The Great Solar Eclipse of 2017 crossed the continent, from Oregon to South Carolina, and gave millions of people the chance to witness one of the most awe-inspiring events in the natural world.

But you had to be within the "path of totality", a narrow band across the earth's surface several thousand miles long but only about 70 miles wide. Outside that band you would only see a partial eclipse, not a total eclipse.

And there is no such thing as a "partial total eclipse", despite the impression blogs and the news media might give. I honestly think that's why so many people misunderstand the utter beauty of the spectacle; they may have seen a partial eclipse in the past that was total somewhere else, and even though they weren't in the path the news kept gushing about it being a total eclipse, so they assume they must have seen a total eclipse and just didn't find it all that impressive.


Posted by Dan 08/29/2017, revised 09/06/2017

It's been a long journey since my pro debut at Vineman last July. My mystery foot injury has finally receded, I joined the QT2 Systems pro team, and at the request of my coach, I've been jumping into tiny local races on a monthly basis, putting a lot more W's on the resume. I even claimed my first outright win in February, outrunning all the men at the Du Three Bears 5 Mile. But the big targets are still on the Ironman 70.3 circuit, starting with Oceanside in early April. This was good timing, coming off of a very productive pro camp with fellow QT2 athletes in February. That block of 11 intense days working with a team of coaches and learning from some of the best athletes in the sport was a game changer for me, with a lot of breakthroughs in swim, bike, run AND recovery skills.

Still, I felt oddly apprehensive about Oceanside. As it is every year, the field was stacked with some of the top triathletes in the world, but it wasn't the competition that scared me. My 2016 injuries weakened my run training last year, and yet I still came away with a pretty solid run split at Vineman ... Because instead of relying on training, I was running on pure grit. And that is super painful. After Vineman, whenever I thought about 70.3 racing, all I could think was "that really hurts," and I wasn't sure if I was ready to go that deep into the pain cave again. I was dreading Oceanside, specifically the run.

Oceanside was also the debut of my new bike, courtesy of sponsor Quintana Roo. I was excited to spend some time with this flashy new ride in its natural habitat, but our relationship was still new, so I wasn't sure what to expect out there.

The harbor was cold and dark race morning, and the water was at least ten degrees warmer than the chilly dawn air, so it was a relief to get in and swim around before the start. The women's start was five minutes after the men, and as soon as they departed, we lined up, only to bob around aimlessly, turning into popcicles while we awaited the countdown.

Once we got going, the swim was great -- the water was relatively calm, the buoys were easy to spot, I had a pack of girls with me, with someone tickling my feet the whole way.
Posted by Kimberly 05/19/2017

Nik completed his final race for the Cal Poly cycling team, the Wheelmen. The Western Collegiate Cycling Conference's final race of the 2011 Mountain Bike season was hosted by Cal-Berkeley at the Bailey Bike Park course.


Nik racing down the slalom course at Bailey Bike Park


Posted by Dan 11/14/2011

A day in the life on Koh Phangan

Instead of writing an account of everything I do every day on the island, I figure it's more appropriate to walk you through the details of one day on Koh Phangan. The typical day deserves a bit of detail to be fully appreciated.

In the morning, I wake up at who-knows-what-time. I don't pay attention to clocks here. I rise when I feel it is time to rise. I open my eyes, stretch, roll over a couple times before finally deciding to get up, and I make my way out of the mosquito-netted bed. I walk over the spaced wood planks to the bathroom, where toilet paper goes in a bin instead of the toilet, and a "flush" really is just a manual flushing of the bowl with a bucket of water. I walk out to the porch and plop into the hammock, taking in the surroundings of palm tree-covered hills, the sea breeze, and the sun just barely starting to break through the thin cloud cover. Nik is making instant coffee with the homemade campstove he engineered with 2 empty beer cans, some denatured alcohol, and an empty oatmeal can as a pot. I sip my coffee and let the day start at a nice, easy, slow pace. There is no rush to a day in which the only objective is to enjoy life to the fullest.

After our cups of coffee, we venture 20 meters away to pick a coconut off the ground, shaking it to make sure there's a decent amount of milk in it. We crack it open and pour the milk into the oatmeal-can-pot to be heated for our oatmeal breakfast. We cook the oatmeal in the fresh coconut milk, and slice in a few small, sweet, fresh bananas. I sit back on our simple bungalow porch and enjoy my breakfast of champions while rocking back and forth in the hammock. It's going to be another great day.

The makings of our beautiful breakfast

Posted by Whitney 09/14/2008