Catching up

Summer is nearly over - I can hardly believe it.  Lots of things to catch up on around here.

The kids had some excitement the day before Max's birthday when they spotted a brush fire and helped put it out. { I stole this picture from Michelle's facebook page :-) }

Then of course it was Max's birthday.....12...last year before I have another teenager.

Ciara and Natalie made him an awesome soccer themed birthday cake.

And I felt a little like it was my birthday too. Just before we went on our RV trip I found out that I had been sponsored by Timex.  So I am now officially part of the Timex Factory Team which is very exciting.  I received my first box of goodies in the mail...just like a big birthday present. It included a new watch which came in very handy since my old one was ready for retirement.

Somewhere in there Michelle and I did the Long Bridge Swim. A 1.76 mile open water swim across Lake Pend Oreille. This is why they don't call it the short bridge swim...um...because is it LONG.



Of course we had our usual group of awesome supporters. Umm....ok so they were having breakfast at this stage.



But they did come out and take some great photos and cheer us all the way along the bridge.

This photo was so funny. I was swimming along and then I heard all this yelling and cheering and as I turned to breath I looked up and saw them all directly above me on the bridge.  I really am so lucky to have family and friends that are willing to come out and cheer me on when they would rather be sleeping in.



It was a super fun swim. The water was clear and NOT cold...always happy about that. There was a little bit of a swell in the middle but nothing too bad. Made it to the finish in 1:05. Let's not talk about the little detour I took. Let's just call it sightseeing.

And I wore my new Timex watch....the most comfortable sports watch I have ever worn.  When you have chicken arms like me there are not a lot of sports watches that fit my wrist properly.  This one is awesome...and cute...because cuteness DOES count.



Michelle made the swim look easy. She looks like she could go out and do it all over again.

On the Road

So after STP we hit the road and were ready for a vacation. Now I could give you a long winded description of our vacation but you and I both know that you just want to see the pictures.  So I'll keep the commentary brief.

First stop was Manzanita on the Oregon coast with our friends the Sidles Family.







Then it was off to the Olympic National Park which is a wild rainforest on the western tip of Washington. 









Matt made us stop and see the biggest Spruce tree



We found some natural hot springs at Sol Duc in the park. It was nice to soak our muscles although the springs smelled like rotten eggs.







After that we rolled the RV onto the ferry at Port Angeles and took a nice leisurely ride across to Victoria B.C.



We had the most awesome RV park in the middle of the city, right on the water, within walking distance along the harbor foreshore to downtown Victoria. This is our actual camping spot.





Spent a couple of days enjoying the fact that Canada still has some strong culinary ties to Britain and being colonial cousins to Australia it meant they have a lot of the same food we miss so much. Jack ate a salad and Max tried clam chowder. Both landmark events for a vege and seafood hater respectively.





This was the most amazing old world hotel. The Empress. Next time we come back sans RV we want to stay here.



Matt found an a bread shop just like home. {{love}}



We caught the ferry back to Washington via Sidney BC and then drove to the little German town of Leavenworth where we spent a couple of days chilling out and eating bratwurst burgers before heading back to Spokane.





Fun trip. When we got home Ciara said, "Wow our house is huge Mum". After 5 people living in a 30 foot RV for 10 days , she was right.

STP

A few days after Valleygirl tri, the Melvilles hit the road...off on another hare brain adventure.  This time we hired an RV...packed everything we could squeeze into it and headed across to Seattle.  My friend Ron and I had registered for the Seattle to Portland bike ride (STP). An iconic event where you ride the 204 miles (330 km) from Seattle to Portland in one or 2 days.{Just as a sideline: this is one of the few crazy ideas I am not responsible for - it was all Ron}.  Our friend Ken was supposed to join us to ride but a broken collarbone ruled that out.  He and his family did join the RV and act as our SAG wagons and support crew which was great and they got in some riding with us too which was fun.

