Triathlon Keystone Cops

Keystone Cops: "a series of silent film comedies featuring a totally incompetent group of policemen..." (Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Keystone_Kops).

The CapTex Tri 2008 on May 25th had some humorous happenings that sometimes made me and, I am sure, my two nephews who also ran the race, feel as Wikipedia suggests, "totally incompetent." A triathlon is pretty complex to begin with. So much gear to organize, many rules to obey and directions to follow. And when there are over 2700 athletes participating in multiple events (First Tri, Sprint, Oilympic, Relay) and starting at different times well, it can be quite confusing.

I was entered in the Sprint Triathlon which included a 750 meter swim in Lady Bird Lake, a 20K bike ride through downtown Austin and a 5K run. I dropped off my bike the night before as required and showed up in plenty of time to prepare for my race and watch some of the elite runners come out of the swim. I found my nephews, Father Brian Eliers and his twin, Bradley Eilers, and talked with them a bit. I was in the very first swim wave for the Sprint (based on age) and so I had few minutes before the start, confident that I had it all under control. I strolled to the dock where you would jump in the water and there the fun began.

Everyone in my swim wave had flourescent green swim caps. Everyone that is except me. Mine was black and very conspicuous. In a sort of panic I found an official and explained that my cap wasn't the right color. Fortunately, she directed me to a table next to the dock designed to resolve these kids of issues. Why did I get the feeling that someone off to the side was laughing at me, having stuffed a black cap into the packet of race #2482 just for fun?

So, no problem there. I swapped caps, pulled it on top of my head and seconds later jumped into the water to begin the five minute treading before the starting horn. Soon, I was off with the other swimmers, staying closer to the shore than most to avoid being in the midst of all those thrashing arms and legs. The swim goes well although I kept rising to check my bearing only to learn I am a zig-zagging bit off course. Seems I list to my left just a bit.

25 minutes later, Brian and Bradley are out on the dock for their start. Now, they have the right color caps plus the bright idea of not jumping in the water with everyone else but rather staying on the dock until the actual start in order to avoid treading water. Good idea - in theory. However, when Bradley jumps in the water his heart monitor falls off and it's panic city. He struggles to gets it re-situated, doing a bunch more water-treading than anybody else this day. He also swallows plenty of lake water. Still, he gets himself headed in the right direction, heart monitor properly attached. I told you there was a lot to think about...

Bradley's great adventure continues when he gets out of the water and grabs his bike. Now I've read about this sort of thing but this is the first I've heard about it happening in one of my Triathlons. For some reason when he set up his gear, Bradley placed his running cap on top of his bike helmet. In triathlon, you always try to arrange the gear in the order you will be needing it. Bike Shoes and socks, sunglasses, bike helmet, race number belt first... Running hat and shoes later. You guessed it. Bradley, in a rush to get a good transition time, grabbed his Bike Shoes, socks, sunglasses and... running hat! Then he grabbed his bike and dashed out of the transition area, jumped on at the starting point and actually got away with riding 6 miles without a bike helmet before an official told him to "get a helmet or get off the course."

If only I had known what Bradley was up to, I would have pulled my bike over to the side and waited for him to pass by!! Fortunately, when the official made his demand, Bradley was near the transition area (the Sprint Bike Course was 2 laps). He rode toward the transition and, realizing that it was going to take quite a long time to run and get his helmet, began yelling, "is anybody finishing the Sprint Bike that can lend me a helmet?!" And sure enough, someone did just that so Bradley was back on track.

Up ahead, I was nearing the finish. My bike was really fast for me (19.2 mph) and my run was steady but not particularly fast. As I approached the finish area I got disoriented and thought that the runners pealing off to the right were Olympic Event athletes. Olympic participants basically doubled the course of the Sprint athletes. So, in my mind, they were going right to somehow loop around and I was going straight to the finish. Wrong! As I ran straight I began thinking, "where's the finish line - it's gotta be around here pretty soon!" Of course, I had it backwards. Those turning right were the Sprint triathletes finishing up, those headed straight were the Olympic triathletes going for their 2nd loop. After a while, I began to ask around, "where's the Sprint finish?" Finally someone said, "back there" so I turned around, missed the now left turn, turned around again and found the finish. I also saw Joan who was rooting me on proudly, unaware of my exploits. She should be proud. I ran 3.4 miles instead of 3.1! Someone give me a medal!

