Surprise Surprise

What a surprise did I get today when I wanted to finalize our airline tickets with Delta Airlines to Kona in October. Something just said to me, check what the airline charge to transport my bicycle. Just to bring you in the picture, we are flying from Johannesburg to Atlanta, from Atlanta to Los Angeles and then onwards to Kona. No matter how you look at it South Africa and Hawaii are exactly at the opposite end of the globe.

Well here it is and it is not a joke. From South Africa to Los Angeles will be $300 and then from Los Angeles to Kona will be another $175. That is one way, so it would be another $475 coming back. Maybe it doesn't sound that bad for my friends who earn their living in dollars but for a South African that is R8.45(our local currency) for $1. That is just over R8 000 just to get the bike to Kona. Browsing further on Delta's website I saw that you pay for almost any luggage you intend taking. On International flights you have 1 bag free, second bag is another $50 and on their domestic flights you start paying from bag nr. 1($15).

I then looked at South African Airways bike policy just to compare and they allow you 20kg luggage but that must include your bike and anything over 20kg's is R243 per kilos excess fee. Which also comes to about R7000 if you take 35kg's including bike.

It seems that airlines has now decided to make their money by transporting luggage. What amaze me is that they are so strict on the weight of your bags and are not shy to charge you for it but there is no penalties or excess fees for people in different weight divisions. It seems a bit unfair to me. Guess I will start searching tomorrow to see if I can't get some airline that can take me and my bike half way around the world for less than what I got from Delta.

Important lesson learned today, if you take your bike with you on a plane the cheapest price is not always the cheapest, check the airlines luggage policies before you book.

Well enough of airlines, tomorrow is registration time. The athletes that qualified for Kona at Ironman South Africa can start registering from tomorrow until the 19th of May. You only have these two weeks to register otherwise you're not in. Guess what I will do tomorrow.

I've also been struggling with Planter Fasciitis in my left foot. It is funny that when I trained for IMSA and were doing high mileage it bothered me just for a week and then it was gone, but now that I am taking it easy and only running once or twice a week it really hurts. Trijackal and my physio said that maybe it is my shoes that I wear to work that is the problem. After they mentioned it I realized that I started having problems since a bought a new pair of shoes for work.

Before that pair I never had foot issues. I got myself a new pair of shoes Friday at the health store and must say that my foot is much better but not 100%. Hope it will fine before my Ironman training starts end of May.

Monday night is dancing lessons for Dejone and I always enjoy it when she comes back and you see the excitement in her eyes. She is so into it right now, hope the enthusiasm stays with her.