This morning started pretty early to ensure that we made our 8:00 flight. Things were going fairly well until it came time to check my bike. Contrary to what is said on their website, the gate agent saw fit to hit me up for a $50 fee. Never mind that the bike weighed less than the suitcase we were checking. Never mind that it was smaller than two suitcases (for which I would not have had to pay a thing). Never mind that Southwest routinely brags in their ads that they don't charge for bags. You may be noticing a theme here. I've calmed down some, but overall, I'm pissed. The $50 charge is a nuisance fee. It's out of character for Southwest and it's the sort of thing that can cost them a customer.
Okay...this is not a bitch about airlines blog. It's about the tri. I guess my $50 at least got me my bike safe and sound to San Diego.
Between arriving and unpacking the bike, we spent a nice afternoon at Pacific Beach. There are a lot of beaches in this town, but PB is still my favorite. There's lots of character, some great "street food" types of places to eat and just a generally laid back feeling that used to typify Southern California. .
It was actually much brighter than it looks but apparently my iPhone filtered out a lot of the sunshine.
After the beach it was back to my sister-in-law's place to reassemble the bike. I've probably been the most nervous about this. It was fairly easy to take it all apart, but getting it back together and having it work...well, that's harder.
I took my time, but everything went back they way it was supposed to and a short ride up and down the street had all gears and both brakes working. That's a big relief.
Speaking of the bike, when I turned my phone on after landing, I had an e-mail from the TriRock indicating a course change. Given the recent warnings about something possibly happening on the 10 year anniversary of 9/11, the portion of the course that was going to run through the Navy base was canceled. I can't blame them. There are a lot of ships there and who knows what other kinds of security risks and letting a bunch of people who have not been screened probably does not make a lot of sense.
All that said, it does make me wonder why the race organizers didn't anticipate that there would be a potential problem with a race on the 10th anniversary of a major terrorist attack running through an active military base. It's not unreasonable to think that either the threat level would be elevated (as it is) or that the powers that be would restrict access just to be cautious.
Well, if it was anticipated, nothing was done. As a result, the 20 mile bike ride has been reduced to 14.5 miles. I'm not devastated (we still get to ride a closed course after all) but a little frustrated at the lack of planning.
Tomorrow is the expo where I'll try and grab a few pictures and then of course, at this time tomorrow I hope to be in bed if not completely asleep.
Until then, have a pleasant evening.
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