San Diego Triathlon

The San Diego triathlon was a lot of fun. We arrived in town on Saturday around noon and ate at the best tacos El Indio. They were everything the Guy Fieri clamed they were!

The triathlon was Sunday morning in the harbor starting at the Spanish Landing. Sue did a relay with Katrina and Linda. Sue did the swim with Linda biking and Katrina doing the run. Sue said the swim was a lot of fun and is excited for her next swim. The St. Paul Triathlon is going to come up fast, now she knows she will be ready for it.

Mike and I each did the whole sprint triathlon. I was really happy with my swim time and I liked the open water start. We are still waiting for the split results and should have them tomorrow, but I know I did what I expected for a time. It seemed that everybody did not bunch up as much as beach start. The water actually was pretty warm and swimming with the wetsuit did make it easier. My bike time I feel was a little hampered by the bike that I borrowed for the competion. It was a moutain bike that was a not a great fit, but I wasn't going to win anyway so does it really matter. The bike was fun though, it was to end of Cabrillo National Monument and had great views of the ocean and the harbor. The run went ok. I didn't push myself too hard just an easy pace as I was having fun running along the harbor. I probably should have pushed harder and shaved a couple minutes off the time.

The event was really well organized. They had a lot of volunteers and everything was so well marked. It defiantely created a little bit of a traffic headache for the locals who lived in the area. It was a lot of fun and now I need to concentrate on training for the St. Paul Triathlon.

A week to the San Diego Triathlon

The San Diego Triathlon is only a week away. We have been training pretty good, but this past week was not what I was hoping as work really got in the way. I am doing the sprint and Sue is doing the sprint as a relay. I have never swam with a wetsuit before so that will be a new experience. The course looks like a great route and it should be a lot of fun.

Last night I did get out for a short bike ride. I went out on the Gateway trail to the Bruce Vento trail north to St. John's Hospital in Maplewood before turning around. On the way back I took a lap around Lake Phalen and talked with Bob Anderson of Fly Tiers for a while. He was mowing his yard as I was going by. After that I headed home.

I have been really happy with the new (new to me) bike. I have had to do a few repairs, but that would be expected for a used bike. About a month ago I lowered the stem and yesterday I noticed the headset was a little lose, easy repair. I have also had to overhaul the front hubs, and I still need to get new cone nuts as the old ones are a little pitted. Check out the pictures of the bike, it was a great purchase for $300.

Evening Fishing

Last Friday Sue and I decided we would go fishing in the evening after work. We assembled the waders and fly rods and headed over to western Wisconsin. After a quick bite to eat we got to the river around 7:00 allowing us a couple hours of light. I had decided to go to one of my favorite spots, which must be a few other fishermen’s favorite spot as there were a couple cars there when we arrived. I chose this spot since it had been a season or two since Sue last trout fished and I knew it was an easier location to fish than others. She is a novice and enjoys fly fishing, but has only cast to trout a few times so hopes were high for good conditions.

We walked down to the river and watched for a minute or two as the trout were eagerly taking flies off the surface. We decided to try a sulphur dry fly to start. I coached Sue through a few casts to warm up and refreshed her memory on reading the water. Soon enough we were each catching fish. Most fish seemed to like a nice dead drift with no drag on the surface, but there were a couple fish that seemed stimulated by a little drag.

We fished a couple pools working our way up stream slowly. The combination of low light and a strong hatch also seemed to prevent the fish from getting spooked to easily. There was many times that when casting to specific fish a different and unexpected one came up and took a fly right next to the fly line. We also didn’t need to rest the pools after a hooked brown zig-zagged it way through.

The night came to an end when we could no longer see the fly to tie a new one on. This seemed like a sign to call it a night. I probably could have planned better and brought a flashlight, but I will save that fishing for some other night. We both had a lot fun and this evening got us both excited for our upcoming trip to fish for rainbows in California.

Shovelers in a ND field

Here is a picture I was able to get of a few ducks in a ND field last week. The drakes were in full color for mating.

Things you notice while driving

I have always heard about the duck factory of the North Dakota and today I drove for work to a site in Carrington and saw countless ducks in ponds. It seemed that every low spot in a field had water and that water had a pair of ducks in it or along the shore. It was a beautiful day and the birds all seemed to be out and fairly easy to spot.

As I drove I saw that the river levels have come down and some of the dikes have been removed. In Valley City, if I am remebering correctly, the City civic center parking lot was completely filled with pallets of filled sand bags. These must have been extras that were not needed.

All of the water in the area has definately made for good duck breading. I tried to identify as many different species while driving to my site. I was able to easily see mallards and shovelers and lots of them. They were definately the most common or the easiest to spot. Some others were a little more difficult to see at 65 mph. The others were pintails, redheads, blue wing teal, hooded mergansers, geese and coots. If I had more time and a different camera I would have stopped for some pictures.

It looks like many of the fields are still at least a week off until they will be planted. I actually noticed only a few have even had equipment on them. Tomorrow I am heading to Sunny which is just west of Mandan for work at another site and then it will be on to home.

Back to Work

Well the vacation ended last Tuesday and I was back to work on Wednesday. It was a great trip and very relaxing. We are now in the process of going through all of the pictures and going to make a photo book. With digital cameras you definately do take a lot more pictures. We have some 600 total pictures for the trip, so the sorting will take a little bit of time.

I have also started a new blog this one is for the Star Tribune. I am blogging as one of their field reporters about fishing. I am going to concentrate mostly on fly fishing and fly tying. The blog is at the Star Tribune's new outdoor club page. I hope you go to the blog and read it from time to time.

Athens

Yesterday we flew from Santorini to Athens and arrived in Athens in the afternoon. It was a nice partly cloudy day around 70F. So after checking in to our hotel near the Temple of Zeus we walked tothe Acropolis. It is really amazing seeing the Parthenon built high on the hill. We toured the parthenon and took in the view of the city all around us. From there we walked to the Ancient Agora and then down the market streets of Monastriraki and back towards the hotel. We stopped on the way to the hotel and ate at a little place that had traditional greek music. The diner was delicious and it was very entertaining.

Today we are going to see the temple of Zues and wander the city some more. Tomorrow we fly out in the morning local time to JFK airport in NYC and then to MSP getting in around 8:30 tomorrow night.