trying to be athletic... hah!

What did you do this Thanksgiving weekend? Eat leftovers? Watch a game or two? Sounds more relaxing than my weekend. I spent my weekend pretending to be athletic. While I don't claim to have fooled anyone, I made a valient attempt.

A group of around 30 bikers rode about 100km in two days, and raised money for the local Luke Society. The project we helped fund is a land-grant program in which farmers are assisted in purchasing their own land.

The scenery was fabulous! I'm now interested in my very own land grant project. I think I'll call it "help kate buy a piece of paradise". Anyone interested?!

At the end of day one we stayed at Chococentre Reserve. The area is normally kept clear of tourists in order to provide a safe-haven for sea tortoise to lay eggs. In order to see this, you need to head out to the beach around midnight. We only got to see one, but it was worth the short night of sleep. She laid nearly 100 eggs before impressively hiding her nest and returning to the ocean.

The ride included a few river crossings. Fun, but perhaps next time I'll pack some sandals or at least take off my shoes. I joined my roomies on this trip. This is the official roommate picture from our weekend.

Stopping for a quick photo op on day two. I'm hiding second from left. Overall a fun weekend and a great ride. The road was generally in good condition and included 3 rivers, many creeks, and the occassional pig and cow to dodge. I've decided that if you stay off the main roads, biking in Nica isn't so bad after all.

The following weekend I helped at the first ever NCA mini-triathlon. A 200m swim, 10km ride, and 5km run. The entire event took place at Xiloa - a crater lake just outside of Managua. That's right, a triathlon in a volcano. Now that's not something I ever expected to be a part of!

This group is eager to get started.

Okay, before more about the tri, you need a short back-story here. I recently came across this great photo of my neices. It's a current favorite, and I asked my roommates (who were both competing) for a similar photo.

While Madison and Kailey are awful cute, I think Aimee and Carey gave it a good shot.

Perhaps if they just had the bright swimsuits...

I had the great honor of official time-keeper. Oh yes, you should be impressed.

Over 50 participants completed the tri, and many more jealously observed the physical prowess of the brave souls. Maybe next year. If they let teams compete. Maybe.