Anti-competition

I was driving home from my early Saturday lap swim when I heard the day’s weather report. "Sunny today with highs in the upper 40’s. Sunday will be even nicer with highs in the lower 50’s" the weatherman said. You don’t hear Michigan weather reports like that in mid-Winter. I was planning to ride 40 miles on the Computrainer, but this would be a rare chance to ride outside in January.

As I continued my drive the skies started to clear and sure enough the sun poked through. When I got home, it was still a bit early, I figured I’d wait for the afternoon sun to warm things up a bit. I killed some time and caught up on a few overdue chores. After lunch I sat down on the couch beside the warm sunny window. I was trying to decide where to ride. I laid there relaxing and soaking up the warmth, and …I FELL ASLEEP! I guess the five/ hours of sleep the previous night had caught up with me. I woke up to see the sun laying lower in the afternoon sky. I realized my perfect "riding window" was coming to a close. Oh well, there’s still Sunday.

I was supposed to hook up with my buddy Matt in the morning for a 13-mile trail run. It’s our usual Sunday morning run at the Island Lake Rec. Area. There just happens to be some excellent road riding in that same park. I’ll just take my bike with me tomorrow, I thought. What the heck, it will be a pretty full day, but with weather this good you’ve got to "go for it", right?

I then called "other buddy" Rich. "Hey Rich, it’s supposed to be in the mid-50’s tomorrow, want to join me at Island Lake for a road ride?….Cool! Meet me around one o'clock." Knowing I was cutting things tight, we decided if I was late he would just ride the park and leave me a note saying which way he was headed.

I started gathering my gear for tomorrow morning. A little while later the phone rang, "Hey Rick, this is Randy. The weather is supposed to be awesome tomorrow. Want to go kayaking?" I hesitated, "Well I don’t know Randy, I was supposed to…" Wait, I thought, I was new at kayaking and had been hounding Randy to call me the next time he went out. I can’t say no. "I uh, well, yeah, sure Randy. Why not? Can we kayak the river at Island Lake?… Great, see you about 10:30."

Sunday morning was all they said it would be, sunny and beautiful but still pretty cold from the previous night. Oakley (faithful running dog) and I met Matt at the trailhead. The trail was all frozen but snow-free. Had it been a bit warmer these trails would be sloppy mud. (And I hate washing that dog!) We had an awesome 13-mile run. We got back to the trucks, and I checked my watch. No time to stretch, I’ve got to fly. I put Oakley in Matt’s truck so he could drop her off at my house, and I headed to the boat launch area.

I got to the river right on time and saw Randy already out in the water playing around. I quickly shed my sweaty running clothes and replaced them with some dry fleece, wolfing down a sandwich as I changed. The weather was now in the mid-forties and getting warmer. I grabbed my vest, paddle and a water bottle and headed for the river.

The paddling was great. We headed "up river" to explore. Lots of downed trees made it fun, yet still passable. I worked hard to keep up with Randy. Not only was his fiberglass boat much faster than my plastic "tug," he also had much better kayaking ability. (Sometimes I think he just likes to remind me of it.) We spent the next hour or so working our way up the river. It was beautiful, with not another boat on the river. We then turned around and headed downstream back to the launch. With the current’s help we made it back in half the time. After a couple hours of kayaking my arms and back were really feeling it. Sure glad the next event was all legs!

I got back to shore just in time to see Rich in the parking lot leaving a note on my truck. "Hey wait, here I come", I yelled. I jogged across the field dragging the boat. He helped me throw the kayak on the roof, and then again it was "quick-change" time. Off with the fleece clothes, and on with the bike shorts. (Ok, leg warmers too! It wasn’t THAT warm yet.) I pulled my bike out of the back, grabbed a Clif Bar, switched water bottles and we headed out.

By now the afternoon sun was heating up, and the warm weather had brought people out in masses. We passed group after group of bikers, rollerbladers, and runners. What a day! We explored, we even found a new Rail Trail they must have finished late in the fall. By the time we got back to the truck the sun was fading and it was getting cooler. I was whipped. We just put 51 miles on the bikes. I was only scheduled for 40, but hey, when it’s so nice, why quit?

What an awesome day! With the help of a few friends, I had just trail-run 13 miles, kayaked 2 hours and rode 51 miles. Sort of my own "Alternative" half-iron Triathlon. Not a bad way to spend a winter day in Michigan.

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