'Secutity' and Joyous, oh Raptuous, travel with a bike

My recent travels involved Security checkpoints for air travel in domestic USA. I was carrying the following major items of luggage:

1 bag of clothes
1 laptop
1 set of wheels in a wheel bag
1 bike in a bike bag with a floor/track pump
insulin, needles, test supplies, bike tools, muesli/granola bars, stuffed koalas

The usual stuff.

You need to be a bit shrewd in order to get all this guff on board. I have opted for the following tricks which have a 67% success rate to date (have had six domestic flights so far in the US in my first month here):

1. Its not a bike. Oh no, it is exercise equipment (no one has asked about the helmet swinging off my hangbag...yet)
2. Clothes are for carry-on, with laptop stuffed into clothes bag.
3. Dirty clothes stay with the bike.
4. Remove laptop from case and stuff the case into the bike bag.
5. ALWAYS pretend your carry-on bag is light-as.
6. Remove all dangerous items, including sharps, liquids, gels, yada yada and put into bike bag so you don't have to worry about fishing them out for security
7. Keep in handbag all insulin, some diabetes supplies and lip gloss.
8. Don't declare any of the above items. No need, just answer politely if they query it.
9. Rear derailluers and hangers are best protected when the chain is in the biggest cog at the back.
10. Just in case the end of the world happens mid-flight, keep your shoes, pedals and helmet with you on board. Maybe include the 8mm allen key too.

This tends to work well, the only problem is I can't get around the 2 items of checked baggage. At the moment if you check a second bag its $25. Three bags cost you $100. If only the wheel bag could fit into the bike bag!

Cost for a 'bike' varies between $50, $80 and $100 (Continental).

Unfortunately, lack of sleep, perhaps stress at all the stuff I was carrying, whatever, meant yesterday I missed a couple of rules. I discovered that on arrival to Tulsa, Oklahoma, I had made it through three airports with the following items carried-on:

1. 2 months supply of insulin in ten vials
2. 1 bag of needle tips
3. A large amount of pods, each with their own syringe
4. A can of unopened soft drink
5. A pair of scissors
6. Lip gloss

My shoulder and arms ache from carting all the crap, and if things don't work out well - like having to walk further than necessary to the place where I can dump all my gear - I get annoyed pretty quick. I keep looking at everything I am carting round and try to minimise it as much as possible. But its a tough ask. I keep breaking the handle on the bike bag, despite the last check in to be (only) 28kg. And I have already sent two boxes onto Oceanside, and will probably be sending more stuff before my next flight on Tuesday morning. I will make sure though that I won't have any unnecessary weight - like a can of drink!

Tulsa - stage one was completed tonight. Yep its 'tough'. A hard circuit finally, with eight turns in the 3/4 mile circuit. This makes it tough trying to look up every now and then to make sure a tornado isn't coming into town before you lay it down into the next corner. Well, figuratively speaking. There were a few chicks who ate dirt, but luckily they were behind me. It was pretty windy, at one stage I thought we faced a headwind the entire lap of the circuit. Which once again had me thinking about tornadoes.

I didn't have great legs, they felt kinds sluggish, but I fought for position and was dying into the third final turn. I made up a few spots with a few chicks overcooking the second last corner, but I was too far behind to hit the final corner and the 180m remaining dash to the line. I finished 7th. Oh well. My blood sugar was a bit low - around 84 (4.7) at the start and 81 (4.5) at the finish. This may have impacted on things slightly. I kinda doubt it, although it was a little bit too low for comfort, particularly when the 81 at the end was after a hair raising sprint which would have kicked in some adrenaline!

Hopefully I can come good tomorrow and adjust to this heat. And hopefully the wind stays away!