Sunday, July 10, 2011

We had a big group and nice conditions at Avila on Sunday. It was sunny and clam with very little wind. The water was 58 and still looking pretty good. There were no sea birds of any kind to be seen, one seal and about a dozen fishermen on the pier. It is common for the people fishing off of the pier to attach a balloon to their line as a float. Today a group were using blue exam gloves instead of balloons so there was a whole series of blue hands waiving from the surface of the water. We started with a good sized group and picked up a couple more on the way. Starting out were Pete, Dale, Sylvia, Niel, Duke, Chad, Kimber and Bobby (from the SLO Tri Club). Just as we were getting in Jorge, who was visiting the area from Vancouver (?), at least Canada, joined us. He swims in lakes and was anxious to get in the ocean. With new people along we did the triangle route clockwise, as that route does not extend out past the end of the pier and would allow a swimmer to pick a shorter route to shore if prudent. Having fun and staying safe is always our first priority. We headed out and swung wide to the left away from the fishing lines from the pier, grouped up at the first buoy and headed down the line the the end. While we were regrouping we met a member of the Cal Poly tri team who was out for a swim on his own. He joined us for the rest of the route. We swam to the end of the pier, on to the end of the right hand buoy line at the creek, back along the buoys to the pier and in to the beach. Post swim beach conditions were perfect for a nap and the pull of the warm sand was too strong for some. Me, I went to Trader Joe's, where I ran into Dale, (are we like salmon, swimming upstream or something?), went home, got started on the ironing and watched the Tour. What a complete train wreck of a day! Crashes in wet conditions are one thing, unfortunate but an accepted risk, but having two leaders taken out bu a TV car is unbelievable.

niel