Despite the weather being less than stellar and the fact that I backed out of what was to be my first triathlon I have to say that I had a stellar weekend. I got to spend a lot of time with my beautiful wife and even a little hydro therapy.
A walk down memory lane had Mari and I reenacting our first date which meant an evening at the local bowling alley. Some how my memory failed me in remembering that she kicked my butt the first time we bowled and the same was to happen this time around as well. I think I must have let her win the first time to make her feel good but not the case this time around. All right I can't lie, I am a terrible bowler and my wife may have a future in the WPBA. Good times at any rate.
Saturday we headed out to the lake for a little time on the water...for me anyways. It was an absolute perfect sail with the winds clocking in around 8-10 knots with some stronger gust. Five others from the club setup buoys for some quick practice in preparation for our upcoming regatta. I ignored about half the practice as I was having way to much fun blasting speed runs back and forth across the lake to want to spoil the fun by mock racing. I later joined in and had just as much fun as everyone piled up at the mark roundings to make for an ideal regatta situation. Last minute maneuvering was the order of the day for avoiding collisions...high on the fun meter. Once the rest of the gang headed in I stayed out for another run at the MC Scow speed record...probably not even close but enough to bury a Catalina 22 out cruising around. It was a struggle to slow my boat down enough to match his speed for a quick conversation.
Sunday we headed over to Cocoa to view a windsurfing wave competition which never happened since those guys need a steady 15 knots of air to even consider heading out. Just as well we got spend a little time at the beach and time together.
Monday, October 29, 2007
Monday, October 8, 2007
Weekend warrior
What did you do this weekend? This is usually the monday morning topic of discussion around the water cooler at most peoples place of employment. Since my employment finds me flying solo plying the roads of Florida, I get to share my weekend endeavors on the blog.
To sum up my weekend throw in a dash of road cycling up and down the hills of Mt Dora and Eustis, add a couple of hours in the hiking strap while attempting to act like a sailboat racer, and just for good measure try windsurfing while a lunatic power boater circles around creating a swirling vortex the Flying Walinda's would have trouble negotiating and you have a good idea of my weekend.
The bike ride was probably one of the most pleasant rides I have taken in Florida in a long time. I rode along the back side of Eustis over into Mt Dora past several lake sides on calm roads. I wasn't sure you could ride in Florida anymore without dealing with a greal deal of traffic. Once in Mt Dora I stopped by the Chamber of Commerce where they were nice enough to give me several maps of local ride routes.
Did I mention that I have signed up for a triathlon at the end of the month? I needed something to motivate me to get back in shape. More on this later...back to the weekend.
Saturday and Sunday are race day on the boat. Really this is just a good excuse to get together with friends, drink to much and eat to many oysters. Racing for me this weekend was a little disappointing as far as results go. I took a fifth in the first of four races and found myself at the back of the pack in the remaining races. One race of note saw the winds build to a range that I struggle with. In this race I was with the pack on the first 2 legs. At the leeward mark rounding I buried the bow of the boat in deep into the back of the wave. This is trait of the flat bowed scows that I race. Once the bow buries itself in all you can do is hang on for the ride. As the bow goes deep the stern raises out of the water rendering the rudder useless...again hang on for the ride. I was at least 200 feet past the mark by the time I regained control (relative term). Once under control the rest of the fleet was well up the course and my race was over. Oh well, I caught some fun rides surfing down the back of waves and popping onto a plane briefly.
To sum up my weekend throw in a dash of road cycling up and down the hills of Mt Dora and Eustis, add a couple of hours in the hiking strap while attempting to act like a sailboat racer, and just for good measure try windsurfing while a lunatic power boater circles around creating a swirling vortex the Flying Walinda's would have trouble negotiating and you have a good idea of my weekend.
The bike ride was probably one of the most pleasant rides I have taken in Florida in a long time. I rode along the back side of Eustis over into Mt Dora past several lake sides on calm roads. I wasn't sure you could ride in Florida anymore without dealing with a greal deal of traffic. Once in Mt Dora I stopped by the Chamber of Commerce where they were nice enough to give me several maps of local ride routes.
Did I mention that I have signed up for a triathlon at the end of the month? I needed something to motivate me to get back in shape. More on this later...back to the weekend.
Saturday and Sunday are race day on the boat. Really this is just a good excuse to get together with friends, drink to much and eat to many oysters. Racing for me this weekend was a little disappointing as far as results go. I took a fifth in the first of four races and found myself at the back of the pack in the remaining races. One race of note saw the winds build to a range that I struggle with. In this race I was with the pack on the first 2 legs. At the leeward mark rounding I buried the bow of the boat in deep into the back of the wave. This is trait of the flat bowed scows that I race. Once the bow buries itself in all you can do is hang on for the ride. As the bow goes deep the stern raises out of the water rendering the rudder useless...again hang on for the ride. I was at least 200 feet past the mark by the time I regained control (relative term). Once under control the rest of the fleet was well up the course and my race was over. Oh well, I caught some fun rides surfing down the back of waves and popping onto a plane briefly.
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