Note: Additional Pics on Mike's blog
We spent a couple extra days after Thanksgiving at the grandparents so Jacob could try BMX racing at the track in Sumner. They race year round rain or shine at Riverside Park organized by River Valley BMX.
We went out to check out the park on Friday and to give Jacob a chance to ride the track with his 16" 'mini bike' as he calls it and Grandpa's 20" BMX bike. He was faster by quite a lot on the real BMX bike and we spent some time after getting back to the Grandparents to take off the reflectors, chain guard and other stuff they don't allow on the track when racing. Alex had fun running around the track and would 'race' Jacob on foot and he'd cut the course and win every time. I think they both had a great time.
Saturday morning we had a big breakfast and got to the track around 10 for sign ups and allow Jacob some more practice time on Grandpa's bicycle. We got there about 45 minutes too early. Sign up is from 10 to 11 and we had too much time to wait around for them to get everyone registered and announce the moto's. Jacobs cousin Johnathan came and signed up too, so we got some good visiting in while they warmed up. I think Sophia was thinking about trying it after seeing all the other girls who signed up.
Jacob was in Moto 11 and Johnathan in Moto 13. They put kids together based on age and classification. Jacob is 9 and a Novice, but there were not enough 9 year old Novices so they bumped him to the next group and was in the 10 Novice moto. Two nine year olds and one ten year old made up his Moto. Each moto races 3 times at this track gaining points for each race (1st, 2nd, 3rd...) and the one with lowest points after all three races is the winner. Jacob was very excited and convinced he was going to win his moto because the other two in his moto were girls. His first race proved it was going to be tough. He raced hard but finished third. Here is the video:
His second moto was a little better, I think he paced himself a bit better and was up in second place only to get passed in the last rhythm section. Third race he finished second and was very excited about that. One of the girls crashed, but he was just as excited about finishing second.
With three kids in a moto, they give trophies to the top two, but Jacob and Johnathan were not going to go home empty handed... First time racers get an award just for racing. Jacob and Johnathan waited and were called up and got trophies that were almost taller than Alex. 
Done in less than 2 hours and everyone had a great time. Grandpa filled the kids up with sugar from the concession stand and it didn't rain, so all in all a great day at the races! I'm sure Jacob will try the races in Mount Vernon next summer. He is saving anything and everything to get a BMX bike for himself. Even selling some of his old video games.
Camping in the northwest (for me) has always been limited to June, July or August, mostly July and August, but we just got back from a couple nights at Cama Beach state park on Camano Island about half way between Seattle and Bellingham.
Camping may be a bit generous as we stayed in heated cabins complete with refrigerator and microwave. Cama Beach is a historic site and no cars are allowed down at the cabins, so we unloaded and waited for the shuttle. Debbie and the kids walked down the trail while I waited and waited. Not the best first impression, but as it turned out, the worst part of the trip and all in all not too bad.
Once in our cabin we explored the area a bit and had a Gervais family traditional first day of camping dinner of cold shake-n-bake chicken that Debbie made earlier. After dinner we had the best family game night I can remember in a while, probably due to no TV, no Internet, no outdoor lights, just stayed in the warm cabin and played some games.
Expecting rainy weather, we had a great sunny day on Monday and hiked up to Cranberry Lake and spent lots of time outdoors playing horseshoes, soccer, reading out in the sun and exploring the beach. We also drove over to Camano Island State Park and explored the campground and checked out the beach.
After homemade chicken noodle soup for dinner we settled down, played a little chess, later the kids drew pictures and Debbie and I read books, a nice quiet evening.
Pretty much woke up Tuesday morning, had breakfast and packed and loaded. Stopped at the skate park and Starbucks in Stanwood and home in about an hour after leaving the park. Close, easy and very pleasant camping in the deep deep winter, OK just mid November, but close enough to mid winter for this summer camper.
Man it has been way too long since I last blogged. I am way behind on this race report. The Lake Samish Tri was way back on August 16th (over a month ago)
I almost did not go to this race because the kids were gone at the grandparents for the weekend and Debbie and I were renting a nailer to install hardwood floors in all three bedrooms including the stairs, hallway and closets. If not already paid and signed up I wouldn't of gone, but I was, so I did and I had a blast!
Great sunny day and got there early and was able to visit and catch up with friends before the race. Pretty good turnout for a first time event.
Ended up being a mass start for the sprint and a second wave for the tri-a-tri folks. They blasted the horn and we were off for a swim on some glassy smooth water at the north end of Lake Samish from Camp Lutherwood, no wind, very nice. I think it was a bit longer than the half mile quoted, but everyone had to swim the same course so no big deal.
