Thursday, August 19, 2010

More Triathlon Photos

Thanks to Beth, we have some more photos of the fun triathlon.

Exiting the water onto the muddy beach.



Tagging a teammate. Think the poodle wants to get involved?

Whew, that was a good workout!

The beginning of the longer-than-anticipated run.












Getting on the bike with his sister's encouragement.
Waiting for everyone to finish.
Ready to go again!

Thanks for sharing, Beth!

Wednesday, August 11, 2010

2010 Snake Valley Triathlon

Last weekend we went to the Snake Valley Triathlon. The route was to swim across Silver Creek Reservoir, run to the highway, and bike to the Border Inn. We had a great turnout despite mostly overcast skies.

Individuals and teams participated. The swimmers gathered on the far side of the reservoir.

Chandra waiting for the "official" start.
The water level has gone down quite a bit recently, shrinking the reservoir and leaving some water lines. It also made for some deep mud at the exit point.

And they're off!
The water was a surprisingly pleasant temperature.
Navigating the mud made for a tricky transition.
Ben was the lifeguard, watching the swimmers.
Some of the runners taking off.
We thought the run was only two miles, but it turned out to be almost three.
Here's the run to bike transition zone, complete with human and canine spectators. We thought the bike ride was only five miles, but it turned out to be seven. Everyone got a little extra exercise!
Meg said encouraging things to Jeremy, who finished in the top three.
There were a lot of fast runners in the race.
This is how the transition looked like as the runners approached it.
Andy getting close to the end of the run.


Some of the spectators had fun expressions!
Dave and Tana were part of the team that finished second.
Ben finishing the bike ride for his team.
Gretchen happy to have made it.
Water and yummy homemade coffee cake awaited participants and spectators.
Breanna was the youngest to complete the whole race by herself.
There was no awards ceremony (or awards), so everyone wandered around afterwards and tried to keep from getting stiff.
More spectators.
More finishers.
I love the expression on Cindy's face. Way to go!
She's happy to be done!
Heather and Tana discussing strategies for next year (maybe).

And here are most of the participants. Some of the kids were busy looking at the huge houseboat parked nearby--we don't see those too often in Snake Valley!

It was a fun triathlon, and hopefully we'll have another one next year!
Thanks to everyone who came!

Saturday, August 7, 2010

Astronomy Festival

Great Basin National Park is holding an astronomy festival this weekend, and we went to the kickoff concert. Although it was sunny down in the valley, a big storm cloud had parked itself over the visitor center area, with light rain falling over the concert venue.

Folks pulled out their rain gear and sweatshirts and we eventually got started, with some very pleasant temperatures.

A variety of performers sang and played star- and sky-related songs.

We were also treated to some cowboy poetry.

The rain returned, so we moved under shelter and some kids performed "Twinkle, twinkle little star."

The evening flew by with all the great performances.

And the crowd really seemed to enjoy themselves.

I didn't know we had so many talented musicians in the valley!

After the final songs, it was time to meander over to the picnic area to take a look through one (or two or three) of the 40 telescopes that were set up. The telescopes ranged from fairly simple to hooked up to computers and TV screens. It was fascinating, and fortunately the clouds blew over, leaving the mighty Milky Way galaxy brightening the sky.

If you have a chance to go up to the festival, there are events all day today and tomorrow. Call the park for more details, 775-234-7331.