucks at KCI was open at 5AM!!!  SCORE one for the tired triathlete!
• 
  I got enough charge on the laptop to write some post drafts!  Lucky you guys!
• The bike bag wasn't completely unscathed.  It took a hit on the front where the fork support is.  Looks like I will need to track down some duct tape.

Now, the next order of business will be to try and re-assemble the bike and hope it works, check in for the race, and find the house I’ll be staying at!

KANSAS CITY AREA HAPPENINGS
Banff Tickets On Sale Saturday August 6th!

Films Screen At Liberty Hall, September 9 & 10!

Tickets for the 10th Annual Banff Mountain Film Festival go on sale tomorrow, August

6th! Ticket prices are unchanged this year at $8.50 per night, with proceeds going to

the Lawrence Mountain Bike Club and the KU Rock Climbing Club. We've got a great

slate of films lined up for this year's Festival and we know you're going to enjoy it.

Tickets are available at either Sunflower Outdoor & Bike Shop or the Liberty Hall box

office (and through Ticketmaster). Both shows were a sellout last year, so if you're

hankering to attend...act fast!

Follow us on Facebook here.

Or get our tweets here.

 

SALES
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Save up to 40% at the CampingWorld.com Late Summer Sale!

New Markdowns Up to 60% Off at SpeedoUSA.com!