Peach Classic!

Well, the weekend has come and gone. I raced in the Peach Classic Triathlon yesterday and I had my best placing thus far, 12th.


The sea was angry that day my friends, like an old man trying to send back soup at a deli!!



I went for a warm up paddle and did 4 x 25 strokes hard. I felt really good even though it was like a washing machine out there. At the start I had a good run in and was agressive. I lost contact with the front guys but I was able to come out of the water in 6th and still pretty close. Out on to the bike I just put my head down and went. Jordan Rapp went past me like I was going backwards (pretty awesome!!) It was windy out there but once I made the turn at Painted rock we were flying!! Travis Chater (an old friend) caught me and we pushed each other all the way back into town. Out onto the run Travis gapped me out of transition, and we stayed like that the whole way, I almost caught him at the turn around but then we started going down hill. I was really happy with my run, I cramped a bit but was able to stay focused on my turn over and feeling light on my feet. At around 8km, TBD caught and passed me and gave me some words of encouragement (" I'm running fast because there are cold beers at the bar and I don't want them to spoil!") Fun times!!

Over all it was a good day that gave me some things to think about before nationals at the end of August!

Lastly, it was really great to have my girlfriend Katie and her dad watching as well as my sisters Erin and Sarah and baby Hannah. SO great having them all there.

I'm out for a round of golf.

GW


ps: big shout out to ABD for volunteering at the finish, and to KBD for yelling at me to dig, and to Will for making my bike really fast!

League of Extraordinary People - 2009

Once a year, a dozen of amazing people that I went to high school and univeristy with get together and catch up, in interesting places in the province. Last year we met in Tofino for surfing and drinking.

The 2009 edition led us to the North Okanagan to Shuswap Lake Provincial Park! we arrived on Friday evening after realizing the Shuswap is further away than Google maps says, plus when you stop for dinner, groceries, beer and gas the trip gets extended. Never the less we made it to our campsite just before 10pm. Our parks (BC's) are basically on the other side of the spectrum of wilderness compared to the park we were at in the states last weekend, each site was surrounded by trees and we really felt secluded. Just what we were looking for. That night once everyone arrived we caught up around the campfire with adult beverages in hand. I chose Philips Slipstream Cream Ale. Probably my new favourite beer, it's smooth with no after bite and there are cyclists on it - it has to be good!!

The next day we all made breakfast together, and hungout drinking coffee waiting for the straglers to arise. We then went on a hike up (when I say up, I mean straight up and then straight down) the side of a mountain, and then made our way down to the beach. It was so nice!! We tossed the frisbee and read. I couldn't believe how many people had massive boats, just obscene!

That night we had a group meal of burritos, there was a plethra of colours!~ Everyone was pretty damn full, but all left some needed room for smores!!! I would like to point out here that the "waterman smore technique" was introduced and used by all. Smiles all around!

The next morning we did the same thing, just hung out and cleaned up. Some went to the beach and we headed out.

It was a great weekend, and I'm so thankful for all those people that were there, and some were really missed. We all missed Malcolm and Steph and Dan, as well as Coral and Adam (and the kidlets) and Crystal and Dave (and the new kidlet)

I can't wait until February for the ski trip!!

Take care.

GW

Steamboat Rock!!

We just got back from a fantastic little holiday in the US of A! Katie, Nicole (her sister), Andrew (her brother - visiting from London, Eng), Ian (Nic's BF) Marcia, Marc and I headed down to Steamboat Rock this past July 1st. It's about 4 hours south of Penticton, and it would be totally desolate except for the fact that the Columbia river has been dammed!
Not really knowing what to expect except for cold beers and Frisbee tossing it turned out to be an awesome little getaway. We drove thru the Osoyoos border crossing where we were interrogated as to why we were coming to America. I referenced the song, and used my Jedi mind tricks and everything went smoothly. Just a quick note here, if they ask you a question, don't lie, they already know the answer! It also helps if you went to highschool with the border guard.

We drove down thru Omak (pass the Stampede) and on to the Grand Coulee Dam! It was just amazing and the little town was straight out of the fifties. About 10 miles south we got to the Steamboat Boat Rock campsite. Let me tell you it was freakin' hot, we basically went straight to the water to cool off. That night we made glorious hamburgers and smores and threw the football about 50 times too many so that all our shoulders hurt the next day.

The following day we went on the Grand Coulee Dam Tour, it was so impressive and very educational (yeah I know I'm a nerd) We were allowed to ask dam questions after
the dam tour!! It is the 3rd biggest concrete structure in the world!

That night we went to the "Laser" show on the dam, it ended with Neil Young's "Coming to America". Awesome!!

The next morning we made the trek up Steamboat Rock. It took about an hour round trip and was really cool, there were some great views and some really neat geographical structures, just completely different than in Penticton. After that we packed up and tried to pawn off milk and beer. The milk was a tough sell but the beer was accepted with open arms!

On our way home we were once again stopped at the border, it only took about 25 minutes so no worries. What a great trip, and everyone had a pretty good time!!

GW

ps: we only got passed by minivans full of children