Race Weekend - Lots o' Bikes

We arrived in San Diego Wednesday night. We had driven 2,75 miles since Sunday night. Once we jumped off the truck at the Bahia Hotel, we were eager to check in. Checking in turned out to be an ordeal.

First, the keys didn't work. Second, we picked up a new set of keys, but when we opened the door, it was a single bed. There were three of us. Yes, we had been sharing the cab of a truck for days, but we're not that close. The staff were very helpful during this.

Eventually, we landed in a room with keys that worked and beds. The only downside of the room? It was numbered 666! I mean, c'mon! We have eighty one athletes' bikes in our control, we did not need any Demons.

After we dropped off our bags, our next mission was food. Guess what? Everything near the hotel closes at 10pm on a week night. Thankfully one of the restaurants served us after hours.

Soon after it was time to count some sheep. I had been sleeping on a moving truck since Sunday, so when I hit the bed, I hit it hard. I was out.

Thursday was the first bike unload day. I spent hours packaging every single one of the these athlete's bikes in D.C. and Denver, so I knew we were all set. We unloaded 75 of the 81 bikes. Unfortunately, only 15 or so were able to pick their bikes up given travel schedules, so we loaded all the bikes back up again. Since the reefer was not moving, we did not have to lock every bike down.

Thursday night we were able to relax. A word we haven't been able to utter since Sunday morning. However, by relax, I mean fall asleep immediately. Friday was set for bike unloading all day. Transition opened at 12pm. We were unloaded by 9am. See a potential issue? We had maybe three riders until 12pm. A lesson we learned for next time.

I was able to sneak away for half and hour to see the women's ITU pro race and grab some food. Man, they are fast swimmers. I would probably only be at the first buoy by the time they re-entered the water for the second lap. Siphiwe is going to help change that. I had never seen an ITU race transition before either. It must be nice to have your own little station compared to the chaos that is the age group racks.

My thirty minutes of free time was short lived as I headed back to the truck to continue releasing bikes to athletes. We were there until about 4:45pm I believe. Those last three bikes....

Day after the Race

Saturday, my day was comprised of wearing two hats - that of a race Sherpa and that of a legendary bike packer. I race Sherpa'd for Siphiwe. Siphiwe was able to race this weekend in addition to driving. I was stoked I was able to outfit him on my Jack Kane triathlon bike. He said he's already designing his Jack Kane. He had a kick a$$ race. Read his race report here (opens in a new window).

After my Sherpa duties were completed, my sights quickly shifted to the prominent task -- Loading all 81 bikes back into the trailer that day. Initially, we did not have any bike racks. I apologize for those that had to wait. It was out of our hands. Once I started packing, I was glad I was wearing gloves because touching that many sweaty and gel gooped bikes wasn't the most appealing.

I started loading bikes around 11am and wrapped up around 5:15pm. It was much faster this time around. THANK YOU to everyone that was able to take off their rear saddle cages off. It seriously saved me hours! We were able to load every bike, but one. It was a bummer that I did not get to see any of the Men's ITU race, especially since Hunter Kemper is a fellow Wake Forest University alum. We picked up the last bike up Sunday morning. We departed and ten minutes in, I realized I forgot my camera battery!!

Turning around in a semi-trailer is not the easiest thing in the world. I said I would have the hotel mail it to me, but Mike, who was driving at the time, said it wasn't a big deal. From there, we began our trip back!

Zane
Bicycle Packing Guru

Jack Kane Bikes - www.kanebikes.com