Take a look at the pics from my ride today and compare them to the pics of my ride from Hawi to Waimea. It's uncanny how much the Gold Coast parallels Kona. Not only is the landscape of the Gold Coast very similar to Kona, but it also has a hippy-ish vibe like that of Kona. I was so happy to find a natural health food store with endless bins of bulk foods ranging from cacao nibs to goji berries. Now, I just gotta find me a Gold Coast crew like that of the Kona crew. This leg of the trip has been relatively easy. The travel was easy and the accommodation is near perfect. Things also just seem to be falling into place. I set out to meet a group ride today but I couldn't find it; which I later learned from a local was a good thing, because supposedly the group is just a bunch of casual recreational riders. I set forth to find my own ride and as luck would have it, I ended up doing the signature Gold Coast ride. The Quicksilver Pro Surfing championships are happening on the Gold Coast and I had planned on trying to go and check it out. Well, turns out that this signature ride dumped me right where the championships are taking place, sweet. Also, I gained an hour flying up here and the sun rises around 5:15 AM, meaning I no longer have to ride in the dark like I did in Sydney. Yep, things are falling into place. The only struggle I'm having is that unlike Kona and Sydney, I don't know a single person here, and there doesn't seem to be a well organized triathlon group. But I did get a tip and will be meeting a group on Sunday for a long ride. Also, it is common that thunderstorms and showers come in the late afternoon. I've had my share of walking in the rain to buy groceries, and riding in the rain to get to the pool. But it's a nice warm rain. I also decided to make a switch since arriving to the Gold Coast. I'm leaving my egocentric american ways behind and adopting the metric system. I got tired of the funny looks I got when I told and Aussie or Kiwi how far I rode or ran in miles. Also, there won't be mile markers at IM OZ,so I best adapt to kilometers now. In this last build-up, my plan is to ride 700 miles, oops, around 1100 kilometers in the next 14 days, and build up to my longest run of 36-38 kilometers. Twenty-three days until the big show. I sort of wish I was doing IM New Zealand this weekend. Go Kaitlin and Dave!
Take a look at the pics from my ride today and compare them to the pics of my ride from Hawi to Waimea. It's uncanny how much the Gold Coast parallels Kona. Not only is the landscape of the Gold Coast very similar to Kona, but it also has a hippy-ish vibe like that of Kona. I was so happy to find a natural health food store with endless bins of bulk foods ranging from cacao nibs to goji berries. Now, I just gotta find me a Gold Coast crew like that of the Kona crew. This leg of the trip has been relatively easy. The travel was easy and the accommodation is near perfect. Things also just seem to be falling into place. I set out to meet a group ride today but I couldn't find it; which I later learned from a local was a good thing, because supposedly the group is just a bunch of casual recreational riders. I set forth to find my own ride and as luck would have it, I ended up doing the signature Gold Coast ride. The Quicksilver Pro Surfing championships are happening on the Gold Coast and I had planned on trying to go and check it out. Well, turns out that this signature ride dumped me right where the championships are taking place, sweet. Also, I gained an hour flying up here and the sun rises around 5:15 AM, meaning I no longer have to ride in the dark like I did in Sydney. Yep, things are falling into place. The only struggle I'm having is that unlike Kona and Sydney, I don't know a single person here, and there doesn't seem to be a well organized triathlon group. But I did get a tip and will be meeting a group on Sunday for a long ride. Also, it is common that thunderstorms and showers come in the late afternoon. I've had my share of walking in the rain to buy groceries, and riding in the rain to get to the pool. But it's a nice warm rain. I also decided to make a switch since arriving to the Gold Coast. I'm leaving my egocentric american ways behind and adopting the metric system. I got tired of the funny looks I got when I told and Aussie or Kiwi how far I rode or ran in miles. Also, there won't be mile markers at IM OZ,so I best adapt to kilometers now. In this last build-up, my plan is to ride 700 miles, oops, around 1100 kilometers in the next 14 days, and build up to my longest run of 36-38 kilometers. Twenty-three days until the big show. I sort of wish I was doing IM New Zealand this weekend. Go Kaitlin and Dave!
4 comments:
Wow. It does look alot alike. With the time difference, do we actually race on the same day?
Absolutely gorgeous. I'm living vicariously through your adventures!
I want to ride there!!!! BEAUTIFUL!
LOL, i KNEW you could find some hippie granola healthy food grocery store. It's not like you're in Thailand or something! :) enjoy and I am sure you will find a good group to adopt you soon enough.
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