John and I were sitting in the RV in Welland on Saturday evening trying to get our stuff prepared for the race. As is usual for me, I was a tad nervous, maybe even more than a tad!
My phone rang. The call display showed that it was the mother of my grandchildren. I thought that was a bit strange, and I got a sudden feeling of apprehension. It was strange because she knew I was away, and if she needed something she would probably have called Roo.
The ugly feeling got worse when I answered and it wasn't Miguette, but Colby!
And if that wasn't enough, the first words out of his mouth were, "Gramps, we have a problem"
My heart sank, and my imagination went wild! The house was flooded, someone was seriously hurt, they had been robbed, etc.
"What's wrong Colby?"
"Gramps! The internet won't work! I tried everything. The extender won't connect to the main router, and I don't know the correct IP address, and I went to the configure page for the NetGear thing, and that didn't help, and Roo's not home so I can't get her to reboot the Asus router! What am I gonna do now?"
My nerves suddenly dissipated. The world was gonna be okay.
Unfortunately I wasn't able to help him because he already knows more than me, and we had to leave it at that.
Regardless, I felt more relaxed after talking to him, and despite a very sleepless night, I woke up feeling fairly ready for my first triathlon since the ironman failure.
And it turned to be a a magical kind of day for brother John and I, not so much because of our success, but because of the camaraderie we shared, and the incredible coincidences that facilitated it.
When you start out on a 6 plus hour adventure that involves 3 separate disciplines, as well as a whole lot of gear changes in between, it is rare to run into people out on the course that you started out with. The usual parting words at the start, are "see you at the finish line." Sure enough, we swam the 2000 metres without any interaction but when I arrived in the transition area, guess who was right behind me? This was already a surprise since I swam slower than in the past, and John was quite a bit faster. So we shared pleasantries, and I headed out on my bike a minute or so ahead of John , not expecting to see him again until the end of the day Actually there was some possibility that he may pass me on the bike, because he is a bit stronger rider than me. But I felt good and was riding well, and I never seen him.
And then it happened. I suddenly felt very alone out on the bike course, and that was because I was! No bikes ahead of me, and none behind. wtf?? When the pavement turned to gravel, I was pretty sure I screwed up. It occurred to me that if I had my phone with me I would have called Colby and told him that "we have a problem!" He would have laughed. Anyway, since I did not have my phone, I turned around and found where I went wrong, but by this time I had lost 3 or 4 minutes. Further to that I no longer had any idea whether John was behind me or ahead of me. Oh well. I would see him at the finish line, and went on to complete the rest of the bike leg fairly strong.
When I pulled up to the bike dismount line there was another guy just getting off his bike. He slipped a bit on the now very wet pavement, and almost stumbled into me. I had no idea, and neither did he, until our eyes met! Yup! My little brother! Un-freakin-believable!
Back into transition where I'm still faster than John, and out on the run course ahead of him. About 5 or 6 minutes in I heard a cough behind me.....he coughs just like my Dad...imagine that!
Because we were both doing a run/walk thing which resulted in several occasions of passing each other, we talked probably 10 more times over the next couple of hours. In the pouring rain mind you, but both of us actually enjoyed that. For me it helped wash the pee out of my shoes. :)
We finished about 2 minutes apart!!
Amazing!!
And as to the success I mentioned, I personally was happy to get a clean race under my belt, but also like I mentioned, the day really belonged to John. He was almost 40 minutes faster than his previous best at this distance. Game on!! Look out Mont Tremblant
And that's the story. I took it easy today, cleaned my bike and made some enhancements that I was planning. It performed flawlessly by the way. I also put up a new towel rack that my honey requested, and of course fixed Colby's internet!
"Houston we have a problem"---James Lovell
Love
Peter
My phone rang. The call display showed that it was the mother of my grandchildren. I thought that was a bit strange, and I got a sudden feeling of apprehension. It was strange because she knew I was away, and if she needed something she would probably have called Roo.
The ugly feeling got worse when I answered and it wasn't Miguette, but Colby!
And if that wasn't enough, the first words out of his mouth were, "Gramps, we have a problem"
My heart sank, and my imagination went wild! The house was flooded, someone was seriously hurt, they had been robbed, etc.