For the record, here's my results:

Clock Time	1:38:38
Overall Place	340 / 785
Gender Place	242 / 446
Division Place	8 / 15
750M Swim Rank	451
750M Swim Time	20:55
750M Swim Pace	2:47/M
T1 Time	05:00
20K Bike Rank	193
20K Bike Time	38:39
20K Bike Pace	19.2MPH
T2 Time	03:59
5K Run Rank	321
5K Run Time	30:02
5K Run Pace	9:38/M

Brian and Bradley did well in the Clydesdales 30-34 age group. Brian finished 2nd at 1:28:52. And Bradley, depite all his foibles, finished 4th in 1:34:07.

A while, I'm at it - a shout out to my daughter Rachel who completed her first Triathlon on June 8th at the Danskins Triathlon at Decker Lake. She needs to teach me transition strategy (see below):

Clock Time	1:43:33
Overall Place	352 / 2592
Division Place	19 / 91
750M Swim Rank	545
1/2 mile Swim Time	22:19
T1 Time	03:38
20K Bike Rank	423
12 mile Bike Time	44:15
Bike Pace	16.2MPH
T2 Time	02:34
5K Run Rank	398
5K Run Time	30:25
5K Run Pace	9:48/M

I ran through the gauntlet and came out the other side!

It was a very challenging 15 days, exercise-wise. Or maybe exercise-unwise is more suitable. I signed up for a gauntlet of activities and looking at the schedule I began to worry that I bit off more than I could chew. The events included:

March 30 - Capital 10K
April 5th - Pedal Power Wildflower 36 mile bike ride
April 10th - Abiding Love Golf Tournament
April 13th - Texas State Sprint Triathlon

It all started with the Capital 10K, the largest 10K in Texas, on March 30th. I signed up early and it looked like I would be running alone until the last when my daughter Rachel, and my friends Tom Fritz and Michael Sorensen asked to run with me. Oh, and there were 16,500 other friends running with us as well. The rain that began falling at the start of the race failed to dampen our spirits as the 4 of us dodged slower runners in route to an 8-minute first mile. Michael was chomping at the bit and soon took off in his high school cross-country runner exhuberance. Rachel and Tom and I plodded on around the Capital and through the course and over the hills.

At around 2 miles Rachel fell a bit behind and at 3 miles Tom stopped at a porta-potty. I ran through the turn at the Mopac and was soon caught by my nephew, Bradley Eilers. We discussed how we were both getting tired and ran together for about a mile until Bradley started to leave me behind.

Little did I know that Tom and Rachel met back up at that 3 mile marker and ran together the rest of the way, so that was good.

Once I turned onto Cesar Chavez at 4 1/2 miles, I really began to tire. I was running too fast a pace for me (). I knew my last mile was going to be slow and it was. For the record, I ran 2 minutes faster than two years ago so I felt good about that. Here's our results:

Me (51:52 63rd in age group)
Rachel (53:32 49th in age group)
Tom Fritz (53:24 46th in age group)
Michael (43:26 21st in age group)
Bradley (49:22 105th in age group)

My calves were very sore for 3 days afterwards. All my training was 4-5 miles on the Hike & Bike Trail. I had a Bike Ride to get ready for!!

The Pedal Power Wildflower Ride is a well organized that starts out at the LBJ National Park near Stonewall. We (Bill Hatcher, J.D. Bostick and myself) left Austin at around 7:15am on Saturday and I was surprised at how many bike-carrying cars were headed out in the same direction. It was around 45 degrees when we and about 400 other riders started out on our journey so I opted for a long sleeve jersey with my yellow bike jersey pulled over it. Many of the other riders were headed out on the 60-mile ride but that would have been truly unwise for my circumstances.

The ride is hilly but not too tough through beautiful hill country roads, over several cattle guards and low water crossings. There was one difficult climb, it followed a cattle guard, a low water crossing and a sharp 90 degree turn so you hit the hill with no speed at all. I made it to the top where a rest stop awaited you with snacks and drinks. I stuffed the long sleeve shirt into my short sleeve bike shirt as it had become a beautiful day!

