Race reports, adventures, travel, fun, misc...

This blog is mainly for adventure and travel stories but last night's "Dinner in the Dark" qualifies.    I had the unfortunate experience of being temporarily blind (in each eye separately and years apart) when my retinas decided to detach several years ago. With the help of an incredible surgeon I was fully patched up and after several other cataract surgeries can see pretty well and only wear glasses for distance or night driving.  Having gone through these issues I already know not to take my vision for granted, ever. That is what made last night's experience really special. My wife and I went to Dinner in the Dark, a dinning experience held in a small restaurant in the West Village where all guests are fully blindfolded throughout the two hour adventure. All guests gathered outside the restaurant by 7 PM. There were around 30 people in total. They called out our names and took us inside in groups of 4. We were asked to put on a very comfortable blindfo...

I’ve never been happier to end a race. My body is trashed from the insane load I’ve but on it this year and Sunday’s finish line was truly a symbolic finish for all my 2017 events. Ironman Arizona is held in Tempe,   an awesome college town (Arizona State University) right outside Phoenix and very close to the airport. It’s filled with bars, restaurants, unique shops and a very young and hip vibe. Joining me on this trip was my all in one friend, tri guru/advisor and nutritionist Igor.   Thank you again for another awesome experience. Since we had such great luck with an AirBnB right outside Ironman Village in Whistler BC earlier this year we reserved a condo less than a mile from the race venue again. Even though it was fully paid for, the host was completely unresponsive when we tried to get check-in information.   AirBnB customer service was super professional and issued an immediate refund but we were still stuck without a room in a pretty sold out town. ...

Since this blog was originally started to document travel trips, I’ll interrupt the flow of race reports and mountain adventures with a write up of an epic trip that my wife and I and 12 friends just completed. The trip was with a company called Fast Lane Travel and was their fall Porsche, Castle and Wine tour.   We were asked months ago if we wanted to join the other couples that were going. “Porsches + Wine !??” I thought to myself….we’re in. I didn’t look into the details but my assumption of this being off the charts proved correct. Before meeting the group in Stuttgart for the official start, my wife and I flew in two days earlier and met another couple in Heidelberg Germany. We stayed in a very cozy boutique hotel right across the old city on the other side of the Neckar River called Heidelberg Suites. Great hotel, gorgeous city and a really nice time adjusting to the time zone and to the new cuisine ahead of us. The hotel arranged for a ride for th...