petalpower

Gotta head to New York for a some family stuff as well as a wedding for my buddy.

Been getting into crit's here as well as the fast group rides, and really don't want to lose much fitness.

Should I ship my bike ( either via the airline or UPS/FedEX ), rent a bike there ( about $150/wk and the next size larger than my bike ) , or should I just go to the gym and do some spinning classes?

This is my first real time away from the bike, and I've enjoyed the progress I've made and don't want to lose much of it!!

Thanks guys!!

John

umd

Two week trip... I say ship it!

AngryScientist 

bring your running shoes and/or hit the gym for some cardio. you wont lose much fitness in a week, especially if you work hard leading up to that week and take it as a "rest week". travelling with a bike is often a lot of trouble.

umd

OP said two weeks

petalpower

Yeah, two weeks, and to clarify, I'm in Colorado now and going to New York - Long Island specifically.

Unless someone has a spare they can lend/rent.

ETA:

American Airlines wants $150 each way as checked baggage versus FedEx/UPS around $55-90 depending how small the box is.

AngryScientist 

reading comprehension fail. sorry.

i still think you'll be OK if you do some good cardio / gym spinning when you're here, but if you prefer, it sounds like renting a bike here is the best solution.

NickDavid

Not sure how the roads are out in LI, but if you can make it to NYC, you're just minutes from 9W. I say, rent a case and bring the bike with you. Don't know anyone who rents around here.

Or, you can just enjoy your vacation. I doubt you'll lose any fitness, providing you don't go crazy with the booze/food. You can ride when you get home, but you probably don't see your East Coast buddies/Family very often.

rumrunn6

I hear ya, if you're in a sweet spot with your training - you'd hate to take a break. the holidays are like that for me. no matter how hard I try to stay with my programs, there's always the dam family trying to interfere with jovial family gatherings; relaxing conversations; dinners out and sleeping in.

just imagine though how pissed you would be if you shipped it and didn't use it. I say ship it but be sire to make time for your family as well as the bike. maybe ride early before everyone gets up?

lukasz

There is some great riding to be done on LI, especially if you are going to be east of about Smithtown. I live in Brooklyn but "visit" my parents every two weeks or so to get some riding in and break the monotony of riding the same one route any time I want to leave the city.

Depending on where you will be, I might be able to send you some routes if you PM me or something.

Flash

Tough call. I was on vacation for a week this spring and I did not bring the bike. I planned ahead and knew the hotel had a decent spin bike and I just used that. By the end of the week I was quite sick of it, however.

petalpower

I'll be staying in St. James.

mustang1

I'm also going to NY for a couple of weeks next month. I'm just gonna hire a cheap bike on 57st and 8/9ave (assuming they're still there). But I'm not a crit racer, just rec/training.

Phil85207

All bikes are shipped to the LBS in cardboard boxes. I suggest getting one from your LBS and sending it in the cardboard box with the original packaging. If it's good enough for every brand if bikes...
Just a thought.

daven1986

I'd do a spin class as I don't know if I could be bothered with the hassle of shipping...

gitarzan

Buy a POS of CL for $50 when you get there and adjust it up and ride. Give it to a kid when you are done.

petalpower

I'll be honest with you, I'm kind of leaning this way right now.

I ride a good 4 days a week, and maybe a 5th day on the trainer as a recovery day. So, over 2 weeks, I'm talking 8 days which will cost me $300 dollars plus all the hassle with packaging and semi-disassembling the bike.

Add on top of the fact that I'll be losing ~5 days on both ends of the trip as I'll need 1/2 a day to take it apart, and then the remaining days for transit.

In the end, I'm probably talking about 1week to 1 1/2 weeks of potential riding time - IF the weather co-operates.

I might lean towards either renting, and if that doesn't pan out, spinning classes.

Phil85207

Good decision

petalpower

I know I'll probably get flamed for this, but the thought of buying a GMC Denali from Walmart even crossed my mind.

coasting 

forget it all. just let yourself go and then work extra hard after 2 weeks of pizza and beer.

jdon

Nothing beats having your own bike. Box it up and ship it.

jrobe

This guy lives in Italy. Shipping a bike overseas is different than shipping it within the states.

I have a few of the harder Spinervals and CTS training videos on my Ipod Touch that I do on hotel spin bikes while on vacation. Regulars hard interval sessions are great for maintain and even gaining fitness while on vacation. Make sure your hotel as a workout room. You will probably gain more from this than riding your bike in the traffic of New York on strange roads. Seems like a no-brainer to me.

RUOkie

+1

umd

coasting 

i heard you need a visa to go to new york these days.

rjg001

I would stick to a combination of spinning classes/indoor cycling at the gym and renting a bike a time or two. You've already mentioned the time and hassle that will go into shipping each way. On top of that, if you don't know the area then who knows how easy it will be to find good riding. You could have bad weather. Lots of things that could interfere.

The other thing is just good old discipline. We all might have the best of intentions during a vacation, but depending on who you are going with and what plans you have it can be hard to fit everything in and workouts will be the first thing cut. A good one hour interval session will get you as good a workout as 2-3 hours of riding. Do a few of those each week, rent a bike a time or two to break them up, and devote the rest of your vacation to vacationing.