We have alarms set for 4:45 a.m. this morning to catch our flight to Seattle at 7:55. No problems checking in except the carry on that Leslie had flagged for something so she went through secondary. Happy to say she is still with us, just a minor delay, not in detention at the border ;) . Our final destination is Sacramento and we'll grab the rental, a monster Ford Expedition with lots of room for 5.
Next stop Sacramento
Barry & Ailsa
Barry's daughter Shannon flew in last night to Sacramento all the way from her home in Australia! She has a break from "Uni" for a few weeks so she is joining us for the race and then her and Barry are flying to Italy for a couple weeks of touring. So jealous, we would love to tour Italy! So, once we get our luggage and the big rig we'll go pick up Shannon downtown.
Geezus Barry how much gear is there?
The baggage area in Sacramento had these old baggage carts and piles of luggage art. It looked really cool actually.
We easily fit all our stuff into the Expedition and off to downtown to meet Shannon. We are all hungry so we decided to try Old Town Sacramento for a little walk and some food. Okay actually we didn't mean to walk all around but the decision of what to eat was not as easy as one might think. So many choices!
Old Town Sacramento, lots of old brick buildings and right along the river.
Lunch at Terazzo, Mexican restaurant, cheers!
L to R me, Leslie, Shannon, Barry & Ailsa
It's about a 2 hour drive from Sacramento to Tahoe City where our condo is waiting. Ailsa booked everything and did a great job organizing. Gotta love nightshift, right buddy? What a beautiful area north of Sacramento! We stopped at a Walmart to stock up on food and beverages for a few days. The menu was planned along the way so we split up the list and loaded a couple baskets. We took I-80 north to our condo just south of Tahoe City on the north shore of Lake Tahoe, to a place called Carnelian Wood. Beauty spot!
Condo worked great for all 5
Unloading the Expedition, another great choice.
We put together a nice supper and just relaxed with a glass of wine. It's been along day already and we will be busy for the next few days.
June 21
Today we are driving to Olympic Village at Squaw Valley to check out the start line of the Western States 100. Ailsa is going to hike the first 4 miles to check out the climb. Basically walking to the top of the ski hill while the rest of us are taking the tram. It gives Ailsa a feel for incline and elevation gain at the very start. She likes uphill better than downhill so for her it's good. The rest of us hiked about a mile to the top and met her there.
Shannon, Ailsa & me, ready to hike
Sorry about the glare
Crossing swords! Okay poles.
Ready for a casual 4 miles uphill!
Photo angles, the mountain air makes me giddy
View from the top, restaining this huge deck. Lake Tahoe in the back.
Shannon holding a snowball!! Never held snow.
This cool dead tree on the way up, Ailsa is on top already.
We walked around up top for a little while. It was nice up at 8000 feet and really hot down below. Race day temps are forecast to 41C/105F!! I feel sorry for them all but this race typically has brutal temperature swings. That's what makes it more challenging.
The Western States ® 100-Mile Endurance Run is the world’s oldest 100-mile trail race. Starting in Squaw Valley, California near the site of the 1960 Winter Olympics and ending 100.2 miles later in Auburn, California, Western States, in the decades since its inception in 1974, has come to represent one of the ultimate endurance tests in the world.
Following the historic Western States Trail, runners climb more than 18,000 feet and descend nearly 23,000 feet before they reach the finish line at Placer High School in Auburn. In the miles between Squaw Valley and Auburn, runners experience the majestic high country beauty of Emigrant Pass and the Granite Chief Wilderness, the crucible of the canyons of the California gold country, a memorable crossing of the ice-cold waters of the main stem of the Middle Fork of the American River, and, during the latter stages, the historic reddish-brown-colored trails that led gold-seeking prospectors and homesteading pilgrims alike to the welcoming arms of Auburn.
Borrowed that from Google to help explain this race. It's a big deal in Ultra Marathons. Only 369 athletes that have to win their way in can compete.
Well you can imagine that all the walking and climbing has made us hungry and, of course, thirsty. We took the tram back down to the village and found a great spot for lunch, The Auld Dubliner Pub. Fantastic food and beverages!
Leslie's Ahi tuna salad, yum
Poor selfie quality, my bad
With full bellies and lots of water to help with the heat we headed off to walk around the village and check out the shops. We generally buy some race gear at these events as memories of being there. We found some shirts that fit the bill nicely. After that we all attended a Support Crew seminar. They told us tons of valuable information about the aid stations, roads, gas stations, etc. It's going to be a long day for everyone!
One more pic of Ailsa at the start line, 39 hours until start
We drove back to the condo to relax and get started on supper. Just put together a salad and season the steaks. We really like traveling with Barry & Ailsa. We all work together and have lots of laughs. Makes the trips loads of fun and nobody gets loaded down with all the work. And we all eat like champs!
See the champ eating lol !
After supper Leslie and I took over the kitchen for a bit. Leslie has made her baked pasta and sauce before race day for a couple of races we have crewed for. She made it a couple years ago for Golden Ultra and last year before Sinister 7 (a 100 miler which Ailsa beat everyone by 90 minutes) so we are making the same meal for tomorrow night. She uses ground turkey and a load of vegetables in the sauce and she also uses a meat tortellini to pump up the protein content. It always tastes really good and can be put in plastic tubs in the cooler for race day fuel if needed. Will it help? We hope so and it's good food for athlete and crew alike. We ended up with 2 big foil pans of pasta so there will be plenty for everyone. Time for bed, another long day.
June 22
We slept in a little this morning. Barry & Ailsa got up and out for a short run before it gets too hot. Shannon slept a little longer. She's 18 and they can sleep through more stuff lol. Leslie and I are going for a nice long walk. My calf strain is better but I'm not pushing it. I need good legs for race day as there are a couple places we need to back pack our gear in. We walked down the hill to the marina on Lake Tahoe. Man what a beautiful lake!! Water is so clear. There are lots of boats of all sizes and we found a nice trail along the edge of the lake to walk and look at some of the absolutely amazing lakefront properties.
Beautiful walk, I could live here.
In the afternoon Leslie and I dropped the rest of the gang at Olympic village for a racers meeting. We are picking up a few last minute supplies in Tahoe City for race day. We picked everybody up around 3 pm and headed back to the condo. A little relax time and then dig in to Leslie's fantastic pasta supper. We ate one pan and now we have another for tomorrow. Better to have too much than not enough. After a little digestion period we pulled out Ailsa's fave dessert, dark chocolate (she normally has several different kinds) and a little bit of red wine. Not on every athletes pre-race menu but it works for her and us too, of course :)
The stack of chocolate in the middle of the table
It's an early to bed night because we have to wake up at 3 a.m. to get to Squaw Valley by 4:15. We have to take all our suitcases with us in the morning as there won't be time to come back. It's going to be a real test tomorrow with temps around 38C/100 F. Race day will be a post by itself, this one is long already. Go Ailsa, go !!!
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