Top Five Triathlon Travel Tips!

Tomorrow, I’m headed to Mont Tremblant, Quebec, Canada!

Six months ago, the thought of international racing TERRIFIED me. But luckily, things change!

I’ve had a lot of help overcoming my triathlon travel terror and I’ve picked up a few tricks along the way. I thought I’d share my Top Five Triathlon Travel Tips here. I’m by no means an expert, but if I can survive solo trips to Canada, Brasil, and New Orleans (which practically counts as international travel!), ANYONE can! Don’t let travels fears stop you! Get out there and race!!

1. Book It Early

Hotels in Ironman cities sell out nearly as fast as the races, so book a room early. Staying more than a few days? Check VRBO and other vacation rental sites for great deals on extended stays. Most rental car reservations don’t even require a credit card, so go ahead and reserve that Corolla ASAP. You can always check back closer to the race date and see if you can get a better rate. And keep an eye on those airline ticket prices. When the price is right, no hesitating, go for it!

Racing internationally? Traveling with a group like Endurance Sports Travel can make international racing surprisingly easy and affordable. I booked my entire Ironman Brasil trip thought EST. The trip was a breeze, the race was incredible, and I had the time of my life!

2. Plan Bike Travel

Traveling with a bike doesn’t have to be a pain in the you-know-what. TriBike Transport offers bike transport services to tons of North American races. And while it’s nice not having to build a bike before a race, it’s really nice not having to pack it up afterwards. Not to mention the cost is actually comparable to most airline bike fees.

Learning to pack and build my bike was a game changer for me. Suddenly I could race ANYWHERE. Check with local bike shops to see if they offer a bike packing class, or even ask a bike-saavy friend for help. It’s worth the effort. As is investing in a good travel bag and a set of albopads. Once you start traveling to races, you’ll NEVER want to stop.

3. Read the Athlete Guide

Check out the course maps and be on the look out for helpful hints like race day parking or places to train. Questions? Don’t be afraid to speak up during the athlete meeting or during pre-race check-in.

4. Google It!

Find out what you’re getting into! Map routes from the airport to the hotel and race site. Scope out local restaurants and grocery stores. Research local pools or beaches for pre-race swims, and gather some intel on safe places for training rides and runs.

The International Travel section of Travel.State.Gov has great information on every country you could ever want to know about. Do you need a passport or visa? What about international health insurance? Can you rent a car? You can find all that info here, with good links to foreign embassies and other resources.

5. Make a Race Doc

This tip is stolen straight from Coach Matthew and it’s probably the best one on here. Take all that information you’ve gathered and copy paste it into a single Word document. Then PRINT it out. Yes, we live in a “paperless” age, but the batteries in a paper doc never run low.

My race docs always start with a daily schedule of workouts and other key activities (flight times, athlete check-in times, pre-race meetings, bike check-in, etc.) This forces me to loosely map out my trip and gives me a quick reference while I’m traveling.

Behind that I include any and all useful information such as:

– Important contact info

– Flight info and confirmation numbers

– Rental car info

– Hotel info

– Copies of insurance cards, passports, and visas

– Maps and directions from the airport to the hotel and the race site

– Course maps

– Workout details

– Random information (parking, swimming pools, restaurants, grocery stores, etc.)

– A checklist to help with packing/transition bag prep (without this I ALWAYS forget something)

I send copies of my race doc to any friends and family that might either find the course info useful, or might need to use it in case of an emergency. It is a bit of work to pull it all together, but pre-race peace of mind is valuable!

Most triathlons are in beautiful places. With a little planning, there’s no reason you can’t get there!! If I can overcome my travel terror, anyone can! Good luck and Bon Voyage!!