Things That Make You Say "Doh!!"

Tomorrow we're leaving on a "ROADTRIP"!!!  Bill is on vacation and we wanted to go and visit family in New Orleans and the Mississippi Gulf Coast.  He told me about a month or two ago that he would be taking a week around the first part of May. I of course immediately go online and see if there are any triathlons in the NOLA area for that time.  And I find the CRAWFISHMAN TRIATHLON on the first weekend in May!  "Do you think you could wrap your vacation week around a weekend instead of taking Sunday through Saturday?"  "You could?  Really??"  Cha-ching - Active.com race entry fee.

We got a new car last February - a Subaru Outback!  Bill used to drive a Jeep Cherokee so the cargo room in our vehicle has decreased slightly.  Now we need to figure out how to take two Golden Retrievers, luggage and a bike.  No problem - we'll get a trailer hitch and a cool bike rack for the back of the car.  (The roof rack houses kayak carriers). 

I order a Yakima HoldUp bike rack - I like this version because the bike is held onto the rack by the wheels instead of the frame.  No frame torque and all bikes will be horizontal, even if they have a sloping top tube. I make an appointment with the Subaru dealership to have the hitch installed.  I go to Wilmington with the car last Thursday and hang around the city for 6 hours. Right when the Outback is finally through the complimentary car wash, dried and brought to me it starts to rain.  Nice.  My mistake - not checking the work.

Last night we decided to put the rack on the car.  But when we remove the little cover on the hitch and start to install the Spline of the rack we notice that the 2" reciever that I ordered for the car is a 1.25.  DOH!!!!!  Of course the dealership is already closed for the day.  We have to wait until the morning to do anything.  In the morning, upon contacting the dealership we find out that the 1.25 is the only size available for our car because of the towing capacity.  Okay... I get it, but we're not going to tow anything. 

So then I have to see what I can do about the rack.  No one stocks one anywhere with a 1.25", I found a couple more 2", but we were SOL on the size we need.   The guy at TrySports in Wilmington recommends that I call Yakima and get creative in my thinking on what to do.  He gave me some good advice!  I called Yakima and yes, they have the Spine for the rack.  I'd have to Overnight it to get it here on time.  I ask if I can exchange the one I have for that one?  No, I can't because I didn't buy the rack from them, I got it from ORS Racks Direct.  I got a great deal on it and free shipping!!   The person at Yakima suggests that I call them, that they're open and might be able to help.  Maybe they could exchange it and overnight me the correct size. 

No such luck... they don't carry the individual Spline.  However the oh so cool folks at ORS Racks Direct are going to let me return just the 2" Spline by itself and are going to give me credit for it!  How amazing is that Customer Service.  Brianna at Yakima referred to the guy at ORS by name.  What great companies.  

So I should have the correci size Spline for our trailer hitch by noon tomorrow from Yakima.  And then let the Roadtrip begin!!!!  Keeping my fingers crossed for the FedEx guy to show up early!