The STP starts from the University of Washington so to avoid any rushing to the start in the morning, we camped in the RV in the parking lot the night before so all I had to do was roll out of bed and jump on my bike.  At 4:45am Ron met me in the car park and by 5:00am we were rolling out. 

The first 50 miles were very congested.  Lots and lots of riders.  Luckily the race organisers and the police did a great job controlling vehicle traffic so we didn't have to stop at all for traffic lights or cars.  We virtually had the road to ourselves all the way out of Seattle. 

About every 25 miles there was an organised rest stop with port-o-potties, food, water, sports drinks and mechanical assistance.  The first one was at the REI in Renton and that was crazy busy but Ron and I managed to get in and out in 10 mins- fill up on food and drinks, use the bathroom and snap a picture with a fellow teamblazer we came across.

After this stop I noticed that long lines of super fast peletons were forming.  They are like racing lines where one cyclist follows closely behind another to get the benefit of drafting off them.  It basically results in more speed for less effort. Sometimes Ron and I would turn around and see a line of 20 cyclists behind us, or we would catch up to other lines of riders and end up sitting at the back of one of these long lines. 

Inevitably accidents happen when you ride like this and after mile 50 Ron and I were caught up in one of them.   A peleton came up on the outside of a guy riding in front of Ron and when a truck tried to squeeze passed the peleton, it moved over and knocked the guy off his bike.  He went down, then Ron went down, then I went down.  Luckily we weren't hurt and we were able to jump right back on our bikes and keep going. Once we were going again I noticed my back tire was rubbing.  At first I thought it was my brakes rubbing but it turned out my back wheel was actually bent.  At this point there was nothing I could do about it.  It felt like I was riding the next 100 miles with my brakes on.  After our run in with the blacktop though we decided to keep our distance from the other riders and really hold our line and not be pushed over by these other people coming through.

We made it to mile 100 at Centralia feeling good and met up with Matt and the kids as well as the Sidles. Michelle and Aaron decided to ride the next 50 miles with us which was nice and we managed not to involve them in any cycling mishaps.  By the time we hit 150 miles we were at Longview and that is where we had planned to stay the night.  In hindsight Ron and I agreed that we should have completed the whole 204 miles in one day.  We felt good enough to keep going but because we had hotels booked we decided to stop there for the night. The upside of stopping over night is that Matt and Ken were thoughtful enough to find a bike mechanic who could fix my bike and true my back wheel again. So it was nice to know I wouldn't be riding the last 50 miles with my brake on.

The next day it was windy and rainy and we were wishing that we hadn't stopped at the 150 mile mark.  My legs were slow to get going and the weather made riding conditions slippery and slow.  But we managed to make those last 54 miles.  The final 15 miles coming into Portland were an excruciating experience.  We were wet and tired and ready to be done but it seemed like there was a set of traffic lights every 200 feet for the last 15 miles.

Finally we made it to the finish line where all our wet supporters were waiting.  I have to say I was glad to get off my bike.  Overall, the STP was a great ride.  I would definitely do it again but I would go for the one day finish. After it was all over we piled into the RV and headed for the coast for a well deserved vacation.

More on that in the next post.

Summer at last.

So many things to write about but blogging has been taking a back seat to enjoying summer.

Ahhhh...summer.  My favorite season. 

It seems like summer is filled with limitless possibilities.  And it has been a nice change of pace to leave behind winter when I did most of my run training on the treadmill and my cycling on the bike trainer. 

Finally I get to do this........

Swim in an outdoor 50m pool

...and of course a little bit of racing

Valleygirl sprint.  A fun local all women's tri just up the road from where I live.  This race is crazy popular and sells out in a few hours.  It manages to attract a whole range of different people from local elites and pros to first time triathletes.

There were lots of team mates and friends racing. Lots of family and other friends out there cheering. This is the third year in a row I've done this race and its always a lot of fun.

The swim went well, a little windy out on the bike and heat made the run a challenge but I survived and managed to come away with an AG win and a 9th overall.

Racing with friends makes even the toughest conditions fun

Loving summer....even if it is a little late.