I averaged about 14.5 mph for the ride and at the end we enjoyed a spaghetti dinner. This was a very well-organized ride and I look forward to repeating it in the future.

The following Thursday, was the Abiding Love "Chip in for Children" Golf Tournament at Grey Rock (Circle C). This is my annual adventure at the links. My team consisted of members of Mixed Blessings, our Church's Praise Band - Philip Drake, Craig Hohertz, and Brent Karley. Bless his heart, Craig could only putt because of recent heart surgery but that didn't keep us from finishing 2nd to last! It was a gorgeous afternoon after a rainy morning and we had a blast. I mean, what other team would wave their arms trying to distract their teammate as he stood over a 4-foot bogie putt!

Saturday, April 12th, was more fun in the sun as Joan and I enjoyed watching Rachel and her University of Texas Melee teammates demolish 4 opponents in an Ultimate Frisbee Tournament.

Sunday was a rude awakening when the alarm went off at 5am. I had everything ready for the Texas State Sprint Triathlon but the race began at 7:30am in San Marcos. Unfortunately, I had an upset stomach and didn't sleep well but physically I was fine. I picked up my friend Jan Haas and we headed down to Aquarena Springs. The temperature was around 42 degrees and the walk from the parking lot to the bike staging area is about a half mile. By the time I got there, my back was killing me. I set everything up and tried to stretch out and began to feel a bit better, although apprehensive about a few things like the weather, my stomach and my back. But I was determined to do this since last year I bonked 30 yards from the finish line!!

The course before me was a 500 meter swim, a 14 mile bike ride and a 3 mile run. I was looking forward to the swim. Not only would I be swimming without much interference through the clear, deep spring-fed lake but also I would be able to warm up in the 72 degree water. It is a shotgun start, where athletes go one at a time about every 3-5 seconds, men first by age, the women. Pretty soon my number 143 came up and I tip-toed to the waters edged and jumped in. I kept my stroke as steady as I could and did fine, although swimming is not my forte. After 15 minutes or so, I striggle out of the water and began the 50 yard hobble over rough, gravely road to my bike.

This is my 2rd triathlon and my transitions are slow. I was being very deliverate, making sure I drank enough fluids, and striggling with my socks and bike shoes. It took me four whole minutes to get on my bike and head down the road. It was very cool and my legs didn't seem to be working very well but I figured I would get warm eventually. After about 2 miles, Jan caught up with me. She is a very strong swimmer and good cyclists. After she passed me, she spit and I called out to her, teasing her that her spit hit me in the face.

Anyway, I stayed conservative on the bike through the hilly course but sped up after the turnaround at the seven mile mark. I never did catch Jan although I was close behind and notice her in the transition area. I did better in the 2nd transition (no socks to put on) and headed out after 2 minutes or so for the run.

The run is always my strong event. I started out slow and conservative so I could judge by health and slowly increased the pace. It was a nice run through Sewell Park. Unfortunately for Jan, she got stopped by traffic police when crossing the road. I caught with about a mile to go and sped up a lot as I neared the finish and realized I still had a lot of gas in the tank.

What a difference a year makes! I finished about 6 minutes faster than last year and wasn't too tired. In fact, I returned to see Rachel's last tournament game and swam the following Tuesday and ran on Wednesday. For the record, I finished in 1:35:39, 6th out of 7 in my age group. I was faster in every event than the 5th placed finisher but he blazed through the transitions and I was poky. Here's my breakdown:

500 meter swim: 15:39
Transition 1: 4:00
14 mile bike: 49:41 (16.9 mph)
Transition 2: 2:26
3 mile run: 23:49 (7:56 per mile)

Oh and Jan? She won her age group in 1:30:10!

So, I faced the gauntlet, ran rigth through it, and came out the other side. Next up? The Captex Sprint Triathlon on May 25th.

I Swam 15 Miles in January and I'm sort of tired!

They say you should try something different as you grow older. Change your routine. Get out of that rut. Sign up for a new class.

So, I signed up for the "Masters" Swim Class at the Austin Town Lake YMCA. I figured I could leave work in time to get to the class at 6pm, MWF. Only thing was, when I double checked the night before the first class, I discovered it was 6-7:30 AM! Now, I'm a morning person but that seemed a little out there.

