I've been back from Hawaii for almost a week.... and still having fun! Vancouver/Pacific Northwest rocks in the summertime.... so I am glad I am squeezing in some fun in these parts as well.
Since I have been back I have been swimming in the local outdoor pool, mountain biking, strolling around local events, seeing friends, etc and of course paddling.
I am glad I was able to make it to the 10km race of the SUNDOG Semiahmoo SUP race. It is also part of the BC SUP CUP race series. It took place along the shores of the seaside town of White Rock BC. Andrew and I went mtn biking in Squamish with good friend SJ on Saturday. It was sooooo fun to be on the mtn bike, the trails were in good condition, I was feeling great, the sun was shining, we had ice cream and jumped in a lake.... AMAZING.... once we got back to Vancouver we got ourselves organized and headed down to White Rock to meet up with folks and check out the city....We ate at Uli's, a fun restaurant right by the water and then went and set up our tent in our little made up campground. We walked around and enjoyed the last of the evening events of the local festival in town...sort of romantic:)
Sunday morning proved to be a calm beautiful day. Loads of folks showed up from WA and OR as well! It was great to catch up with people and I loved the hustle and bustle of pre race madness. The race had three different loops and was a total of around 10km. I was on the
14ft X 24 Starboard Sprint and had my
Werner small Grand Prix Paddle. I was feeling good but was unsure how much energy I actually had from M2O and everything I had done since my return. I had a pretty crappy start (semi beach start) I got stuck and sucked in without a chance to paddle and popped out the back. I had trouble controlling my board, it was tippy and went in directions I didn't want it to go... I was slightly flustered but then seemed to get out on the outside in calmer water and started to find my rhythm... I had a horrible first bouy turn with tons of ppl but as we paddled out to the first loop things were spreading out and I was slowly catching up to the front pack, my board was gliding so well and felt fast. After the first loop bouy turn I managed to pass Beau (awesome paddler from WA) and the front pack of 5 guys were ahead of me. The second loop I thought I was getting closer to the pack of guys and was hoping I could catch on the back of the draft but just couldn't get them. At the beginning of the third loop the front pack dispersed... I thought it was my chance to pick them off:) Alas, in the end I caught Matt and Mike D was just ahead of me... He was too strong and too quick I couldn't catch him... I managed to get through the finish in 5th overall and 1st female. It felt great! Andrew was out supporting me and in return of his support I wanted to support him and that meant heading out to Mazama/Winthrop Washington for a couple of days of mtn biking.... luckily I love it and so I said my goodbyes and thank yous and we headed for the border.... The border line kind of sucked.... about 1.5 hours but once through it was smooth sailing (despite the thunderstorm) to Mazama... Two days of amazing mtn biking ahead along with swimming holes, good food, amazing scenery, good people, beautiful house,... the list goes on:)
live, love, laugh,...DREAM!
lina
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