Tag: California

Trans Tahoe

~ meh ~ 1 Comment

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6 swimmers.  one boat.  11 miles across lake tahoe.

i love this event so much.

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even the ride in is beautiful (ignoring the 3 hours of traffic you inevitably hit in sactown when you leave SF at 3:30 on a friday).

This swim is a little bit different than running relays I’ve done in the past in that each leg swims for a set amount of time (in this case, 30 minutes) as opposed to a distance.  And you continue to rotate until you hit the finish line.  Simple, and kind of beautiful in the fact that nobody can really tell how fast you’re going (unless you really gain or lose ground to another nearby boat, though the lake is to big and people get pretty spread out that it’s not usually like a neck-in-neck race until the end.)

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proper nutrition. key for peak performance. oh 21st amendment, how i missed you.

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6am boat pickup

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early ride to the starting line

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the starting line, sand harbor state park

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waiting for our first swimmer

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go time.

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one of the many exchanges

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we finished in 4 hours 10 minutes(ish).  then we got to hang out in this for a while.

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seriously.  the water was just incredible.

it’s good to be back.

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Amgen Tour of California

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On Friday I happened to stumble upon the fact that stage 5 of the Amgen tour would be finishing in Santa Barbara THAT AFTERNOON.

I am not a huge cycling buff, but during my time working at the SBR shop in Kentucky I was exposed to my fair share of Tour de France and Beyond the Peloton DVDs.  And I thought it would be awesome to see.

So after Memaw graciously agreed to watch HH for the afternoon, I was out the door and downtown in the hot, hot heat.

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My friend Rika, who doesn’t particularly like cycling, just happened to be in town and agreed to stand with me to watch.

Around 3:45 the barricades were all up, nobody was allowed to cross the street, officials were yelling at pedestrians to STAY OFF THE ROAD, you could see the blinking lights of the escort in the distance…when suddenly a homeless dude on his cruiser with two large bags full of cans slung over one shoulder came cruising down the middle of the course.

He seemed somewhat tuned into the fact that something was…different, but completely oblivious that he was in the middle of it all.

Cue: mass hysteria.

Every official nearby was yelling and chasing after him, flags in the air.  Caught completely off guard by the uproar, Can Man started swerving all over the road to avoid the various people trying to tackle him, almost colliding with one official in the process.  There was a collective gasp as everyone envisioned cans strewn across the road as the peloton descended.

Surprisingly dexterous in steering his bike with one hand and carrying an unwieldy load in the other, Can Man managed to avoid crashing into anyone or anything, finally rolling off the road and into a nearby park yelling over his shoulder about how EVERYONE was being ASSHOLES.  Crisis averted.

And then Taylor Phinney came flying by.

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Then came the peloton.

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It all happened in bouts of about 3 seconds.  I thought it was very exciting.  At the end Rika was like, “That was it?  That’s what we stood here so long for?”  But ultimately agreed the homeless dude fiasco made the event worthwhile.

Nice little article on how brutal that leg was here.

Made it

~ meh ~ 1 Comment

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Despite how it may seem based on the radio silence the past 2 weeks, we survived the trip to CA.  And are now living 4 generations under one roof.

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As you might imagine, the last 2 weeks have been a little transitional.  But things are starting to settle down.  The fact that it’s been mid-70s and sunny every day since we got here hasn’t hurt.  We’ve also gotten to spend time at the beach.  I’m really pushing HH to get out there and meet some men.

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In the meantime, the job/home search continues.  Regular posts to resume shortly.  I hope.

Back on the Horse

~ meh ~ 2 Comments

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Sticking with my MO, my longest run in the past 8 months has been 5 miles (and I’ve since backed off because of pain), I still haven’t figured out how to fit a normally scheduled workout into my workday when I’m not sleeping more than 3 hours at a time, and I live in Kentucky.  But am I going to let that stop me from signing up for a 13 mile race in California?  HECK NO.

All registered and ready to roll.

Glad news, sad news

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No joke, I saw one of these walking home from work today.  A real live groundhog in the WILD…of our neighborhood. It looked like a really fat cat with no legs and no ears. I wanted to bring it home with me.

Guess where they don’t have groundhogs.

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The same place I was last weekend.

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The beach! Or at least CA. For a beautiful wedding.

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It was great, but the trip out there and time difference knocked me on my BUTT for most of the time I was there.  So…this week has been mostly spent readjusting and checking back into reality.

Exciting stuff, I know.

2 more weeks until the outdoor pools open.

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And, on a much sadder and completely unrelated note, NASCAR legend and Paul’s favorite driver has passed away.

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Yes, that’s him smoking a cigarette while racing.

RIP Dick Trickle.

Californ.i.a.

~ meh ~ 1 Comment

This week has been pretty ridiculously busy, and I’ve spent a lot of it being Cranky McCranksterpants.  So it’s probably best I didn’t do any sort of commentary.  Last week, though, was amazing.

Started out flying into LA and renting the cheapest car possible:

Fiat 500.  Booyah.  Every time we saw another one the driver would give us a thumbs up.

First up was a 20-hour trip to SD, where I visited my old friend Jen.  We hit up Comic Con…

…and ended the night at a gay bar with everyone was dressed like superheroes with inflatable flamingos everywhere.  There was some carnage the next morning.

Kind of tragic.

After that it was up the coast to Santa Barbara

where we ate some good produce from my parents yard

enjoyed local brew

and binged on Blenders and burritos.  Lots and lots of burritos.

There was also Red Rock

and some kayaking

and Hendrys.

It was a pretty fantastic week of relaxation and sun.

Then it was up the coast again to Carmel for a really spectacular wedding.

Instead of a traditional rehearsal dinner, Alix and Christian threw a rock legends party where everyone had to dress up like rock stars.

The blushing bride.

The wedding itself was out on a reserve

and the reception was held in a barn.

Alix and Christian run the Lazy Parrot CSA, and our tables had basil plants and all sorts of fresh produce to make our own bruschetta.  That was awesome.  As was the dance floor.

It was a spectacular weekend.  The next morning we drove up the coast a little further to SF, which isn’t a bad place to recover with friends and fish tacos.

Then the red-eye back to Kentucky and right into the week from hell (OK, it wasn’t that bad, but it was busy.)  I’m still exhausted.  And tomorrow, assuming the weather mellows out, I’m on another flight solo out to DC for Kristin’s 30th.

But for now, enjoy the picture from our front porch tonight before the deluge began.

Back home

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After two rocky legs that made for zero sleep, our flight from California landed in Louisville at 8:30 this morning.  It was a quick drive back to Lexington, hop in the shower, a coffee the size of my head, and then off to work for back-to-back meetings all day.  Wheeeeeee.

Sorry there aren’t more details at the moment, but I’ve gotta go faceplant in my pillow.  More to come soon.