Out of the water and into transition I had my wetsuit mostly off by the time I got to my bike and was pretty quick through. They changed the mount line due to all the gravel and glad they did.
Bike was two laps around Lake Samish, but in the opposite way that most riders ride the lake, which made it a bit more interesting and I think a bit faster, or at least it felt that way. I was picking off the faster swimmers and wasn't passed until on my second lap, so felt good about that.
Camp Lutherwood is not on the 'loop' around the lake, but a little spur which we had to ride both ways and felt fast coming back into the camp. Off the bike at the edge of the gravel and long run back to transition, but again was pretty quick to get out of bike shoes and the running one on and gone.
They adjusted the run to include this lovely little hill to avoid runners/bikers on same narrow section of road leading into the camp. This was no little hill, I ran this as part of the North Face Endurance Challenge and was still just as challenging, but once up and over and back on the Roy road it is pretty flat following the lake for a 5k out and back.
Coming back they made it a true out and back and made us run up and over the hill again. I ran the whole way and right at the top the guy in front of me, who walked most the hill, started running again just as I was about to overtake him. With less then a quarter mile left I was able to run smoothly over the top and get some speed down and pick it up and passed him before we finished.
Once done, I gathered my stuff and left quickly because I knew what was coming, laying some wood. Debbie and I laid wood from about 1pm - 9pm on Saturday and had enough energy to lay some more on Sunday, we went all day from 9am to about 9pm. It was very nice that the kids were gone at the grandparents for the weekend. We got 95% of the floors down over the weekend. I just had to finish the stuff close to the walls that the nailer couldn't fit into by hand over the next few days. The floors look great and am just now finishing up the final finish/trim painting. almost done.
My first XTerra (off road) triathlon was a couple weeks ago on Vashon Island and I truly enjoyed the experience.
We left a day early and stopped at the Clear Lake Triathlon for Jacobs third try at this race and he improved again finishing under 20 minutes!
This was my second run at the competitive version of the Lake Padden Triathlon and was hoping to improve on my previous time from 2006. Last year I was at a little race over in Coeur d'Alene 8-)
Got up early and drove to the park and got the closest parking spot one could get and then rather than just sit and veg I decided to jump out and help Lance and his crew setup transition. It was fun setting up the racks and then being able to set my bike at the premier spot (first row closest to bike exit).
As more and more people started to show up I stopped helping and was able to visit with friends and before long was in my wetsuit and down at the beach for a short warm up. We all got out of the water for pre race messages and then the first wave went off. I was able to get into the second wave and we went off about 3 minutes after the first.
Got into a nice groove and actually swam pretty straight. Hit the turn around buoy with lots of other swimmers still around me, so felt good about keeping pace. Way back to the beach it was definitely thinning out, but still enough to help keep me swimming straight. Hit the beach at 14:32!
Run up the grass hill and into transition and saw Debbie and the kids, they found the cattle bells and were ringing them for me, awesome. Real quick transition and off up the steep driveway out of the park and onto Lake Samish road.
The bike course is pretty hilly, but all that goes up must go down, so we get lots of downhills too. But first we must climb up and out of the Lake Padden area up towards the parking lot people use at the bottom of Galbraith. I was trying to keep a good pace, but this first hill is always tough on me and got passed by a couple riders, but was able to keep them close and on the long downhill into the lap around Lake Samish passed them back.
Kept a good pace around the lake and then back up that long downhill towards Lake Padden, but we turn at the freeway and go onto Old Lake Samish road that is generally downhill towards Chuckanut Drive. I like this section as you can really hammer it and get back some time.
Once on Chuckanut it is uphill again but it is short and get to come right back down the other side into Fairhaven and then we turn towards the freeway and the climb kinda starts before the freeway but once under it really turns up and this short 3 block climb is tough and pretty much straight up, but once at the top you come out onto Lake Samish drive and just another mile or so back to the park.
My bike split of 1:02:20 (20.2 MPH) was 3 minutes faster than 2006, woohoo!
Quick transition and off to run around the lake twice. This part is always tough to run past the finish for your second lap. The finish is right there but you cannot use it, must run around again.
I was running at a pretty good pace and it felt like I ran at a consistent pace not slowing too much. Each lap was within 30 seconds of each other. I was able to run the finish with Jacob and Alex and stopped the clock at 1:58:06 44Th out of 256 overall and 9Th out of 29 in my age group (M35-39). I was VERY happy to improve by 4 minutes on my 2006 time!
