The next morning we dropped off Joey at the airport (our second extended visitor in the last 3 months) and headed up to Whistler to see the Ironman race.
It was hot, really hot, and the valley was full of people everywhere. There were over 2200 participants in the race, and many more around supporting them. Between the bike and the run portions, it was close to impossible to get around the village while biking...and even harder while driving.
Luckily for us, aunt Pat and uncle Geoff had a base for us to park and unload our bikes and room for us to stay. It was great to catch up with them after many years and reconnect with Whistler. Our whole family figured that it is even better in the summer than it is in the winter.
The best part is the bike trails that wind all over the valley. Our kids are the perfect age for exploring...but still need too many reminders to stay on the "right" side of the path.
The Ironman is a huge ordeal. Lukey is standing in front of the bike/run transition. It is an amazing organizational feat to have so many people go through so seamlessly...dumping their bikes and getting their running gear.
It took us a couple of hours to wind our way through the village and paths filled with marathoners, but we eventually made it for a swim at Lost Lake.
After some Splitz Burgers, we headed to the finish line to watch the drama of contestants sprinting the last hundred meters of a very long day. We stayed until about 10:30pm...which felt like a long day until we realized that these contestants had started racing 2 hours before we woke up and hadn't stopped once that whole time!
We woke up to another glorious day and headed out on the bikes again. This time we rode along the river of Golden Dreams to Meadow Park for fun at the water park and the least healthy snack imaginable: ice cream treats, pop and Doritos. Oh well, it's summer.
We managed to get 2 more stops for swims on the day. The first was here at Rainbow Park on Alta Lake.
The second was at Brohm Lake...one I've driven by hundreds of times but never stopped at. We took our last dip of the day as the sun was setting. A perfect end to a short vacation.
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