Escape from the Gorge triathlon

We had a long but great weekend of triathlon-ing. Saturday we were up at 3:50 am to drive to Federal Way, Wa for the Subaru All Women's triathlon expo. This looks like a great event, the lake is nice, the bike course is closed, and the sponsorship is excellent. Racers were carrying around bags of free goodies and everyone seemed happy to be there. We had a great sales day for tribabe products and loaded up the car for the return trip to Oregon around 4:30pm.

Saturday we stayed at the Motel 6 in Troutdale outside of Portland. Bill loves to treat me to resorts and this was no exception ;) We were up Sunday at 5am to drive to Cascade Locks for the Escape from the Gorge triathlon, a qualifier for the popular Escape from Alcatraz. If you aren't familiar with the Columbia River Gorge, it's one of the windiest places on the planet and is world renowned for wind surfing. Swimming, biking and running here is not easy any day of the week.

This race has the triathletes load up onto a stern wheeler boat for a trip out into the middle of the Columbia River for a 1.5 mile swim. They had to shorten the swim this year because the kayakers who lead the swimmers wouldn't paddle out that far due to the conditions so they only swam 1/2 mile. Bill was bummed, he was hoping to gain an advantage on the swim since he hasn't been running (at all) for the past 2+ months. Out on the bike they faced hills and wind, the course was shortened here too because the race director did not secure a permit for the entire bike course. The run is 8 miles, including stairs, so the one leg of the race Bill was weak in was kept to it's original distance.

No matter for him though, he came in across the finish in the top 10 and won his division for a slot to Escape from Alcatraz. He is a confirmed genetic freak, I think he held 7 minute/mile pace for 8 miles with no run training. Anyway, he's thrilled to be doing Alcatraz since I won't let him sign up for an Ironman until our lives are settled. I'll look forward to watching that event, I swam in the SF bay once for a triathlon and I will never do it again. Too cold, nasty, and shark infested for me. Anyway, great event despite the problems, I would recommend it for a unique triathlon experience.

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