Well it certainly has been a few interesting days…
Wednesday I went out for an hour spin and made sure the bike was in good condition. We had planned to go back downtown in order to get some new medicine from the Pharmacia and I wanted to get that done early. About the same time we arrived in town a very black cloud came over the island and it rained like I have never seen rain before. It stranded us in a market for about an hour. The merchants were trying to convince us to buy some Crocs because the water was coming in pretty fast. The wind was blowing and you could see the surf across the street coming up over the streets. Within minutes the water was half way of the wheels of the tires on the road and it was very much a flash flood kinda of thing. I have seen it rain like this in Maui but never as long. It was like a mini hurricane. They call them “nortes” and they come in quick and fast and are basically a cold front.
We finally braved the 25 feet to taxi and got back to the hotel for a nice massage and rest. Whew. I am glad I wasn’t out on my bike for that storm.
The people are truly amazing and we finally got our hands on the book that explains the race to the locals. They are getting very excited about the event. There is a lot of work going on here to bring this race back in 2010. All of the speed bumps are being removed (by hand) and repaved on all the roads. This has usually a group of about 10 guys working on each one. New palm trees have been planted everywhere. Road crews are out on the entire 40 mile bike loop cleaning up any trash and there are people with brooms hand sweeping the roads. If there is one place that wants this race in their city it is Cozumel. At every host hotel there is a Ford car or truck and our own bike mechanic. Can you imagine?
We had dinner with a friend I met yesterday (movie producer from LA) and that was great. He I think is an 8 time Ironman and patiently waiting for his girlfriend to show up tomorrow. It was nice to relax and unwind with a few drinks and a great dinner. This morning we walked down to the swim start as my new friend buzzed by on his scooter to the start. Everyone is a on a scooter here. We got to the swim start which is actually a national park that has dolphins you can swim with. You could see they were excited and wondering what was happening in their water. I found my way to the end of the pier and knew this was going to be interesting. With the storm returning again this morning the water was very choppy and I knew this would scare a lot of folks. The start involved jumping off a pier about 10 feet in the water. This is what we will do race morning also. This could be quite interesting with 2000 of us. The pier isn’t that big. They are busy building the swim exit so hopefully that will be done by Sunday. After several minutes of hemming and hawing I finally jumped in. The swell was rough and the current even rougher. Rob said they had to rescue one person while he was standing there. I made it out about 20 minutes and go no where to being even close to the 700 meter buoy. I decided to head back. I got several stings from jelly fish and I figured that come race morning the water would be still again (Ironman dreaming).
After the swim we caught up with our new Australian/San Francisco couple and we jumped in their jeep and drove the bike course. Very beautiful. Flat. Windy. This could be a very interesting race for the bike. If we escape the wind it will be a very fast course. If not, it could be a very slow one for everyone.
We headed up to registration and again were overwhelmed with the welcome group and everyone just thanking us for being there. I got registered and they gave us these totally cool Ironman Cozumel jackets. Wow – beats a t-shirt for sure!
I think the buzz here is that this Island truly is invested in this race. If we escape in weird weather (the forecast is for sunny and 77) it could be the race to do in the coming years. I cant wait to see how it turns out.
Cheryl
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