But I set the alarm for 5:30 and I went to the first class. Lucky for me, the instructor was a no-show. I hadn't done any swimming since September so I took the opportunity to brush up with a bunch of laps. I was a little sore the next day and pretty tired out. But it was good preparation for the next class when we swam a lot further than I ever thought of swimming before - 2700 yards!

Now, last summer I thought swam alot as I trained for Sprint Triathlons but two laps of Barton Springs pool is only about 750-800 yards while 2700 yards is, well, a little out there. But I signed up for the entire month of January and so I stuck to it.

As the month progressed, the instructor varied the workouts and at times we concentrated on certain stokes - all of which I needed help with. He encouraged me to try flip turns. We used paddles and worked on pull. We used a kickboard and worked on kicking. I learned how to do the backstroke correctly and I actually got it right about half the time. I learned that doing the breast stroke kick for 600 yards will wear out my groin - I'm not flexible enough.

Of course, the killer of all strokes is the butterfly. Half way through that workout, I could hardly get my arms out of the water and my rotator cuff bugged me for a few days afterward. And I swallowed a lot of water as I gulped for air. It took me forever to complete the kick workout using the dolphin kick.

So anyway, after swimming 15 miles in January I now have a new appreciation for those Olympic swimmers. In fact, swimmers of all levels whose workouts are far beyond my hour and a half struggles are amazing. I can tell that I got much stronger as the month progressed. And although I did not continue the class because I needed to do some running and cycling training as well, I plan to double my Barton Springs Pool workouts.

I know that I can do it because I swam farther in one month than I had in my entire life!

Washington DC at Thanksgiving

2007 marked a distinct departure from our usual Thanksgiving holiday. Joan, Rachel and Tom flew up to Washington DC to spend time with Jill who is there with Lutheran Volunteer Corps.

And what a holiday it was! We arrived Tuesday evening and took the Blue Line metro to McPherson Square then walked to Jill's house. Lugging a large suitcase with one wheel broken was tough but we made it.

Jill's house is quaint, roomy and nice.

Right of the bat, we got to know two of Jill's four housemates, Shana and David, as well as David's visiting friend Anna. This is Jill's house shown to the left where her space is on the top floor and the living room/kitchen is on the 2nd floor.

The colors in Washington DC were quite vivid. Everywhere we walked, you could enjoy Fall foliage. And we walked everywhere!

This picture of Joan was just down the street from Jill's house. Joan enjoyed the colors so much that she just had to stop for pictures over and over again.

On Wednesday we enjoyed a lot off walking to DC hotspots. We first picked up our Trot for Hunger race packets at the SOME headquarters. Then we proceeded down to the National Mall and took a tour of the Capitol. It was a little longer than necessary but still interesting.



Next we viewed the Nature's Best Photography: Windland Smith Rice International Awards wildlife photo exhibit at the Museum of Natural History. We then walked through some of the other museum rooms until we found the famous Hope diamond.



That evening we enjoyed a concert by the International Woodwind Quartet at the Kennedy Center. Then we returned to Jill's house for some more visiting.

Thanksgiving Day began with a shuttle ride over to the Tidal Pool area for the SOME (So Other Might Eat) Trot for Hunger 5K. Tom ran the race in 22:18, Rachel in 23:48, Jill in 35:00 and Joan walked. Us four comprised Team LVC. Temperatures we in the low 60's so it was a great morning for running along the Potomac River. We also got to meet the LVC (Lutheran Volunteer Corps) Coordinator, Charles. After the race we shuttled back to downtown and walked home. It was nearing Thanksgiving Feast time and we were excited to see how David's turkey was coming along. Thanksgiving Dinner was wonderful - all the fixings you can ever imagine and three pies! We also got to know Luke another housemate. Tom and Luke shared sports stories back and forth the entire stay!

Friday was our out of town travel day. We picked up a car at Enterprise and first headed down to the World War II Memorial. This was new since our last DC visit and well worth the trip. It especially holds meaning for Joan as her Dad, Ernst, served in France and Germany during the war. We even found his name on the registry.

