Live from St. Louis

I've made it in MABRA cycling!!! I thought I had made it when my blog was linked to by one of the area's fastest bike racers and someone who has dropped me on more 10AM rides than most. However, it's official now because I finally found my picture among Jim Wilson's photos this past weekend.

Notice the determined look; however, I still I think that I can use a new pair of sunglasses. As long as I can keep my photo off You Got Dropped, I'm happy.

Hayden and I packed up and left again.

This time to St. Louis for work and then the Tour of St. Louis this weekend. Anyone who knows me knows that I travel more often than most people. It comes with the territory of my job. I enjoy the opportunity to ride and race in new and interesting markets. Plus, it's fun to be an ambassador from a far away place or just a rogue rider in the peloton. My bike racing travels began about a year ago when I escaped the clutches of a succubi who threatened to suck out my very will to live much less my love of bike racing.

I've flown my bike to about 10 different cities across the US and on almost every major domestic carrier a couple times. The one consistency in those travels is the inconsistency in the fee that I have been charged. The prices have ranged from no charge on US Airways, from National to New Orleans; to $225 on United from LA to Dulles. It makes no sense.

Today was no different. Today I was informed that it would cost me $175 to fly my bike from Dulles to St. Louis (silently I was outraged). This was radically different from the last time I flew from Dulles that time to San Francisco on United in the Fall where I was charged $50. On the return flight from Seattle I paid $0 and with no explanation for the difference. Today I asked the gentleman behind the "Special Assistance" counter that I had been routed to by someone at a regular counter who said that they couldn't handle my bag, another first for me, why the difference in price. He was dumbfounded and couldn't come up with a good justification or answer. It took him 10 minutes to produce a rate sheet that showed the bike fee, which stated that it was effective as of 2008.

There was no fee charged for checking my wheel bag or my suitcase today. That was different than my recent flight from Kansas City to DCA on Midwest Airlines where I was charged $80 for my bike and an additional $40 for 2 excess bags (my bike box and my suitcase). That charge was again different than the $100 I was charged on the way to Kansas City on the same airline, which was limited to just the bike box. $80 is also what I paid when I flew from Denver to LA on United but $50 is what I paid when I flew from National to Denver.

This is just a few examples of how arbitrary these fees are. I honestly feel that it's dependent upon who checks you in behind the counter. When I flew to SF and was charged $50 it was by a uniformed employee from United. On the return no-charge flight from Seattle I was checked in by an airport employee who had no connection to an airline. When I wasn't charged when I flew to New Olreans on US Airways I was standing in line behind CNN's Wolf Blitzer so I'm sure the woman behind the counter was just star struck and forgot her standard procedures.

I admit that my bike box at 53 lbs fully loaded weighs more than most luggage, barely. I don't like the fact that I have to pay an additional fee to check my bike but I'm willing to do that because I realize that's just how the game is to be played in our world where airlines feel that they can oversell flights and cut the quality of their service to almost nothing. However, I live by a budget. I budget everything because that's how I have determined I can best manage my money and afford those things in this world that I enjoy, including my addictions to bike racing and nice suits. Budgeting however is made difficult when you cannot predict how much you are going to be charged for a particular service. When the baggage fees appear arbitrary it's hard to budget for it. When I can in the future I think I'm just going to drive to a few more places rather than fly. At least I know how much it's going to cost me to put my bike in the trunk of my Jetta and roll.