Even though our flight to St. Croix wasn’t until Wed
morning, we started our traveling on Tues April 29th with a 3.5 hour
drive (well, more like 4 hours due to a stormy drive leaving Jax) to my parents
house to drop off Campy at his “resort” while we are away.
We had an early wake-up on Wed morning at 4:45am to drive to
Orlando (2 hour drive) .
Races are expensive, especially when traveling and even more so when traveling
with two bikes.
When we are traveling, I try to consider every option to make our trips
affordable, memorable and easy. Since Karel made the switch from Cat 1 cycling
to triathlons, we have to double everything when it comes to racing so that
makes our trips very memorable but a lot more to consider (money, logistics,
etc.) with our travels.
I found a reasonable flight from Orlando (2 hours from Jax),
where we have taken a lot of our race trips as the prices are a bit more
reasonable (although we do have to consider parking economy Orlando which is a
bit more than Jax) and can save us a couple hundred dollars. Karel worked his magic
with our bikes and we have only 1 bike box (stand-up box) this time with two
bikes in the box….that is, two speed concepts with Di2 shifting and two wheels
sets. Karel really worked overtime on taking apart the bikes and when he
rebuilds the bike in St. Croix he also has to make sure he has extra parts,
cables, etc. in case anything breaks. The bike box weighed #90 which meets the
guidelines for our aircraft per the website, however when we fly to Austria in
June, we are on Delta which has different guidelines so we won’t put the wheels
in the box (and extra tools) in order to meet the #70 weight limit.
For the first time for a race, we booked tickets on Jet Blue. Not only was the
price great for both of us but we couldn’t pass on the $50 bike fee (one way). The
bike counts as one of our “free” luggage so we both combined our clothes into
one large suitcase (meeting the #50 weight limit).
April 30th
With our car packed with luggage and food for traveling,
Campy was left covered in kisses from us and we were off to Orlando. I packed
snacks for the flight but also, since we never travel hungry and always need to
eat within an hour of waking, I had a Fage 0% yogurt and a banana and Karel had
an egg and cheese and broccoli sprout
sandwich that I had made for him. After a stop at Starbucks we arrived around
7:40am to the Orlando airport. I dropped off Karel with the bike box and Oakley
suitcase (both bags to be checked) and I went to park the car in economy and to
take the shuttle to the airport.
We were so impressed with Jet Blue and the service they gave
us while checking in our bikes. There were no questions asked about our bike
box and the agents at the desk even helped Karel with the oversized luggage.
What an easy process that fit nicely into my 30-minute extra time allowance for
checking in a bike. By 8:30 we were through security and ready for a breakfast
meal.
Our flight was scheduled to leave at 10:22 to San Juan and
we boarded just around 10am. With our water bottles filled with water, 110%
compression on and happy-tummy snacks (and hand sanitizer) for the plane (KIND
bars, chocolate covered espresso beans, PB&J sandwiches, fig newtons,
Trimarni trail mix) we were ready for our 2.5 hour flight to Puert Rico. Not
sure why they couldn’t just fly 20 minutes more to St. Croix but it was nice to
get some lunch at Chiptole (veggie and guacamole sandwich for me, chicken
sandwich for Karel) at the airport and stretch our legs. On the plane, Karel
napped and I watched Saving Mr. Banks on the airport TV screen (on the seats) which was a great movie. Jet Blue also had a
wonderful snack selection for free so we shared Blue Chips and Pop Chips which
were both yummy. I got Seltzer water and Karel got apple juice.
When we boarded our flight to St. Croix (40-minute travel
time but only 20 minutes of flying), the plane was filled with triathletes,
compression socks, water bottles and bike boxes. Karel and I started to get
even more excited that this bucket list race was finally about to happen.
Our flight was short and we spent the entire time looking
out the window. St. Croix is a small island and it was so neat to be able to
see all of it as we were flying.
When we landed in St. Croix we departed the plane outside
for the outdoor airport (just like in Kona). Karel picked up our rental car
from Budget (Ford Focus) and I waited for our luggage. Our bike box was the
very last one to come on the baggage claim but thankfully all the boxes arrived
for the triathletes. We gave ourselves one extra day in St. Croix (Wed) just in
case our bikes didn’t make it on the plane. Because of our enjoyment to travel
to new places for our race-cations, we enjoy having at least 3 full days before
a race (if possible) to adjust to a new setting (or time zone) and to ensure we
have everything we need, can grocery shop, relax, get a few good nights of
sleep and warm-up in the race environment.