Then we went over to the Lincoln Memorial. Since it is a great view of the Mall, the Capitol, the Washington Monument, and the Reflecting Pool, Joan and Rachel were snapping pictures the whole time. The Lincoln Memorial was just as spectacular as last time around.

We next headed out of town, planning on going to Shenandoah National Park. We decided to go into Manassas Old Town for lunch and hit a big traffic jam. When we finally reached the old town, it was quaint and nice. We found a good restaurant and went into several little shops.

By then it was getting sort of late and we still had 40 miles to go to the park but we forged ahead. Even though we go there at 4pm and dusk was fast approaching, we decided to drive on in on Skyline Drive. We stopped at 5 overlook areas as we headed up the mountain, each with spectacular views of the Shenandoah River Valley. The fall colors were still showing with lots of red, orange and yellow leaves.

We enjoyed the sunset over the ridge and then headed back to Washington DC.


On Saturday, Rachel and I began the day with a jog to the White House and the Washington Monument and back.

Rachel enoyed taking some pictures of Tom while we both jogged.

Then it was back to the museums. We met our dear friend, Greta Rymal, at the Corchoran Museum where the special Ansel Adams Exhibit was showing. Greta then treated us to a nice lunch at one of her favorite restaurants before she gave us a lift over to the Air and Space Smithsonian.



The museum was packed but we all really enjoyed the Wright Brother's Room immensely.

After that we checked out the ice skating rink and enjoyed people-watching. That evening we got to meet Jill's other housemate, Carl. The meeting of the housemates was complete.

Sunday was time to go back home. But before we did, we rode the Metro over to First Trinity Lutheran Church for Sunday morning Worship Service. We walked back to Jill's and then over to Thai Tanic for lunch. Then we were off on the Metro to Reagan National for the flight home. After dropping our luggage, we drove over to our good friends, the Thonhoff's, to pick up Mocha. They had more stories to tell about Mocha's antics then we had about our trip to Washington DC!!

Conquering Dilloman

The Dilloman Sprint Triathlon was held on September 9th at Pace Bend Park on Lake Travis. This is a well-organized event run by Austin Triathletes, especially considering the remote location. It includes an 800-meter swim, a 20K bike and a 5K run.

My nephew, Bradley Eilers, and I met at 6:10am and carpooled out there. We had a good time and, since Bradley competed in the Dilloman last year, he was able to impart some valuable course wisdom.
For the record, I finished 7th out of 10 in my age group and 89th out of 133 male participants overall (see results). Here's my results:

Swim: 19:46.7 (pace 2:28/100m) 8th out of 10
Transition #1: 3:02.7
Bike: 46:44.6 (pace 15.9 mph) 7th out of 10
Transition #2: 2:24.4
Run: 26:26.0 (pace 8:28/mile) 3rd out of 10
Overall: 1:38:24.5

Everything went very smoothly before and I was careful to avoid the dehydration I experienced my last time out. The swim was a wave start on Lake Travis and I swam to the outside the entire way where I avoided the thrashing bodies and was able to use the other swimmers as my bearing point. So, I rarely broke stride during the swim.

The bike was a hilly 2-lap course. One hill near the end was enough to bring some riders off their bikes. It wore on the legs but was a good challenge.

The run was on the dirt and rock roads that lead to picnic and camping areas. No speed race here - the fastest 5k was 19:20. I just kept a moderate and steady pace which left me with plenty left at the finish.

Bradley, by the way, did well too. He finished about 9 minutes ahead of me and 6th place in the Clydesdales (men over 200 pounds).

Overall it was a fun time on a nice warm day. The lake was full and beautiful. And I had a great time conquering Dilloman!

