Escape From the Pee-Ridden Ferry

Hello Mates. The tri-geeks will mark one off of the bucket list today. If you watch this video, you'll notice that this clip is from June of '11. Yes, this race typically takes place in the "heat" of the NorCal summertime, but not this year. America's Cup will be held in the city by the bay, marking us as red-headed stepchildren. But not a problem. The water will be a crisp 50-51 degrees rather than a balmy 54-55 and thus will probably don the full jammers vs. me little speedo! Will be hopping on the fairy...err, uh....I mean FERRY, at 0630 local time and jumpin in with the shaaks at 0730. It may come as a surprise to hear that it is common practice to relieve yourself in your wetsuit prior to a race. 'tis true though. But usually you're already in the water waiting for the gun to go off. Not so on the boat. So, rumor has it that the moments leading up to the start you might be walking atop a film of urine and not to be too surprised. Cool heh?

Despite having to walk in piss, this is one of the most popular triathlons in the world People come from far & wide to partake. A few races around the globe act as qualifiers. Many get in via lottery, as did I and a good buddy of mine from home. It's an odd-distance for those of you familiar with tri-sport. The swim is 1.5 miles with some helping current. This distance is longer than a half ironman swim of 1.2. The bike is 18, shorter than an olympic distance 25 - but it'll be hilly and very technical....lots of sharp turns. And the run is an 8-miler with a 400-sandstep climb at the 5-mile mark. So, there will be a great number of times throughout the day I ask - What the feck? The wives are here to root us on and wipe the snot off our noses as exit the waters of the San Francisco Bay, making the pain slightly more bearable. Oh, and there's the after party followed by a couple of days wine bonging.