The Life of Pizza John

I had an awesome PR at this race, but I'm not sure I would do it again.  Between lack of aid stations and bumpy roads, it really made for an interesting day. Packet pickup, bike dropoff and checkin were Saturday, the day before the race.  The packet pickup was unorganized and the volunteers didn't seem too excited to be there.  There was no flow to the way it was setup and if you didn't know what to look for you would have missed your opportunity to pick up your ticket to return to the Kennedy Space Center and the hat they were giving away.  The bike racks were organized by number, but you had to get there early if you wanted an end spot.  I got there pretty late so I was not on the end.  I should have brought something to cover my bike with because it was all wet in the morning. We ate dinner at Mamma Rosas, an Italian place in Titusville.  The food was pretty good, but the Tiramisu was not. I would go there again, but next time skip dessert....

I'd rather make this post about the pictures so here is the synopsis... Surf: Too big in lots of places.  We headed to the Algarve in search of manageable waves.  We ended up finding lots of fun waves, but I prefer reef breaks and we mostly surfed beach breaks. Weather: Colder than I expected.  In the water I wore a 4/3 and was almost always cold.  Out of the water, I usually wore pants and a light jacket and was usually cold. Food:  Mediocre.  Maybe it was the small towns we were visiting, but I was not impressed.  The bread and cheese was pretty good (and pastries), but overall I was expecting more. Coffee: Excellent.  Not sure how it is spelled in Portuguese, but the Med Lite was awesome!  I would almost go back just for the coffee! People:  Locals didn't seem very friendly.  They were not mean, but they seemed very closed off.  All the tourists we met were very nice!  Hans and Frans from Germany we...

Here we go on the whole week in Maui.  It was a great trip and I'm looking forward to qualifying again next year. Tuesday: I arrived around 9pm and after almost 20 hours of travel, I was ready for some sleep!  I picked up my rental car and was happy the bike box fit in the back.  I'm lucky they had a hatchback where the seats folded down.  I headed to my hotel in Lahaina and checked in to the Lahaina Shores.  It wasn't the most fancy hotel, but it was super nice for the price!  I would definitely stay there again. Wednesday: The morning view from the hotel was fantastic!  The mountains made for a great sunrise. I got my bike put together and headed to Kapalua to ride the course and check in.  The packet pickup was really easy!  There was no line so it was pretty quick.  I put my race number on my bike and rode over to the trails.  It was starting to sprinkle when I got there, but I figured the trails would be ok.  Th...