renting a road bike

[disneyatheart]

Hello everyone

I'm a little behind on my triathlon training and I don't want to dismantle my new bike to send down to WDW. Do any of you know of a place or way I could rent a road bike?


I didn't know where else to post this, so please forgive me in advance.

Thanks-

PS I will be at WDW next week (5/23/05)

 

[xterratri]

I would try figuring out some local cycling clubs for the Orlando area and then posting this question on one of their discussion boards. Finding something other than a cruiser style bike is really difficult in much of the country. Mt biking meccas often have mt bikes but road bikes are tough to find anywhere... the only place I found was Poison Spider in Moab, just a wee ways from DisneyWorld. All else fails, plan on getting some runs in outside and go to the Spa at SSR and do a concentrated hard core workout on the exercise bike there. No fun being inside but it you are truly worried that a week off the bike will throw off your training... Good luck with your season.

 

[Deb & Bill]

With all the traffic around WDW, riding a bicycle is not recommended on the roads. And there aren't many paths/trails to ride on either. I second using the spa to keep up your training.

 

[momsully]

My husband brings his road bike most trips. As Deb & Bill said the roads in the Disney area are tough to ride on but once you get to the outskirts there are some decent rides. There are a couple of bike clubs that do group rides at night during the week. I don't have any of the information with me but if you do an internet search you should be able to find it.

 

[ironz]

Since the Florida 1/2 IM is at Ft. Wilderness on 5/22, you may be able to find a rep from one of the local bike shops there.

Or check on the race website: www.floridahalfironman.com

Also, you could go ride part of the course out there. Some of the roads aren't too bad traffic-wise (at least they weren't last year).

hope that helps!

 

[lesroi]

Not sure what renting a road bike will cost you, but if you are hard-core training you will really want your own bike. You can get a nice hard case for under $200 and putting everything back together really isn't tooooo hard. (Will take you less time than going to pick up that rental.)

Now, if you were going to San Diego, I know a place there that actually sets up vacations for the sole purpose of trying out new tri bikes! Pretty cool!

 

[xterratri]

Nytro's still doing that eh? I got my current tri bike at High Peaks in Lake Placid. My experience has been that the problem with travelling with your own bike(s) is not so much packing the bike and putting it back together but flying with the bike box AND getting a rental car big enough to deal with it. When I went to Xterra West in Big Bear in 2003 I shipped the bike FedEX to a dealer, they put it back together, stored the bike box, and then took 3 weeks to ship it back to me and lost one of my mud tires. Yeah I know you don't need mud tires by the first of June in CA but we still needed them here in the NE. Luckily, I had other mtn bikes to ride but it didn't come back until 1 day before my next race and I wasn't real keen on racing on a bike not my own. Lesson learned: I'll do a little more homework before shipping my bike again. InsideOut Sports tend to be the official vendor for that sort of thing for Ironman NA events and they are handling the FL Half this weekend too.

So, my advice to the OP- unless you are a critical point in your buildup for your season, it's probably not worth dealing with. Get in what training you can but remember why you are at DisneyWorld in the first place. If it's to reconnect with family, long rides probably aren't the best way of handling it.