Vineman 2010

Vineman Trip 2010

Day 1
Thursday, July 15th:

As usual, we decided to leave in the evening hours to get some of the long miles out of the way. Loaded up the rig, including the dog this time, and headed out on the road. I only wanted to get some of the miles out of the way to keep Friday from being a super long day. Ended up ticking off 150 or so before stopping at the Walmart in Bakersfield to get some rest. You gotta love Walmarts! Nice big open space in the back of the parking lot, could run the generator all night for the AC (it was a bit hot), and you cannot beat the price. J

Day 2
Friday, July 16th:

We actually got some pretty good sleep considering. As the family slept in, Daddy got up at 0530, took the dog out for a bit, and started the long day of driving. Pulled into an Arco a few miles down the road and topped off the tank, along with a big cup of coffee for Dad. Mileage so far is not too hot….6 mpg at best. We felt really heavy going up the Grapevine, not sure why but I know we have had the motorcycle on the front before…Hmmmm, could it be the addition to the family in Mommy’s belly? Not sure yet.

Well for some reason, we hit quite a few patches of nasty traffic along the way, which made the 348 miles seem a bit longer than they needed to. The family leisurely woke up around 0900 and everyone was hungry. So another gas station stop, this time at the Travel Center (Truck Stop), and paid $2.99 a gallon. Right next door was the Carl’s Jr, so we had a not so healthy breakfast/lunch. Eventually we landed at the Enterprise Rent a Car in Santa Rosa to pick up our reserved full size car. We need the transportation while we are at the RiverBend campground so I can get back and forth to pick up race packets, check out the course, and give Mommy and the kids a way to come watch the race.

By 2:00PM, we arrived at our campground for the next three days (Riverbend RV Resort) in Forestville, CA. We are only 4 miles from Johnsons Beach, which is the start of the race. Oh, by the way, the race I keep referring to is the 70.3 Vineman, half Iromman race, consisting of a 1.2 mile swim, 56 mile bike, and 13.1 mile run. OUCH, this is going to be painful. I am hoping the last 5 months of training for this race will pay off. The 90+ degree heat will certainly not help matters. Well, I am hoping for the best.

A big moment occurred when I took off the training wheels from Anthony’s bike and we had our first bike riding lesson. I remember from teaching the girls and Chaz to ride that it can sometimes take a few tries before they finally figure it out. Not with this kid….Anthony took to riding a bicycle like a fish takes to water. In fact, I could not even run fast enough to keep up with him on the bike. From the moment I let go of the seat that first time, he was off and running. He is fearless really. We are just now working on starting and stopping by himself. He talked about nothing else for the rest of the day. He kept saying he is faster than “Lance” and he is faster than “Daddy”. Only time will tell on that.

The RV park is ok, a bit crowded for my tastes, but I am not a big fan of other people really. J The sites are on the smaller size and close together, so it is a little crowded. The park is completely full, probably because of the race. I saw the guy next to me pull out his ZIPP 808 wheel set from his car….great! J We ended the evening with a great pasta dinner (Thanks Mom) and a walk around the park. Oh yeah, we stopped by the office/store for some ice cream as well.

Day 3
Saturday, July 17th:

I started the day off with a little bike ride from the campground down to Johnson’s Beach (4 miles) to check out the swim start/course. The beach was not much of a beach at all, since it was mostly dirt and rocks, that made your feet hurt when you walked on them (OUCH!). By the time I was back to the motorhome, it was time to get ready to head over to Windsor High School for race packet pickup. This was by far the biggest expo/pre-race event I have ever been to for sure. With over 2000 athletes set to complete the event, it made for some interesting parking situations. Once we found a spot, we made in just in time for me to attend the pre-race meeting, where the organizers discussed the rules, penalties, and some info about the course (which was actually helpful). While I was inside the gym for the talk, Mommy and the kids were outside walking around the expo until they met up with our good friends, Elie and Jon. Elie and Jon were nice enough to fly up to support me and watch the race. I was very humbled by this gesture…it meant a lot to me.

After the 45 minute meeting, we all met up again and decided to have lunch there. They had some good sandwiches, fruit, salads, etc. Once lunch was done, we stood in the long line to register and pick up the race materials. The line moved fairly quickly, but it was then that I realized what the heat was really like in these parts. It got hot and I knew that in less than 24 hours from that point, that I would be biking and running in that heat. I got my race packet (Navy Blue swim cap, wave 11, M 40-41, 7:45 start time. This was it, I was really doing this thing. Also got my timing chip and some swag and we headed out of there.

After we got back to the motorhome, we decided we all wanted to go swimming, So we put on our suits, got into the cars, and headed to Johnsons Beach. Elie wanted to scope out the swim start as well and get a little swim workout in. We found the traffic going into town to be ridiculously busy. At one point, we almost gave up and headed back to the RV park, but we stuck with it and finally made it there. The beach was absolutely packed. There were umbrellas scattered across the entire beach and people were almost on top of one another, but we made it work. Everyone got a swim in except for Jon. L Still not that comfortable in the water. Hopefully, he will get those swim lessons one of these days.

What was really cool about this beach was that they served ice cold beer at the snack shack only a few meters away from the water….that I have never seen before. (well except in Mexico) $3 for a pretty good sized Bud Light. Elie and Jon had a beer and I stuck with water….Bummer.
Once we were fully cooked from the sun, we packed up and headed back to camp. Elie and Jon and I decided to drive the whole bike course to get the full lay of the land. I was ultimately glad we did even though it took us a good two hours from start to finish. We got back around 7 or so and made dinner: Teriyaki chicken and four cheese rice, with salad. Excellent pre-race meal!

Then it was off to bed for an attempt at a good night’s sleep.