Finding your wings isn\’t entirely about being able to \”fly\” down the bike path at 25+ mph. A serious competitive cyclist reaches the point where traveling to races is unavoidable; and if those races aren\’t pretty close to home, flying might be necessary.

Transporting a bicycle by air sounds like a bit of a hassle. It wouldn\’t be a good idea to let your bicycle go into the luggage hold with no more protection than a cardboard box from a bike shop; therefore some sort of bicycle travel case is a wise idea. They aren\’t cheap, but they cost less that replacing a bicycle would. Look at it as a form of travel insurance!

Not only competing cyclists need to travel. Some of us yearn for new paths to ride, and there just aren\’t any close to home. We might be itching to do the Dirty Kanza. Or RAGBRAI!

If you\’re going to transport your bicycle by air, you might need to learn to partly disassemble it; I\’ve read of bicycle cases that mean removing one or both wheels before stowing the bike in it. Not my idea of fun, but sometimes you\’ve got to bite the bullet and learn how to do new things. It\’s all part of finding your wings as a cyclist.