TheSarge

I just went through the shipbikes process to see how much my trip to Boston would have cost. Without insurance or pick-up from the house, shipping came out to $118 each way. Delta charged me $30 each way. I'm willing to deal with a bitchy check-in agent for a $90 savings each way. That said, I recognize that you have to take into account the difference in ticket price between carriers. So, it's a case by case.

This came up on here a couple months ago when Delta announced that they were going to allow you to check a bike for the price of a regular bag. I don't know if anyone has posted an experience, so thought I'd share. Last week I flew Delta to Boston and took the bike. I packed the bike in a box I got from Peddlers. The Transition box is bigger than others I've used so packing was easier, and it still met the dimensional requirement of L+H+W<115". Weight limit is 50lbs, which I didn't think would be a problem, but my Smuggler+helmet+camelbak+box came in right at 50lbs. Leaving Austin, initially we tried to go to the skycap, because who wants to drag these big ass boxes inside, but he doesn't work for Delta and had no idea about the new policy. So, we dragged the big ass boxes inside. We got lucky at the counter and the first agent that was available knew about the policy and checked us in without any problems. We then dragged the big ass boxes over to the oversized baggage area and we were good. Returning from Boston, we skipped the skycap and went straight inside. After dealing with some logistical differences in the check-in process, we got to the front of the line and had one agent yelling at us "You can't check that, those are oversized, we don't take bicycles, you can't cut line" (she was actually working with another customer and just chose to share her opinions). The next agent that opened up (thankfully not bitchy lady) hadn't heard about the policy but he listened to our explanation and pulled up the policy. After that he was very friendly and checked the bags for us. We took them over to oversized baggage and all went well. A couple of notes - 1) In both directions TSA cut open the boxes to verify the contents. Nothing was missing and they actually did a better job taping up the boxes than I did. But be aware, that is not the place to stash your weed. 2) It should go without saying, but make sure the guy picking you up at the other end has enough space for bike boxes and passengers. We had measured beforehand but it was still a really tight fit and I'm pretty sure the passenger in the back with the bikes was not traveling legally. Finally, I highly recommend the riding around the Boston area and Kingdom Trails in East Burke, VT. It was an amazing week of riding!

Dude, that's exactly what that shit does to me. Probably because I'm a total lightweight, but a good long hit and 3 hrs later I look at the clock and it's only been 3 minutes. One lap of PP would feel like it took me all weekend.

I'm also happy to see that other people do shit like this on their dining table. My wife claims it's just me.

Yeah, it would be nice to have a "No Entry" sign at the bottom of Snail. I've had a couple of times where I encountered a hiker on the way down and that's always a near death experience for someone.

I like it - from now on, instead of trying to educate I'm just going to say "You're out here without a helmet? What a fucking moron!" and ride away. I bet if they hear that from several of us every ride they'll get a helmet. There's a guy that rides out there regularly with his helmet unbuckled. I stopped him once to let him know (because I've been known to forget). He told me he knew it was unbuckled, he only buckles it when he's in sketchy situations. That one really confused me.

So I never saw what the results were for Cat 1. What was the fastest lap time of the day?

Not to mention the gold coin that you can collect.

Any trail reports?

A buddy just forwarded me an email from the Austin and Central Texas Cycling group that says that 2 riders died of heart attack during last Friday's Fredericksburg ride. Given that most of the guys I ride with are over 50, that news really hits home. So I'm wondering, how many of y'all are CPR certified? Would CPR make a difference if someone is having a heart attack on the trail? Short of carrying a portable defib in my CamelBak, what are the best precautions to take?

Shit just got real!

I saw that Poison Spider Cyclery in Moab posted on FB that they had a smash and grab last night. One of the comments mentioned that an SB150 was stolen and successfully recovered ... in Austin! Must've been one of y'all 🙂

Poor guy, now the whole mtn biking community (or at least all the ones that matter) know where he stashes his keys.

I always approach this one cautiously - meaning I send a buddy in front 🙂 Seriously, I've been concerned about this section for awhile. With 4 entrances to this tiny section, several paths through it, and poor visibility in all cases, it's looking for trouble. I came through there in what is probably the most predictable path and there was a guy standing in the middle with an off-leash little 5 pound guinea pig sized dog. I nearly wiped them both out. I don't have suggestions, only another vote that it's a concern. And if someone has a solution, I'll work a shovel.

That might be needed for the Tandem race!