State Swim

State club swim meet out in Bismarck/Mandan this last weekend. Both Matt and Ben qualified in most of their events which promised a busy weekend. Kriston and the boys made their way out west Friday morning for three full days of competition, I arrived Friday afternoon. The photo above is of Matt making a flip turn during the 1500 meter (mile) swim. 19 minutes to finish - if that were me I would still be in the water.

Benny had a good meet dropping times in most of his events. Ben will be starting to swim with North High this season that he is really looking forward to. I am predicting big changes in his swim technique.
Mark Liebig and crew from Epic Cycle in Bismarck. I brought my bike and was making my way to the pool when Mark just happened to drive by when I was taking a picture. Ended up showing me a sweet loop to the pool. There are only 3 bridges in town with the new Memorial Bridge that I crossed being the nicest and safest. Mark commutes the route I took a couple of times a week and I can see why - lots of fast bike trails and easy traffic to negotiate. Thanks goes out to Mark and his guys for going out of the way to show me a great route!

I was riding my cross bike which allowed for some single track riding along the way. Plenty of trails on the east side of the river as well as the Sunset trail system in Mandan. The area has a lot to offer and I am jealous of the topography and consistent weather.
The Missouri river looking down from the Memorial Bridge. The weather was just below 80 degrees which had the boats out in full force. Some of the sandbars had hundreds of boats moored in the sand, another reason for my approval of Bismarck.

This is the boat for me. The 1970's were radiating from this boat, blown motor and all. I bet in its day this thing would scream down the river grabbing all kinds of attention.

Overall long but successful/eventful weekend. Kriston is a good sport with all of the Gator swimmers sitting on the bleachers cheering for every single kid. I am not that patient and have to roam around the area waiting for the boys next event. A couple months out of the pool now - Matt is going to run cross county for North, Ben is getting ready for the 7th grade. August is sloth mode - all good.