Wednesday, August 4, 2010

Vineman Travels

A short break from training for a trip to California's Napa region. I was there to support Jane's ironman triathalon. We touched down in San Francisco and headed directly for the ville of Windsor, CA up the iconic US101 route. Passing over the Golden Gate Bridge was a neat feature. As an engineer, this is a wonderful testiment to times past. The architectural-like details are striking. Amazing to think that every rivet in that structure was placed by hand.




Notables from the trip...

We ate at Real Doner in Petaluma, CA. this was our first stop after touching down. Wonderful Turkish food!




As we dined outside we got our first taste of the weather. Amazing. Temps in the mid-60s and a nice breeze. I relexively ask aloud "I wonder how hot it gets in the summer over here?" Failing to realize this is the summer! Being from the gulf coast, I naturally associate these temperatures with fall or spring.

The race started in Grueneville, CA. This is a town that time seems to have forgotten (for the better) nestled between vineyards and a redwood forest. The race swim was in the Russian River...








Again the weather was absolute perfection. I wrote some messages for Jane.



along her biking route...



It would turn out to be a tough day on the bike for our hero. Suffering from some mechanical issues, and many logistical issues caused by the promoter. Jane would run late into the night, when the promoter ended her race before she was willing to give up. She got robbed.



A painful way to cap off a strong effort of fending off multiple adversities. Everyone should watch an ironman triathalon atleast once. It's an amazing experience to see people come through the event. Folks of all ages, of all types all pushing themselves beyond what nearly everyone thinks is impossible. Just don't stand near the Team In Training folks. ;-)

Departing was difficult. I really enjoyed the stay here. More than anything I didn't want to leave the weather behind...




... ah back to the triple-digit heat of south Texas. *sigh*

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