The Red River Gorge, and Oyster Shell Triathalon

My mother's birthday was May 20th. So, I decided to go home and see some friends that I haven't seen in some time as well as do some fun activities. I began my journey to Richmond, VA by flying to Lexington, KY to see an old friend and go rock climbing at the Red River Gorge. My good friend Ned Trice is seen here (explaining his lack of enthusiasm for the the gross camping at Miguel's Pizza).

Ned took me to the Military Wall at the Red, a major destination due to the large amount of aesthetically pleasing climbs in such a small area. Here's Ned warming up on a 5.9.

The climbing was great, but my injury is still in play so I had to take it fairly easy. Still, it was a great day.

We then drove to Richmond, where I had a birthday party with my mom. After seeing my family, I proceeded to Deltaville, VA (on the Chesapeake bay) for a makeshift triathlon that Ned and my good friend Parker Garrett put together, the soon to be Annual Oyster Shell Triathlon.

My stomach wasn't feeling that great so they put me in a canoe to run safety instead of running the race. So I decided to take some photographs and utilize my injured state. We had 11 competitors in all (I told you it was makeshift), but despite the low numbers everyone had a great time.

The race began in the water near the dock at Ned and Parker's bay houses, so people decided to jump off the dock into the water. Here is Ned's mom, Betsy Trice, preparing for the start.


After the start was a swim across a channel to another body of land. Chris Fehn leads the pack swimming to the mark.


After the swim was a bike leg, and here is Betsy getting her riding legs under her after the swim.

Now, the race wasn't all that competitive, but there were some out there to win. And, here is Chris Fehn, still winning.


Parker Garrett was not far behind, and here he is trying to catch Chris. Parker is smiling because he knows how much faster he is than Chris at running.


After the ride there was a little run through the shallows. Chris did not quite make the picture being so far in the lead, but here are second through fifth trying to catch up. In order they are Ned Trice, Parker Garrett, Winston Trice (Ned's dad), and Jennie Belt.


Finally after making their way back across the channel there was more running, and the finish was back a Ned and Parker's bay houses. Here is Kai Gould finishing the run and gladly.

Everyone finished in under an hour, which left me fairly tired after trying to keep up in the safety canoe taking pictures.

First place went to Betsy Trice who actually finished last. But, there was a last minute decision by the judging staff that disqualified everyone else for simply going to fast. So because of her great hospitality, Besty won. Finally, I decided to try my hand at taking some flower pictures because it was such good light and there were so many beautiful flowers around. Here is a shot of some flower that I have no name for (don't blame me, I'm not a horticulturalist).


So, as Warren Miller (ski film maker) says, "Don't wait until next year to go out and have some fun because you'll just be one year older when you do. Who knows where I will be next, but maybe I'll see you there.