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 awhile since I've done an ocean swim, and I'm gearing up for IM Santa Cruz 70.3 in September, so Tri Santa Cruz International seemed like a good warmup.

The swim start was located just to the right of the boardwalk and the pier, and though many people had commented that the water was unusually warm and calm (relatively speaking), it was a bit of an adjustment from the comfortable pools and lakes I've been in all summer. Water temp was in the low 60s but I was immediately struck by how cold it was on my face. Eeee! How do the surfers stand it? I needed a little extra time in the water to warm up, which turned out to be fine since the race start was delayed.

This race had an interesting approach to the wave start times. There were just three waves and participants seeded themselves. Wave 1 was for those who would swim 1500 meters in under 24 minutes. Wave 2 was for 24-30 minute swimmers. And Wave 3 was for the over 30 minute swimmers. This would make for a much cleaner start with people being matched by pace, but since the course was two loops, it was still likely to get crowded on Loop #2. When I registered online, I hadn't yet achieved my 23 minute swim PR, and so I figured I was right on the cusp of Waves 1 and 2. I thought about some of my previous ocean swims, many of which didn't go so well, and decided Wave 2 would be most realistic for this race.

As we lined up on the beach, I realized that without all the sub-24 swimmers in my wave, I was likely to be in the unfamiliar position of leading the swim. On the one hand this is great since it means a clear and unobstructed path, but I've become so accustomed to following feet in the water, it was a little disconcerting to have three of the front four guys fall away within the first few minutes of the swim. Wave 1 had a five minute head start on us, so they were no longer in view, and soon there was only a single set of splashing feet a half a dozen yards ahead of me, and no one else to be seen. The course had just two turns, but for some reason, I had trouble keeping count. Alone out there in the morning grayness, I began to second guess myself. Had I turned around two buoys already or just one? Did I miss one? I couldn't remember. Meanwhile the gently rocking ocean water and the aggressively salty flavor in my mouth were starting to make me feel just slightly nauseous. After what seemed like an eternity, I emerged on the beach to run around the beach buoy and return to the water for Lap #2. I glanced at my watch as I ran, and between blurry droplets, I made out what appeared to say 16:30. WHAT?! I was certain I had held a good line out there. And I was certain no one had passed me. Somehow I was headed for a 30+ swim, yet I was at the front of my 24-30 wave? None of us would even come close to the 30 minute mark, I was leading our entire wave to failure! I tried, but couldn't persuade myself to believe that perhaps the second lap would somehow be shorter than the first, so I resolved the issue by convincing myself that I must have just read my watch wrong. But sure enough, when I emerged from Lap #2 and headed toward transition, my watch definitely said 33 minutes. Argh! Why do I suck so bad at ocean swimming?!

(Post race I found out that the reason for the horrendously slow swim times was a mismeasure of the course. The race officials later claimed it was 1800 meters instead of 1500, but I also heard rumors it ended up being 1.3 miles, which is nearly 2100 meters! Oops)

Well, fortunately the swim was over and I had nowhere to go but up, starting with the long run to transition. I had stashed a pair of shoes (legit running shoes, with speed laces, none of this flip flop business for me) near the beach and leveraged my run speed on that T1 run to pass a lot of Wave 1 folks.


Posted by Kimberly 09/01/2015

In December 2001, Nik graduated with honors from Universal Technical Institute in Phoenix, Arizona, with a degree in Automotive and Truck Technology. He made the Director's Honor List 13 times and was named Student of the Phase three times. His final GPA was 3.95.

Nik now works for a boat repair shop on the SF-Bay waterfront in Alameda. He performs maintenance and repairs on all manner of recreational watercraft, including fishing, power and sailboats.

Posted by Dan 01/07/2002

"Why do you travel? What do you personally get out of it?"

For me, there is an endless, ever-growing list of answers to this question. One of them is, "To see what's out there. To learn what I want out of my life." If I'm fortunate enough, I may find along my travels a place that feels like "a place for me." This may not mean that it is a place in which I imagine living for the rest of my life. It may not even be a place that I will ever see again. But it is a place where, upon arriving, or after spending a bit of time there, I feel comfortable. I feel happy with life, I feel I am where I should be at that moment in time, and I feel that my trust in the universe has once again fortified itself.

I have only been in Huaraz, Peru for about 4 hours, but I feel that I have arrived at such a place as I have just described. Huaraz is a moderate-sized town of a little less than 50,000 and a healthy lot of outdoor enthusiast extranjeros, located at 3090 meters (about 10,200 ft) of elevation in the Peruvian Andes. The streets feel safe and friendly, and people smile openly when I wish them buenos dias. While there is a fair amount of adventure-seeking tourism, the town does not feel jaded and over-run by it. Maybe this is simply in contrast to the overwhelmingly touristed city of Cuzco, jump-off point for Machu Picchu visitors, where I just came from. However, I truly feel that Huaraz still has a genuine, gentle charm.

In any case, in my half-day thus far, I have found a number of little things that make this place great:

• a very nice family-run hostel for a very nice price (equivalent of about $5), complete with a delightful breakfast
• an excellent cappuccino, roasted en casa
• a very comfortable, funky, well-managed cafe that is probably my favorite I have found in all of South America
• legitimately spicy aji (hot sauce) packed with flavor (not just in one location, but as a general characteristic of Huaraz)
• delicious food at delicious prices ($1-3 for lunch)
• friendly strangers to have a good chat with
• and... I hear there are a couple good artisan beers in the area!

And I haven't even made it out to the numerous mountain hikes yet!

So let's see... good prices, good food, good coffee, good accommodation, good people, and good naturaleza. Perfecto!

Brekky included with my $5 accommodation in Huaraz

Posted by Whitney 09/09/2011