Memorial Day Weekend

The holiday weekend brought good times with family and friends along with three rides, two open water swims and a run.  Here's how it went:

Friday, May 27- Visit with Tim Bock at his family house on Lake Buel, New Marlborough, MA.

As you know from a previous post, Tim Bock is doing his first triathlon on June 4 at Mooseman.  Being an inexperienced swimmer and having never done an open water swim, Tim rightly suggested a test run on Lake Buel.  The Bock family house on Lake Buel, and the great times had there by our circle of friends, deserves a full post at another time.  For now, it felt good to be back there once again.

We got to the house by 5:30pm and were on the road for a spectacular 32 mile ride in South Berkshire County by 6pm.  Had never been on the flat farmland that we experienced along the Mass/CT border.  We were back in time to catch the last moments of daylight from the deck:

 

Sunset on Lake Buel with hoppy rewards

The beauty of the Lake Buel cottage is there's no tv, internet or cell coverage available.  Trips to Great Barrington brew pubs are necessary to view must see sporting events such as the Bruins making their first Stanley Cup final since my honeymoon in 1990.  No hockey available in Bermuda in those days, though! 

Saturday, May 28

We were up and on the lake by 6am getting ready for our open water swim- more than you may want to see here:

Given the cool and wet spring, the lake was surprisingly warm.  We spent about an hour in the water, swimming for more than a mile.  I was on the road by 8:15am toward eastern MA to catch Jake Foehl's U14 soccer team in action at 10am.   A quick shout out to Berkshire Ajax for a great effort at the Needham Soccer Tournament going 3-0 in pool play before bowing out in the semis.   Got in a five mile run late in the afternoon; the heat had yet to subside and felt sluggish throughout.

No longer having a base at the Foehl homestead at 33 High Rock Street in Needham, we rely on the hospitality of close friends Cary and Lew Collins who take care of us in Wellesley, MA.  Cary and Lew are big bikers with a great crew of fellow riders.  Lew mapped out a Century for the group to tackle on Sunday morning which conveniently dropped me in Lancaster, MA at mile 63 where Jake had a game at 10am.

Sunday, May 29

Up at 5:20am for a 6:00am departure.  The group was headed west to the the top of Mt. Wachusett and back to Wellesley.  Another spectacular morning spent on beautiful country roads- life doesn't get much better.  I peeled off and got to Jake's game on time after four hours of riding.

Sweet Lew Collins wondering why the hell I'm trying to take a picture while riding

Cary (far right), Lew (far left) and part of the Wellesley Crew- will give them their due (in a later post)

Monday, May 30

We were back in the water on Monday at Farm Pond in Dover, MA.  Cary needed to test drive a wetsuit and a lengthy open water swim in preparation for her distance triathlon debut.  Again, the water was warmer than expected and we spent about 30 minutes heading 500 yards off-shore and back.  Lew rode to Farm Pond and I hopped on my bike to do an easy 22 miles with him to end a memorable four day stretch.

Cary and Brooks baking in our wetsuits- outside temp was 85 degrees

Super Woman!