And away we go...

Ahhh, Penticton, British Columbia. Gorgeous area. Love the venue already. After testing out the water for about 35 minutes, which was amazingly warm (68-70 degrees), we headed to registration. Purchased some needed supplies that could not be shipped due to federal regulations prohibiting it (damn feds). Then stood in line for about 45 minutes, waiting for registration to open. Met some really nice people from the east coast and also from Chicago. Once I got through registration, I headed over the Crocs tent to retrieve my free Crocs. Very exciting. Got a pair of $50 Crocs for free as a promotion. Very cool.

After getting something to eat at (where?) Tim Hortons, we went to be first in line at Tri Bike Transport to pick up my bike. Many 100s of bikes were transported by this company. I was a little apprehensive about shipping but it arrived in 1 piece and didn't end up in Ironman Louisville (also taking place on Sunday). So for the price, it was worth not having to put it together or deal with it at the airport. Very nice. I will test it out tomorrow.

After lunch, we then drove the 112-mile bike course. Very nice and deceptively challenging course. The first 50 KM or so are pretty flat and fast with 1 challenging hill. Then it gets tough for awhile with the challenging 7-mile climb up Ritcher Pass. But oh boy a screaming downhill for about 5-6 miles where you could easily hit speeds of 40 mph. Then it is just some rollers to Keremoes at 132 km. Once we leave there then starts a 4-mile climb up to Yellow Lake and then flattens for a few miles before a 12 mile plunge back to Penticton before hitting the run on the same first 13 miles of the bike course. So an out-and-back run will culminate the race.

Goal time? Hmmm, anything under 13 hours would be great. I am shooting for about 12h 45h or at least try and finish before sunset at 7:45 PM. I think I can do it, if I have a good bike and a decent run.

All-in-all, the atmosphere is electric but certainly will be even better when we have the athlete dinner tomorrow night and the downtown shin-dig afterwards. Anyway, signing off from Penticton. Jen may write later.