Karel did a little more magic with our bikes and removed the
top of the bike case to put under the bottom case, removed the wheels and
adjusted the handle bars and voilà! Karel managed to fit our bikes into our
small car (II will save our IM Austria plans for another blog as that gets a
little more detailed with the planning of our international trip with our
bikes, which is already booked).
It was an immediate adjustment to drive on the left side of
the road and our brains had to adjust fast! There was a few times when I would
say “left, left!” to Karel but otherwise, Karel picked up immediately.
Although there are very few stoplights in St. Croix and the
island is not that big, it took about 40 minutes to drive from the airport to
Chenay Bay Beach resort (East End Quarter, Christiansted, St. Croix).
I brought some foods with us in our checked bag (chia seeds,
cinnamon, whey protein, jasmine rice, oatmeal packets, small container of PB)
as well as our sport nutrition powder/bottles, pills (endurance aminos,
Optygen, tissue rejuvenator) but we still needed to get some food for our stay.
We stopped at a grocery store on the way to our resort and
purchased some staple foods that we not only eat on a daily basis but also that
we enjoy on race week.
Fruits and veggies, water (2 jugs to get us started), deli meat for Karel,
fresh bread (local! We got three kinds – French bread, sourdough and raisin
walnut), skim cow’s milk, fage 0% greek yogurt, eggs, tempeh, cheese, butter,
frozen veggies, pasta, marinara sauce, boxed rice, tuna, soup.
The food is pricey on an island (just like in Kona) so our
total bill was around $130 but a lot cheaper than if we were to eat out every
day, for 2-3 meals a day. Plus, there’s nothing better than being able to
control the food that you put into your body before a race, especially a race
which you are traveling to and is a key race.
When arrived to our resort, it was exactly as I had imagined
it to be from the website. 50 cute little cottages spread out along 30-acres,
with a mile-stretch of private beach w/ incredibly calm waters. Our room was
$150/night (triathlete special) which is a bit over what I’d normally spend
when traveling to a race except for our key races that occur once a twice per
year. Also, with a full kitchen (microwave, refrigerator, stove top) and just a
few miles (3-4) from downtown/race venue, I just couldn’t pass up this
beautiful and relaxing resort. Karel and I enjoy being close to race venues and
for a race like Kona, it is ideal to be within walking distance. However, we
typically do not stay at the “host” hotel for races for the amenities that we
desire at our hotel/lodging to give us a great race experience are typically
not included at most hotels. Aside from an extended stay hotel or condo, this
resort had everything we wanted. And even better, our cottage has a beautiful view
of the ocean and a little island!
Karel got started on assembling the bikes (which took about
90 minutes or so) and I unloaded the groceries and unpacked and got started on
a light dinner (since we snacked all day) of eggs, veggies and bread.
After dinner we took a dip in the calm ocean around 6:30pm
and we were greeted by a host of NO-SEE-UM bugs! Karel knows that I swell very
badly when I get bit by bugs and we didn’t know about the bugs until we read
about it on our resort guide so the first thing on our to-do list for Thursday
was DEET bug spray! It was a rough night for me (tip for me, bring Benadryl next
trip!) before bed but I ended up sleeping fine at night which was a relief,
even though I felt like I had gained 10 lbs from so much swelling. Ugh.
We settled into bed around 8:30 and by 9-9:30pm we were asleep.
Although normally we don’t set an alarm the day after
traveling to a race (if we don’t have to), we woke up around 5:30am so that we
could ride with a guy we met (in the next cottage from us) who had done this
race 3 times and this year is racing for a Kona slot. He is originally from
Spain but lives out west and we knew it would be great to get some insider
information from him and ride with him at 7am.
After we had a pre workout snack (wasa + PB and banana and
cinnamon for me, oatmeal, milk and granola for Karel) we headed out around 7am on
our bikes to ride the beginning loop and end of the bike course to familiarize
ourselves with the course as well as to wake up the legs from our travels.
Fruit for the road trip to my parents
5:30am early morning, pre-meal snack
My coach, best friend, hubby and bike mechanic.
Precious cargo!
Keeping everyone updated on our travels .....and answering emails.
All race gear packed on the plane with us.
Happy tummy snacks for the plane
Always bring an empty bottle with you through security and fill before you get on your plane to stay hydrated during traveling.
We never travel without our compression socks on!
Yummy, Chipotle sandwich.
Excited to make some memories together.
St. Croix! Are we there yet??
Touchdown!! We have arrived!
Priorities.....food!
Shopping like the locals.
Our cute little cottage
Fresh bread in the kitchen
Food
More food
Resort pool
Play time....
And back to work.
Enjoying the sunset in St. Croix.
Stay tuned......day #2 of our trip is coming soon. Riding some of the bike course, driving the rest of the bike course and 1.2 mile open water swim.