"What's wrong Colby?"
"Gramps! The internet won't work! I tried everything. The extender won't connect to the main router, and I don't know the correct IP address, and I went to the configure page for the NetGear thing, and that didn't help, and Roo's not home so I can't get her to reboot the Asus router! What am I gonna do now?"
My nerves suddenly dissipated. The world was gonna be okay.
Unfortunately I wasn't able to help him because he already knows more than me, and we had to leave it at that.
Regardless, I felt more relaxed after talking to him, and despite a very sleepless night, I woke up feeling fairly ready for my first triathlon since the ironman failure.
And it turned to be a a magical kind of day for brother John and I, not so much because of our success, but because of the camaraderie we shared, and the incredible coincidences that facilitated it.
When you start out on a 6 plus hour adventure that involves 3 separate disciplines, as well as a whole lot of gear changes in between, it is rare to run into people out on the course that you started out with. The usual parting words at the start, are "see you at the finish line." Sure enough, we swam the 2000 metres without any interaction but when I arrived in the transition area, guess who was right behind me? This was already a surprise since I swam slower than in the past, and John was quite a bit faster. So we shared pleasantries, and I headed out on my bike a minute or so ahead of John , not expecting to see him again until the end of the day Actually there was some possibility that he may pass me on the bike, because he is a bit stronger rider than me. But I felt good and was riding well, and I never seen him.
And then it happened. I suddenly felt very alone out on the bike course, and that was because I was! No bikes ahead of me, and none behind. wtf?? When the pavement turned to gravel, I was pretty sure I screwed up. It occurred to me that if I had my phone with me I would have called Colby and told him that "we have a problem!" He would have laughed. Anyway, since I did not have my phone, I turned around and found where I went wrong, but by this time I had lost 3 or 4 minutes. Further to that I no longer had any idea whether John was behind me or ahead of me. Oh well. I would see him at the finish line, and went on to complete the rest of the bike leg fairly strong.
When I pulled up to the bike dismount line there was another guy just getting off his bike. He slipped a bit on the now very wet pavement, and almost stumbled into me. I had no idea, and neither did he, until our eyes met! Yup! My little brother! Un-freakin-believable!
Back into transition where I'm still faster than John, and out on the run course ahead of him. About 5 or 6 minutes in I heard a cough behind me.....he coughs just like my Dad...imagine that!
Because we were both doing a run/walk thing which resulted in several occasions of passing each other, we talked probably 10 more times over the next couple of hours. In the pouring rain mind you, but both of us actually enjoyed that. For me it helped wash the pee out of my shoes. :)
We finished about 2 minutes apart!!
Amazing!!
And as to the success I mentioned, I personally was happy to get a clean race under my belt, but also like I mentioned, the day really belonged to John. He was almost 40 minutes faster than his previous best at this distance. Game on!! Look out Mont Tremblant
And that's the story. I took it easy today, cleaned my bike and made some enhancements that I was planning. It performed flawlessly by the way. I also put up a new towel rack that my honey requested, and of course fixed Colby's internet!
"Houston we have a problem"---James Lovell
Love
Peter
Amazing!!! Now that's quite a race. I love it. I'm glad you two got to have that experience And congrats to you both! I'm glad it went well. Did you feel good doing it?
ReplyDeleteAlso, that's funny the Colby call. We had the same kind of moment at poker! He also called Roo while we were at poker, and I hear mum say, "Sorry Colby, go see if Mark's home, hopefully he can help you", and Deb and I were thinking "Uh oh, what's wrong, is everything ok?" Sure enough, it's just the internet's not working! Hehe.
Anyway, love you!
Love,
Michael
Great race and even greater bonding thing for you and John. Look out Mt. Tremblant for the brothers Rooyakkers!
ReplyDeleteLove this blog Pete! Congrats on your day! xoxo
ReplyDeleteGreat race Pete and John. Congrats !! I am so happy to hear Colby had internet problems as opposed to your fear thoughts. It amazes me how we go to that place of fear first when it comes to our children and grandchildren. At least I do every time. Looking for a fix for that so if you come up with one please share with me
ReplyDeleteI'm happy!
ReplyDelete