Today was the Qualicum Beach Triathlon. Sox raced it for the sixth consecutive year this year, and had a good time as always. Her start time was a leisurely 10:15 am. Woohoo! That gave me enough time to eat breakfast, drink some coffee, and walk Yoshi before we left for the race. Very nice.

Sox’s heat started a little late, but not too bad. Her swim went rather well, and eased through transition without any problems. The bike course went just fine and each lap around she smiled and looked great. I love watching this race since you get to see the athletes so many times.

After the bike course she entered transition again, slipped on her runners and began the last 5 km trek. As Sox passed me she remarked that it was going to be a slow run.

While I was waiting for her first lap I went to see if anyone was in the skate park, and ended up talking with, and taking pictures of a kid doing some riding in the park. It was pretty fun.

Unfortunately I missed her run by on her first lap, but I did see Sox finish the race. Way to go Sox.

After the race we didn’t hang around, and headed home without waiting for the awards or draw prizes. Turns out we should have waited. Sox placed 3rd in her age group. Way to go babe, I’m proud of you!

As we neared NanooseI was in the right hand lane going approximately 90 km/h. I saw someone in the oncoming lane flashing their headlights a lot, so I slowed down a little more. Then I saw it. There was a large Ram pickup coming towards us on our side of the divided highway. Crap. Adrenaline kicked in and I reacted. I hit the brakes and dove off the highway to the shoulder to give other drivers room to move over. Other drivers scrambled out of the way.

I was in shock.

As the driver of the truck passed us, he looked calm. He was going at least 70 km/h I would guess, and didn’t seem concerned at all. It was a little eery. I watched in the rear view mirror, and Sox turned in her seat to watch him.

I couldn’t understand why this guy hadn’t slowed, or put on his 4 way flashers, or had turned around during a break in traffic.

Way up the highway two cars, side by side came around the bend. They closed in on the truck, and I kept waiting for the red car to see the truck. The got closer and closer. Sox said something, but I was too intent on watching the road, and watching what this truck was doing.

The red car impacted the truck.

I stopped very quickly in total shock. I gave Sox my phone and told her to call 911 while I moved the truck to a safer location off the highway. Giving the info to 911 we decided that we should probably head up to the scene and wait for the police to show in case they needed our statement or something.

By this point the accident scene was probably a kilometer away, and since it was really sunny and warm we couldn’t leave Yoshi in the truck. Grabbing him and the first aid kit we started making our way back up the highway.

Halfway there we could see the flashing lights of a police car already on the scene, and we could see lots of other people helping out and directing traffic. We came across another car that had stopped and were getting ready to leave. Talking to them we decided we didn’t need to, and probably shouldn’t continue on.

Apparently the officer on the scene witnessed the accident and had told this couple they could leave. We did the same.

It was pretty freaky. What if we had been held up by a couple minutes? What if we hadn’t seen the truck coming at us? What if it had been us instead of the red car?

Yesterday Sox and I got up early (5:30 am early) to head out and watch a spectacle at Elk Lake, the 2005 New Balance Half Iron. Duncan and Todd were both signed up for the race, and we went out, along with a few other friends, to cheer them on. It was quite a hoot.

Getting up early is usually pretty difficult for me. It wasn’t that bad for some reason. Walking to the truck, the air had a nice crispness to it that got me charged for the day. Stopping to get coffee was still mandatory though 😉 Out at the lake we found a parking spot, then headed to the lake to see the men start. I got there a couple minutes too late to see the mens start, but I did see the womens, and masters’ start.

Looking far across the lake you could see the athletes powering through the water. Incredible. It looks so far, yet the swim is the shortest of the three sports.

Back on land the racers splashed their way out of the lake, and proceeded to take off their wetsuits as they ran. As the men streamed past me I saw Duncan run by. Waiting and waiting I was starting to get worried about Todd. My cell phone started to ring, and it was Sox telling me that they had both already gone by. Somehow I totally missed Todd. Sorry bud!

With the guys out on the ride course, we piled into the strategically parked minivan and headed out to Keating and Veyaness to watch, and cheer, the racers on. We had some huge cowbells that made lots and lots of noise. Some of the racers loved it, one guy asking for more cowbells. Another racer was spectacularly dressed. Yes, a 10 year old bell helmet, cowhide print sleeveless jersey, aicd wash jean print riding shorts, knee high socks, playing cards in the spokes of his FIXED GEAR bike. This guy rode 90 km on a fixed gear bike. Crazy.

After watching the guys pass us 2 times we piled back into the van to catch them at the next transition. There was much debate on when they would arrive. Watching transitions is a little difficult. You want the racer to go quicker, but doing so increases their risk of a mistake. Both of our guys had no troubles though, and were in and out onto the run course in good order.

At the 10 km mark, both Todd and Duncan were looking good. No obvious signs of pain or discomfort.

Waiting at the finish line the minutes ticked by. Would they make their desired time? Hoping and wishing they would we waited. When Duncan rounded the corner I felt a little bit of relief. He looked good and quite fresh considering what he had just been through.

But now where was Todd? I saw on guy running towards the line with new spots on his shirt. Ouch, that is going to hurt for a while.

I really hoped everything was going well for Todd. I alternated between checking my watch and getting the camera ready to shoot. Then he appeared. Woohoo. I was snapping pictures and cheering at the same time (although, I was standing in front of a speaker, so I don’t think anyone could hear me).

Wow. Fun day. Great accomplishment for two good friends.

Pics are here (there are lots of them).

I was a little sceptical. This BBQ was very run down. It needed a lot of new parts to work well, but it did still work.

This morning before heading out, I set it at the side of the road, and put a free sign on it. When I got home, it was still there. Damn. But, as I was sitting at the computer around 4:30 today, I could a strange racket outside. When I looked I could see a lady dragging it away (it had no wheels). Hurray!