An emotional roller coaster of a week

What a week this has been!
On Monday, we took our daughter Jill to the airport for her move to Washington D.C. All of us were excited yet apprehensive. Traveling is complicated enough but when you are moving to live in downtown D.C, then there are another set of worries alltogether. Jill had two layovers where she called to tell us about her progress. Fortunately, she had a friend meet her at the airport in D.C. which helped immensely. She arrived and had a great week of orientation with Lutheran Volunteer Corps in preparation for her beginning work at the Alliance for Global Justice.
But that was just the start of the week! On Tuesday, my wife Joan and I flew to San Francisco to pick up our other daughter, Rachel, who was completing her cycling trip across America with Bike and Build. Rachel was to arrive on Thursday, so Tuesday and Wednesday was a little 30-year anniversary celebration for us. We had a good flight to Oakland, caught the shuttle to the train station and the train to San Francisco and walked up Powell Street to the Chancellor Hotel where we would be staying.
The Chancellor Hotel is an old hotel just off Union Square. A super location and a nice hotel that I would recommend it strongly.
After unpacking, we walked to the corner above our hotel and ate at Lori's diner where the food is pretty good and you sit next to an old Ford Edsel. Then we walked down to Market Street to purchase 7-day Muni passes - a great deal for $24. We could now ride the cable cars and buses for the rest of our stay. I have been to San Francisco three times: once on business, once about 17 years ago when our family spent a couple of vacation days there on our way to Spokane, and then about 18 months ago when Rachel and I went there following her senior year of high school. On this trip we discovered the crowds were larger and the street people pushier. I suspect August is the height of the tourist season. But still, San Francisco is one of America's unique cities, attracting people from all over the world, and I enjoyed trying to figure out the difference languages that I heard.
So, once we got our passes, we were ready to go but the cable car line was too long for my patience. We walked up Powell Street all the way to where the Powell and Hyde lines split off and then jumped on a cable car to ride to the top of Lombard Street, the crookedest street in the world. The flowers were beautiful along the twisted street and the people were goofy. Lots of cars packed the street to experience the drive down, many recording the event on video out their window (normally from the passenger side, at least!). We walked down and up Lombard and took pictures so I guess we were sort of goofy too.
From the top of Lombard Street we walked down to Ghirardelli Square, the chocolate center of the world. We just checked it out but were not yet ready to partake. Then we walked on down along the Wharf, enjoyed the views and looked in the shops. We caught the Powell line back up to our hotel. After resting a bit, we walked around the Union Square area looking for a restaurant and settled on Max's where we enjoyed a nice dinner and conversation with a Rabbi and his wife who were seated next to us.
On Wednesday, we decided to tackle Golden Gate Park. We rode bus #71 to 9th street and walked throughout the east side of the park. Strolling through the botanical gardens and later the Conservatory of Flowers made for an enjoyable day. We then headed over to Stow Lake where we enjoyed hot dogs and ice cream sandwiches. On the bus trip back, a pickpocket was caught trying to steal a lady's wallet. What excitement.
Back downtown, we bought a poster board at Walgreen's so Joan could make a sign for Rachel who was to arrive the next day. That evening, we ate at a nice Mediteranean Restaurant - Santorini.
Thursday was our big day - well, actually it was Rachel's big day. She would be riding in from San Rafael - only 18 miles away and a far cry from those 90 and 100 mile days in her recent past. We knew she would be thrilled to be completing her cycle across America and we were thrilled for her. We got up early and picked up a rent car at 7:30. Joan navigated and I drove out across the Golden Gate Bridge and parked in the overlook on the Sausalito side of the bridge since Rachel would be arriving from the north. This day brought back some good memories because one of the things Rachel and I did 18 months ago was to ride rental bikes across the Golden Gate Bridge and into Sausalito. Then we took the ferry back to San Franscisco.
Our plan for today was to walk onto the bridge and greet her there but after seeing another Bike and Build group arrive from Jacksonville and celebrate for at least a half hour in the overlook area, we changed plans. Instead, we would greet the team as they rode into the overlook area.
It seemed forever but finally around 11 o'clock we saw a large group of riders come up the hill from Sausalito and we knew it had to be them. Rachel was a "sweeper" - one of two final riders who made sure that everyone was accounted for - so we knew she would be at the back of the pack. The team gathered down the hill from the overlook, about a quarter mile away for a few minutes before riding on towards us. I got the sign ready while Joan began video taping. The sign read "You Did It!" and the smiles on the cyclist faces were joyful. At last, we spotted Rachel and fellow-sweeper Alex. They all rode into the overlook area, dropped there bikes, and began celebrating and taking pictures. The day had cleared and the view of the city and bridge was wonderful. When they were ready for group pictures, they lines about 15 cameras up on a ledge and I took their picture - camera by camera of every make and model imagineable. This group had travelled from Providence, RI to San Franscisco - own schedule and in one piece! What an accomplishment!
When the team was ready to ride across the Golden Gate Bridge, Joan and I walked out about 100 feet onto the Bridge so we could do some more videotaping. Then we hopped in the car to head to the beach spot where a celebration picnic was planned. Of course, I got lost in Sausalito back roads but that was sort of a neat experience in itself. By the time we got to the Beach, Rachel and her friends had already jumped in San Francisco Bay and held a ceremonious dipping of their front wheels in the water, signifying the completion of their adventure. (They had dipped their rear wheels in the Atlantic way back when).
After a great picnic, we loaded Rachel's bike and gear in the car and drove out to Muir Woods where we hiked up to where we could see the Pacific Ocean (barely). The trails are really nice there and it was warm and sunny.
We then returned to the hotel where Rachel got to check out our accomodations before we all headed to a Bike and Build dinner to Buca di Peppo, an Italian restaurant where the food is more plentiful than good. They kept bringing dish after dish and the parent's table where Joan and I sat kept redirecting the dishes to the main table where the cyclists dined.
On Friday, we strolled around Union Square where an art show was going on and then hiked to Chinatown where we went through the shops. We ate at a little sandwich shop near our hotel and then walked Rachel over to 3rd and Market where she met her friends who had planned a trip to the Haight-Ashbury district - the "hippie" flowers in your hair area.
Joan and I went on to do some more exploring. We ended up walking all the way to Ghirardelli Square because trolley line was long and then on the Hyde line, they were not running very often. So, we rewarded ourselves at Ghirardelli Square with ice cream cones. Then we sat along the bay and watched the swimmers for awhile. It was a beautiful evening. When Rachel called we caught the trolley back to the hotel. After a short rest, we caught the trolley to Fisherman's Wharf and enjoyed nice dinner at Cioppino's. Also on Friday, we solved the bike shipping problem. We found a cycling shop that would pack it and ship it back to Austin.

