Bike trails were popular in Yoyogi Park. The main trails had people getting some speed up but some areas were cordoned off for kids to use. This person was compromising and taking their kids for a ride in the park. The bike seemed perfect for the job.
My buddy, Jim, was taking part in a Spartan Race. The event was being held in Snohomish so, while I wasn’t willing to get up quite as early as him, I did go up to see the race and what people were prepared to put themselves through. The whole thing was being held on land that is usually an equestrian center. The Beast race was a 13.2 mile trek punctuated with a variety of tests and obstacles that the contestants had to negotiate. Fail to succeed on any of them and there was an area for you to head to where you would have to do 30 burpees before you could move on!
There was a central area for spectators and those who were waiting to start or who had already finished. (A sprint course was also available so the whole Beast course was not the only option.) A number of the obstacles were close to this area while many others were scattered out in the woods and fields. There wasn’t anything to stop you heading out to the other areas if you wanted to and, as I was there longer, I did go a bit further afield. Not all the way out though. I wasn’t testing myself!
This shows the main area and the people that were there to be involved. Some of the obstacles were worthy of their own post so there will be more to come.
I was taking it easy as I walked through Yoyogi Park. The intense heat and humidity meant I was trying to minimize my effort. That was not the case for everyone, though. I was amazed at how many people were out running in the park. Given the conditions, they must have been really feeling it as they ran but this didn’t seem to be a deterrent. Kudos to them all. My stroll was a bit much for me but I only had a narrow window to be there so I had no choice!
I have tried to find out what the rules are regarding how fast you can go on Lake Washington. All I have found so far is what limits there are when you are close to shore. Whether this means you can go as fast as you like while out in the open or not I don’t know. We do see plenty of people getting some speed up when they are out on the water. Whether it is speedboats of ski boats pulling someone behind them, they look nice and dramatic when they are up on the plane and moving.
Looking out of the window of my hotel in Minato, there was a pond behind the building. It took a while to work out what it was but, on the weekend, it was easier to see. This is a fishing pond. It is in between all of the hotels and, even on a hot and steamy day, there were plenty of people fishing. I don’t know what the pond was stocked with and what the rules are once you catch something but I was more taken that this existed at all.
Not far from where we live in Woodinville, there is a skate park. It is always popular with people hanging out be there skaters, scooter users, BMX riders or just people enjoying the park. I have been meaning to walk down and watch some of the skaters but have not got around to it before. However, last weekend, as we drove home, there was clearly something going on at the park so I decided to walk down and see what was going on.
I got there just in time for the beginning of the 15th annual Woodinville skate competition. Loads of skaters had turned up to compete and they were warming up when I got there. Indeed, the competition started shortly after I arrived. They had a bunch of age categories. The first to go was the 10 and unders. They grouped skaters into pairs or threes and they had two runs of two minutes each in which to put together their based performance making use of as much of the park as possible and varying the tricks.
We had a brief downpour so, once the group had finished, they had a prize giving for the winners while we waited for the weather to improve. This wasn’t the only weather interruption but, on the whole, conditions held out and the team did a good job of drying the park out when the rain stopped so that the competition could carry on.
Next came the 11-15 category. The same format of competition with two runs each and there were a lot of competitors to get through. The skill levels varied a bit but the nice thing about skating is that everyone is very friendly and supportive so they were all willing to not only do what they knew they could land but also to push themselves to try and get better tricks in.
There was a single group for the female contestants that came next. Again, a mix of skills on show but again an enthusiastic approach to the competition and, with the conditions looking better, the weather was heating up as much as the competition.
Last to go where the 16 and over group. Here you had adults in against the older kids (and one kid who was clearly not sixteen but was skating at a very high level. The advantage that size brings in carrying speed and in athleticism showed itself with the competitors really making some impressive runs.
The finale was the best trick competition. First the rail was used and everyone took it in turns to have a go at pulling of something cool on the rail without causing themselves unfortunate damage (although a couple came close to straddling the metalwork!) Then it was over the car for the second phase. By now the weather was beginning to turn so it was a race against time to get everything in. When all was done it was time for prize giving. Scoring for the runs was for the main prizes along with side prizes for best tricks during the runs and then the best trick competition itself.
It looked like a great time for everyone and I thoroughly enjoyed watching and shooting the event. For those that were there, I have a larger gallery of shots taken throughout the day which can be found at the link below. At the bottom of the page are pictures of the winners after receiving their prizes.
www.robedgcumbe.com/client/woodinvilleskate2018/
My trip to the Island was in the middle of Storm Brian. It was lashing some parts of the country and the western end of the Island was apparently getting some serious wind but the east side was enjoying a bit of shelter. That didn’t mean there wasn’t still some strong wind and a decent amount of wave action. What better time for someone to go windsurfing? Actually, several people were windsurfing. One of them was close to where I was standing on the shore and, as he went out, he was running against the waves but with the wind behind him. I was hoping for some big jumps off the waves but, while there were jumps, they were not too big. He was certainly braver than I would have been though!
For some strange reason, the first few days we were in Whistler, I didn’t think about some of the locations that should be there for a Winter Olympics. Then I saw a sign for the Sliding Centre and decided to check it out. This was the home of the bobsled, luge and skeleton events. I don’t know what I had been thinking but the place really surprised me. I knew that the course was down a hill and how fast the competitors go but I hadn’t realized just how steep the descent would be. I figured sliding downhill on ice, it wasn’t hard to go really fast.
In fact, the run drops down some incredibly steep slopes. We were walking alongside the track and it was really steep just going up the road. Sadly, photographs never do justice to steep slopes but believe me when I say this place was steep. The idea of coming down it on a sledge seems insane. No wonder the crashes are so spectacular. Not only that but the end of the course always seems to be on the level when you watch it on TV. In fact, it goes back up the hill very steeply. This was also totally unexpected.
We met a bunch of guys that were using knife like tools to shape the ice. Apparently, they had been running that morning and we had missed it. They were due to run the following afternoon but we were leaving before that. It was a shame to miss the action. As they weren’t running, covers were over the entire course to protect it from the weather but you could still peak between the blinds to see the track itself. A very impressive place and I will have to try and get back there at some point to see the competitors in action.
A few kayakers were out while we were in Ballard. One group appeared to be either a club or a training course. Most of them were in identical looking kayaks while they seemed to be escorted by a pair of kayakers in more professional looking rigs. They did not go into the lock but came to check it out before heading back in the opposite direction.
Another pair came from the direction of Lake Union and were heading towards Puget Sound. They did take a ride through the lock. Since they did not have ropes to tie off during the lowering of the water, they hung on to one of the other boats as the water level was lowered before paddling out of the lock and on their way. I imagine being at the bottom of the lock in a kayak is quite intimidating but they seemed like seasoned users.
I last saw Camden Yards over 20 years ago when I was living in Washington D.C. At the time, the trend for developing baseball stadiums back in downtown areas was only just getting going. Camden was a trendsetter. Now, many cities have gone down the same route and baseball stadiums are in the cities whether it is the majors or the minors. I was heading to get the train back to the airport at the end of my work visit and the route took me right through the middle of the complex. A game was due later in the day and some visitors were already taking tours while the vendor staff were just getting ready to serve the crowds that would come later. However, it was still nice and quiet as I passed through. It was also going to be a warm day so I imagine that the vendors were going to have a busy day keeping everyone refreshed.
