Screw you John Williams

WOOOOOO HOOOOO I got a sleep-in today... man do I look forward to those. Today I didn't have to get up until 5:00 a.m.

...... That extra 1/2 hour is worth fighting for... even if it is in silliness.

Regardless, I was back into the routine with reckless abandon.... or should I say auto pilot. I was downstaris getting the supersuit ready for the inevitably refreshing dip in the pond, when I came to this realization that I was needing some coffee....

Wait a minute.... I smell coffee..... Awww isn't that nice that Mom would get up at 5:00 a.m. to make coffee for me........ odd, but nice......

Hold on..... wait a minute.....I made coffee this morning... I think

.... hmmm..... sleepy.

I grab a cup and head out the the hot tub where I finally manage to wipe the sleep from my crusty eyes and enjoy the coming of the dawn as it ever so subtly changes from a dark purple to a fiery orange. Actually... that is a pun. There are so many forest fires around here that the sky is hazy with smoke which causes the sky to be beautiful hue of orange... somewhere between amber and mandarin. What the hell am I saying... I am a guy. There are only about 10 colours and they are modified by light or dark if they are not quite right....... what the hell is chartreuse any way.

Part one: Tri-Guy verses John Williams......

Managed to get Dad up at 6:00 and we headed off to the beach. At this point, I am still not convinced I am awake, but luckily my training serves me well and I somehow ended up in my supersuit.

Getting the goggles just right.

Now, for those of you who don't know me, I wear glasses. Not that big a deal. I have prescription shades for the bike and run, but I could not bring myself to purchase prescription goggles. So, as I make my way into the water, I have to have a plan as I head out the 1612 metres to the first turn. I am told, that even with good eyesight, you can barely see the buoy. So there I am in the water, blind to begin with, staring through the blue-ish (not azure or denim) haze of my scratched goggles that should have been replaced about a year ago, but I cannot seem to part with them as they have been with me forever, fit incredibly well and do not fog.

Tri-Guy's Tip of the week:

Doesn't it piss you off when you are in the middle of a swim and your goggles fog up and there is nothing you can do about it? There you are strokin' away (easy now) and you have this dilemma on your hands... I could stop and fix it, but they are only going to fog up again. I could rip them off and just go without and wait to the end and see if Costco sells an industrial sized bottle of Visine. Then you think, maybe I will just leave it and eventually it will bead up enough moisture that it will run and clear itself off. My solution you ask?.... shampoo. Seriously.... shampoo. When I first get my stuff out at the car or swim bag, I put three or four drops of shampoo in each lens and mess it about with my finger. I leave it in there until I jump in the pool or water. Then I kinda swish the goggles about in the water and then check to see that all the bubbles are gone. I find the little bottles that you get at the hotel, that you bring home and they always seem to end up under the sink in that cute but never used wicker basket, work the best.

Now back to the show.....

I see my Dad come around the front of the pier at the Lakeside hotel in the Overdraft...

(..... Yes, the name of his vessel is Overdraft. I voted for M.L.C. aka Mid LIfe Crisis, but was voted down. Overdraft won as it is a cute double entendre.... over the draft line of a boat means it is too heavy. In this case..... with revelers and party gear. The second meaning has to do with the overdraft of your chequing account and maybe implying how it was paid for)

....and we exchange our secret signal so he recognizes me out of the bubbling mass of posers on the beach... that is, I wave and he waves back. Heaven help us if there is someone else wearing a yellow cap.

And so I hear the slow pulsing crescendo of......

After about 1200 meters the turn is really in sight. You can see that the water has taken on an orangish hue (not ochre or persimmon) from the smoke in the air. It was somewhere around here that I started thinking about the promotion poster for Jaws. That movie has screwed me and 1000's of other swimmers up for life. There is not one time out in the open water, that I do not see this exact photo in my head.

Duuuhhh.. dummmm.............. Duuuhhh... dummm.......... dum..dum.. dum..dum...

I am actually laughing out loud now as it may sound silly, but it is true, true, true. Better yet, if I am completely honest, it has been that way since I was maybe 10. I can remember falling off a dock at summer camp and almost leaping out of the water because I could hear John Willimas brilliant semi-tonic theme as clearly then as I do now.

Wow.... today is just a day of side-bars.

Look at me splashin' away attracting the sharks attention..... and I know better, too!

Here I know the shark is behind me..... look at that burst of speed.

Screw you John Williams and the hell with Stephen Spielberg and your stoooooopid rubber shark. Thanks for scarring me for life.

Okay..... Glad that's dealt with..... whew.....

... HR returning to normal.

The shark thing never seems to motivate me for long and it goes as quickly as it came.... I mean let's face it I am certain we could all PR our run times if we were cased around the course by a Puma. You would think that Jaws would at least help me shave one or two minutes off my time. I am willing to do whatever it takes to gain the advantage, but dreaming of sharks in fresh water is pushing it a bit...no? Either way, I did the 3.224K in under and hour and I was pleased.

Part Two: A stroll through the Italian country-side.

After I picked Dad up from the marina, we were off home to change and then back at it. I decide that it would be fun to try running the 5 mile route that Mom and I did yesterday..... yesterday when I went for one of the easiest spins of my life at and average 6 kmph.... but let's face it, I needed that.

As I explained yesterday, the route follows the North end of the KVR as it leaves the city. Last Tuesday, my Mom and I went on the southern route of the KVR down towards OK Falls. If you follow the Google map above, you can see that the route hugs the vineyards and clay cliffs of the East side of the lake and eventually catches up with Naramata road.

Incisor or Dragon's tooth?

The cliffs are particularly magnificent, as they are constantly being eroded and falling into the water below. Not at any particularly alarming rate, but over the years (like 10,000) they have been transmogrified (see ......it pays to read Calvin and Hobbes) into these interesting outcroppings that seem to appear as teeth coming out of the gums of the the lake.... but you'd really have to squint for that to work... or try it with my scratchy blue (yes, just plain blue) goggles.

If you follow the metaphor to it's logical conclusion...... this molar has either rotted away, or was removed by a really big pre-historic dentist.

Enough of that silliness......here is that trestle I hid in one of the photos from a day or two ago.

It is the little things like this that make this area so special.... wandering down this centuries old path really has a European feel for the most part. In fact Naramata is in the process of re-branding itself as a "Slow city... you heard me correct..... a "slow" city. Cittaslow as a movement started in Italy working against the fast paced life of today.... they pride themselves on a "slow" lifestyle that centers around "slow" cooked meals. If you have ever been to some of the small towns in Italy, particularly the province of Tuscany, you will know the vibe that they are trying to achieve.

With all the grapes around, your mind wanders to Italy.... or at least mine does. This particular section exuded that Italian vibe..... right down to the little old man out for a stroll in search of an espresso as he inspects the vineyard he once oversaw so many years ago that has now been sold, as he can no longer manage to keep up with the ever spiraling vines. ¡Ciao!