Ahhhh…..Beautiful San Diego, mid 70’s, not a cloud in the sky, no wind, gorgeous ocean……..what more could we ask for. As Minnesota was getting slammed with 10″ of snow, and Chicago’s unlikely 70 degree weather changed to 30’s and rain, we all looked forward to our last race of the season. Team Rainbo was well represented with 12 skaters….Cale and Margo Carvell, Peter and Liz Nelson, Lewis and Denise Freiberg, Brian Joyce, Bill Noel, Jim Rieckenberg, Howard Conforti, Colum McKinnon, John Shenko, and Jan Kopis. We all got there on Thursday, and had some wonderful “vacation time” that culminated in a wonderful afternoon ”say goodbye to the sun” party, sponsored by Denise and Lewis, at their room in the historic Del Coronado hotel. Seventh floor, ocean view, hoer’s D’oeuvres, wine, and friends, after which we all went out to a great dinner on Coronado Island at a great little restaurant named the Crown Bistro. The laughter, teasing, and joking was over the top! It just doesn’t get much better than that. Thanks to Lewis and Denise for setting up such a wonderful time.
Race morning came with a chill in the air. As the sun came up and warmed us all, we were excited to get to the skating. There was a last minute change to the course because the city recently put two huge, bolt down, rubber speed bumps outside the area where we were to skate a 3 mile loop that headed into the finishing 1/2 mile. Fears of lots of falls, caused the race organizers to decide to shorten the course to 10 miles to avoid the bumps. Probably a good decision, however it was disappointing to loose the additional distance. There were around 200+ skaters, 25 wheel chair racers, and 2000 runners all waiting in anticipation for the racing to begin. There was a top field of skaters, and my hope of hanging with the front pack disappeared when the race started before we really realized it, and about 30 skaters were 1/2 block away before I knew what was happening. I did everything that I could to catch them, but the pace was just to fast. I settled in with a couple other skaters. We kept up a good pace, and continued to pick up skaters who fell back from the front. Before we knew it, we were a group of 20. Everyone took turns pulling, as we continued down the road. We kept a good solid pace until we got off the highway and into the neighborhoods. The last mile was a continuous series of twists and turns until we came to a 1/2 mile straightaway to the finish line. I had worked my way up to the center of the pack before the last turn, and then I put my head down and hammered as hard as I could. I passed about 5 skaters in the final straightaway, and finished 4th in our pack, just 1 second behind our pack leader.
I was satisfied that I did as well as I could, and then waited to see other team members finish. It is always great to see teammates battling it out for their finish. No one tries harder that Team Rainbo members. We should all be proud. Six of our skaters made the podium for being in the top three in their age group…..Cale, Margo, Liz, Jan, Peter, and John. It should be noted, that our youngest skater, John Shenko, has only been back skating since the winter, and he was first in the boys 13-15 category. Hopefully he will be skating for Team Rainbo for many years to come……Nice job John, and to all who made the trip, and participated in the event. It was a wonderful event, put on by a class organization. Well organized, great course, and really enjoyable. Hopefully they will have it again next year, and we can convince more skaters that it is well worth the trip…………Thanks to everyone involved!…………………………………. Cale
