This last weekend Sara and I participated in the San Diego Triathlon Challenge in La Jolla, CA. We went down early on Saturday afternoon and parked at the hotel, grabbed our web suits and went for a swim in La Jolla Cove. The water was just the right temp and the waves were calm. We swam to the water caves, saw some sea lions playing in the water and swam a short loop around the buoys. The bright sun was shining on us as we swam back into the cove – what a blast and plenty of fish to see under the water on the way in. We have been to this race/event for may years because it is one of our favorite charities. CAF supports providing prosthetic limbs, bike and racing chairs to those in need that want to compete in sports.
For the last couple of years we have been staying at a great place called the La Jolla Village Lodge just up the street from the Cove. A couple in our tri team know the owners so they treat us awesome. They also have a roof-top deck which we held a Barbeque for members of OCTri that are doing the race and CAF athletes that join the party.
We got the roof early to catch the sunset which was beautiful as always.
Then the groups began to arrive with food and drink and lots of friendly smiles. It was great to see everyone and we had grilled chicken and freshly cooked lazzonia and spinach salad. We were stuffed and ready for a great nights sleep, but we hung out as long as we could with friends on the roof.
All the action is down at the Cove in the morning for the start of the relay teams and the CAF athletes that are gearing up for the swim. We arrived a short time before the start of the first wave which has the CAF athletes in it. Here is a short video of them swimming out of the Cove.
There were many Challenged Athletes and lots of celebrities including professional triathletes like Chris MaCormick and Professional Cyclists like Floyd Landis. Here is a video of these great athletes as they came into transition.
This year we both rode the bike course which took us North from La Jolla and inland into Rancho Santa Fe, North of Carlsbad and the South on PCH to Torrey Pines and then back into La Jolla Cove. It ended up being about 56 miles and a great challenge with the inland hills. Sara and I stopped at one stop sign on the course and we were standing right next to Floyd Landis the Tour de France winner – what a rush.
We were sad driving home to OC knowing we would have to wait another year for this event again and we will be back.
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