Saturday was travel day. After a great breakfast at Sear's, a restaurant next door to the Chancellor, we walked down Powell to the train station, bought the tickets, figured out which train to catch and were soon on our way to Oakland. On the train, I figured out that I bought too little fare but once in the Oakland station, Rachel found a machine where you could add fare. Then we shuttled to the airport and boarded our plane back to Austin through San Diego.

Rachel's friends Perry, Carter and Liz were waiting for us at the airport - the end of a great adventure and a roller coaster of a week.

You Might Run Past the Mayor

You might run past the mayor, a star cyclist, an inspirational “gazelle,” or the statue of a legend. Usually you will enjoy fresh air and stunning sights. And most certainly you’ll see a wide spectrum of people - families, friends, loners, wanderers, and visitors; all sharing in what I believe is best about Austin.

I travel around the country and usually take my jogging shoes but nothing I have found compares with Austin’s Town Lake Trail. Thousands of people have their own stories to tell about this long stretch of comfortable cinders and natural beauty. Their experiences is sure to include some of the following:

Laughing at the antics of a myriad of dogs on the loose at Auditorium Shores, across from the statue of Stevie Ray Vaughan, especially when one dashes over to jump in the river.
Greeting the lone guitarist strumming near Lou Neff Point.
Marveling at the stately view of expensive homes overlooking the river when you cross the bridge near Austin High, or the modern Austin skyline rising above the graffiti on the Railroad Bridge. How and when did they crawl up there to do that anyway?
Stopping to gaze at the grace of rowers and swans sharing the water.
Encouraging a group of volunteers planting new trees and bushes.

The cyclists whiz by fast and the strollers roll by slowly. The walkers are in deep conversation with friends and the joggers of all sizes and shapes are breathing hard. Some rest on the benches or stretch or gather around the water jugs. And all of that is great and good and wonderful.

But for me the best part is a phone call and “Dad, you wanna go to the trail?” And so off I go to pick up my daughter and we go jogging and she’ll tell me stuff she never would on the phone, or even over dinner. And at the end I will tell her “Good job” and she’ll reply “thanks Dad” and we’ll make a plan to do it again next week or maybe sooner. And on the way back to the car, another stroller passes by, a mother or father pushing a daughter or son towards the Town Lake trail, and I’ll think, “a good start and it will only get better.”