With William Randolf Hearst's hunting lodge in the background, let's mount up
A final inspection and clean-up
The ceremonial packing of the bike...
...and unpacking of the bike, at the Lake San Antonio entrance gate
This year, Rick and I again stayed at the base and got a good night's sleep before race time. While I'm running again after my '07 surgery, I'm not yet comfortable running a 10K on asphalt with a steep downhill final mile on my osteoporotic bones. Not possible to just jump in on this one, except for the swim - so that was my plan. Swim and then photo Rick's race.
With William Randolf Hearst's hunting lodge in the background, let's mount up |
A final inspection and clean-up |
The ceremonial packing of the bike... |
...and unpacking of the bike, at the Lake San Antonio entrance gate |
Rick and Dan, off to the transition area |
Not just another pretty face, this former race champion was enlisted to lead the pro's around the swim course (and be able to stay ahead of them) |
The pro's hit the water! |
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While photo'ing, my batterie in the Dimage A-1 died. Argh! I had to bike all the way back up the hills and out to the car at the entrance station to get the replacement. That was my warm-up for my wave start, I suppose.
The pro women are next |
Swim start waves went off every 5 minutes from the narrow starting ramp |
Am I ready? Guess so... |
Rick and friends |
I came in off the swim at 27:14, beating last year's time by 21 seconds, and 14th out of 33 in my age group. Ferrell came a minute ahead of me. My strategy was to go off at the front of the pack, swim left and swing around the first bouy very wide. I really hate trying to swim inside a sharkfest start.
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Ferrell starts the run |
Heading up the stairs, Rick notches his first man down |
who's next? |
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and he's off... |
I had an hour to kill, and spent it checking out the exhibition area, sample the goodies, look for (w/o success) good photos... and then capture the finish
Dean Harper is still all grissle, and dominated my age group along with most in the younger age groups as well |
Ferrell lopes in |
... |
...to a great finish |
4th out of 79 - great job, Rick! |
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Those Cal Poly volunteers treated the finishers with a squirt from their squirt guns. Nice on this hot day! |
Rick and Jim and a Hallmark moment... |
The winner in Rick's age group, in yellow, was well out in front |
Another Wildflower adventure in the books!
