Sunday - No Chain Day for Da Goose!

I really need to start with last Wednesday. Goose wanted to ride with the cows. Didn't do bad but did get dropped (as did Jay). Jay lost his keys and Jeff took him home to get another set - hence a late night for Goose. Thursday him and mark Crow wanted to take the pro boat down to Ft Ancient and see how the river was running. Unfortunately they returned with 2 rips in the boat because the water was very low and they hit rocks. Another late night for Jeff - and anybody that knows him, knows he has to have his sleep.

When race Sunday rolled around, I was a bit nervous on how the day would go. Mark, Emily and Seth met us on I-75 to follow us down. Mark's parents met us there. Mark hasn't really raced since Ironman Florida in 2002 and he had only been in the pro boat 2 times before today. But he showed up with the old "Red Doggie" look in his eyes. When they started the canoe portion (first) they didn't miss a beat - it was a great start. After the race the both shared that at one point they were watching where they had been not where they should be going. They got turned around and did really well. The run up "Killer Hill" was exactly that. For once, Jeff's transition was excellent - no PB&J sandwich today. They headed off on their bikes and they were gone. There was one guy that wanted to jump on their wheels, he missed clipping in and well - guess you could say I bet his jewels were just a little sore that day.

Before the race, Jeff and I talked about their projected finish time - he was hoping for 2 hrs 25 mins. He would be so happy with that. We headed up the road to the finish line, no hurry had plenty of time. People were starting to finish - no big deal - with their start times, we had at least another 15 minutes. A few minutes later - out of no where - there is Mark and Jeff! They knocked 10 minutes off their projected time. Nobody had their cameras ready - so no pictures of that.

Gigantic smiles on both Goose and Red Dog - what a race!

We stopped for our traditional lunch after the race and had a blast. Jeff came home and unloaded/stacked his trailer of wood and finished plowing my back garden. And drank beer (lots of of beer!) Results were posted today - they won - YEAH.

Jeff said this was one of best races he has had in a long time. Mark is very easy to race with - no pressure and no expectations. They just "got it done!