I met Paul A at his home this morning at 4am. We loaded his vehicle with bikes, gear and our luggage, and then, started the journey by 4:30am. "Vineman or bust"...we didn't actually have this painted on the windows of the vehicle, but we should have. The drive was smooth with little traffic and only a couple stops, once for breakfast and Starbucks, and the second for fuel and lunch. We pulled into Guerneville at 2:15pm.
Our cabin is located right on the Russian River, about 1 mile outside of "downtown" Guerneville, and its on a mysterious side road that Paul and I seem to miss and have to double back to each time we try to return to the cabin off of the main road. This cabin definitely has character, with a strong scent of a freshly burned wood fire and a kitchen about the size of my childhood closet. We wrestle with the old-fashioned door handles, struggling to fully unlatch and release the sticky knobs. The property management left a rule book that I perused, and then panicked when I read they only allow 2 day guests in addition to the 4 residents staying at the cabin. I had invited the entire team over for a bbq on Friday night...about 15 people have confirmed. I called the property management office and begged and pleaded with them, emphasizing that it was only dinner without alcohol and we would call it an early evening as we're all going to compete in Sunday's triathlon. The property management was hesitant, extremely leary, yet she agreed to allow our get together as long as we kept it quiet and closed down early. Whew!
Paul and I unloaded the vehicle, contacted our friends and family to advise them of our safe arrival, and then we headed down to the path to our private dock for a refreshing swim in the river. The water was a murky greenish yellow color, rich in algae nutrients...that's the explanation that I'm comfortable with. Visibility is about an arm's length. The water is reasonably cool, and it appeared and felt clean. We only swam in swimsuits this afternoon, not wanting to bother with the wetsuits. I think I would have been more comfortable temperature wise in my wetsuit...it was a little too cool for my taste...still spoiled by that Lavaman swim. The current was mild, almost negligible during our short swim. The water depth is shallow, going just about 2 feet above my head in the deepest part of the stream. We swam leisurely for about 20 minutes, and then we layed out on the dock to dry and relax in the sun. I could have fallen asleep at that point, except that Paul noted that we should probably clean up and search out our dinner...oh, dinner sounded good.
Paul arranged to meet his mom and neice for dinner at a grill located by a local golf course, and I was invited to join them. Always glad to meet the family of my friends. I also really enjoyed eating my plate of capellini pompodoro with chicken...delicious and the perfect carb-loading meal.
On the way back to the cabin, we stopped at the grocery store to pick up two absolute necessities...toilet paper and drinking water. We'll return for "intense" grocery shopping in the morning. We did that miss-the-street-and-double-back thing on our return to the cabin. We've now settled in for the night. We're expecting two of our teammates to show up to crash in the cabin tonight, yet it won't be until 10:30pm or later. I plan to be asleep by then, so I hope it isn't too much later.
Its been a long day, yet I'm glad to have made the trip to get here today. Family and friends called, emailed, and visited yesterday and today, checking on my preparations, sharing advice, wishing me a good race. I'm so grateful for their encouragement and support. I don't know if I could or would do this kind of event without sharing it with others, and I'm certain I wouldn't enjoy it as much if it wasn't for the smiles, cheers, pats on the back and commaradery. Taking this all in, I find that I'm not so nervous about the race. I'm actually looking forward to Sunday's catered training...thanks for the new perspective :)
G
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment