Kirsten Tri's Wildflower

Kirsten finishes!!! So cool and I'm so proud. This was a great event. We camped near Paso Robles (read, good wine country) at the event with about 5,000 other athletes. Being the photographer and not the athlete allowed me many luxuries I'd otherwise not be afforded. It was fun, but next time I'm competing.

Looking strong 3:30 into the event.

The work crew was awesome. Kudos to all their hard work.

The 10k run begins.

Out of T2 in good style.

Starting the bike.

Kirsten out of T1.

Kirsten into T1.

The start. It's a wave start, so they start in waves of about 30 athletes every 3 minutes.

The swim officials ride paddle boards.

Photographers line the course, snapping away at the triathletes. I try and compete with the best of them but it's hard. They take really good shots. This spectator business is tough stuff.

Kirsten gets marked for the start of the race.

This chick was flying but most everyone passed her.

This is it. The swim start.

OK, so this trip starts out with a stop in Joshua Tree National Park. We hiked, bouldered and soloed some stuff. We even met Squeak, from NH, who hiked the PCT southbound last year. We met her in Sisters, OR., and of course Kirsten recognized her....spooky. She was laying down on a rock in our campsite when we rolled in; I thought she was a nymph, K recognized her as PCT hiker. The pic below was taken at sunset from the top of some rocks in the Hidden Valley Campground.