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

The 2012 race season opened with Wildflower, in central California. A good excuse for a west coast visit, and the perfect opportunity for us to celebrate the awesomeness of the number Three. Three sports, three kids - we got to share the race, and everyone knows sharing is what siblings do best.

Now in its 30th year, Wildflower has a reputation for being a tough course with a competitive field, but is also known as the 'Woodstock of Triathlon,' with its live bands and the tradition of camping and partying.

The grounds are a packed, sprawling city of tents, coolers full of beer, and high end bicycles leaned casually against every upright surface. For a community known for its obsessive training regimen, meticulous planning, and a sadistic desire to subject themselves to prolonged discomfort - this laid back, party atmosphere seemed incongruous...

But there it was.

It took us awhile to locate a patch of land to claim as ours. There aren't proper campsites mapped out, so people have squeezed themselves in anywhere and everywhere. The scene reminded me of an overcrowded Florida beach during tourist season.

Down in the festival area, bands played, vendors sold GIANT TURKEY LEGS and ice cream - it was like a carnival.

The Naked Run is a Saturday tradition, a celebratory romp for those who had finished the Long Course race that afternoon. We heard the cheers approaching around dusk, and from the campground, herds of clothed people dashed for the road, "the Naked Run is coming!" We gathered roadside to cheer on all those hearty individuals with fresh sunburns and tanlines that ended mid-thigh, for whom 13.1 miles was simply not enough.

Cinco De Mayo revelry continued through the evening as a full moon shone so bright we didn't even need a lantern. If the Sunday Short Course athletes were concerned about being well-rested that night, they certainly never spoke up about it. Note to self: next time, earplugs!!

Sunday morning was pretty low key for us relay types. A lot of standing around, chatting up the competition, waiting...

Relays were the last wave to start, so naturally Nik and Whitney were going to have to spend a lot of time passing people on the bike and run.

My swim was great, the water was perfect, and before I knew it, my work was done. Nik has done the bike portion of the relay before, so he knew what to expect. But this was Whitney's first 10K - her first timed race of any kind, actually (we don't count "running" the Bay to Breakers dressed as a panda in a beer helmet). She tore up my Wildflower run record, coming in almost a minute faster than I did in 2008.

Nik and I joined Whitney in the finish chute so the three of us could finish as a team. It's pretty fun sprinting the Finish when you didn't actually run the 6.1 miles that came before it!

We ended up on the podium, placing 2nd in the Open Mixed Relay, 3rd Overall Relay (of 72 teams). Goodells Rule!

Posted by kim 06/09/2012, revised 06/20/2012

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

We've been in Laos for about a week and a half now, and we have seen some amazing works of nature! Laos truly is a gem of a country, land-locked between the more-traveled Thailand and Vietnam. It is a country of dramatic limestone mountains and cliffs, gorgeous green valleys, and beautiful, simple villages of happy people.

Dramatic limestone mountains and gorgeous green valleys... didn't I tell you?

While the country of Laos is a bit further off the beaten trail, the backpacker trail that does exist through Laos has very deep ruts - fewer people travel here, but the ones that do generally follow a very similar route at a very similar pace. It sort of feels like getting caught in a swift current of a narrow river. If you just let the flow take you, you will keep seeing the same people that were on the boat with you for 2 days from the border crossing, and you'll see them in every single town every single day the whole way through Laos. So you have to work a bit to get out of the current, but once you do, it's a gorgeous country to travel!

Nik and I have managed to do and see some amazing stuff in the time we've been here! In the otherwise-uninteresting tourist city of Luang Prabang, we met up with some friends and went out to the impressive Kuang Si waterfall, where we got to do a bit of hiking and swimming. In the next uninteresting-tourist city of Vang Vieng, we were able to rent some climbing gear and head out on our own to a nearby mountain to do some phenomenal rock-climbing! After a quick visit to the capital city of Vientiene (and a celebration for the future of our country!), we finally broke out of the swift tourist current to a lighter flow... that carried us straight onto a river through a 7-km cave!!

Kuang Si waterfall outside of Luang Prabang

It's been a rich experience thus far, and we're only just beginning our "off the beaten track" part of Laos!

Heading off the beaten track, through rice paddies, to the mountain for some rock climbing!

Posted by Whitney 11/09/2008, revised 11/09/2008