Triathlon Qualifiers, Angry Otters, and Imaginary Birds

Ray and I are back out west, in part to watch Nick compete in the Vancouver T100. The T100 is a triathlon series that includes a 2k swim, an 80k cycle, and an 18k run. It’s a pro circuit, but has a separate amateur race. Only one T100 is held in Canada, and it just happens to take place in Nick and Megan’s neighbourhood of Kitsilano.

On Saturday we watched the Pro race, with twenty of the top female triathletes in the world competing.

Nick’s race, the following day, started with a 6:30 am open-water swim. Last year, a pod of orcas came through the course a half-hour after the swimmers left the water. That would be one way to find out if you had a little more in you.

The swim included an “Aussie exit” where the swimmers run onto the beach between their two circuits. Swimmers entered the water two at a time, with the fastest swimmers going first (expected finish times are denoted by cap colour), but that meant that by the time the faster swimmers start their second lap, hundreds of slower swimmers were in front of them. The faster swimmers literally swam over top of the slower swimmers.

Nick placed ninth in his age group, which qualifies him to compete at the T100 World Championships in Qatar, where he’d get to represent Canada and wear the official Triathlon Canada race kit. He’s not planning to attend – Qatar is hard to get to, has a 10-hour time difference, and it would cost a lot of money to go somewhere he has little interest in visiting – but it was still pretty cool that he qualified.

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During one of Ray’s morning walks to the waterfront, he spotted this adorable otter, so he started taking pics. It started barking at him, but he wasn’t sure why until someone watching from their back deck told him that the otter wanted to get to the freshwater stream. Ray stepped aside, and Mr. Otter scurried on through.

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Ray and I had initially planned to drive from Vancouver to Calgary via Kelowna, but the devastating wildfires in the Okanagan meant we had to pivot at the last minute. We cancelled what we’d booked, borrowed Nick’s car, and headed north to Whistler instead.

The Sea-to-Sky highway between Vancouver and Whistler is one of the most scenic drives in the world. We skipped the more popular waterfalls stops en route because they had long line-ups of cars and tour buses, just to get into the parking lot. We opted to visit a couple of lesser-known waterfalls.

We stayed two nights in Whistler Village, and spent a full day riding the gondolas and hiking on the alpine trails at the top of Blackcomb and Whistler. We walked all the green (easiest) and blue (moderate) trails. The scenery was spectacular, but the so-called moderate trails had more elevation than I’d anticipated. When I got too out of breath, I’d just point up in the trees and say, “bird” and then take a break while Ray searched the foliage for the alleged bird.

Ray’s watch said we did 26,000 steps and burned several thousand calories, which for me translates to: “I deserve a chocolate pastry, a large chai latté, a Mars bar, and an ice cream cone. Will climb for tea and chocolate.

After Ray and I drove back to Vancouver, Nick joined us and we flew to Calgary, then drove to Canmore.

We’ve had amazing weather so far with slight smokiness at times in all three locations (Vancouver, Whistler, and Canmore), but nothing that’s had any impact on our plans.