20 Years

Gail and I met for real when we both volunteered for the first Cayuga Lake Triathlon at Taughannock State Park, August 3, 2003.  That's 20 years ago if you don't want to do the math.  I walked up to her in the Transition Zone where we were working and said, "You're Gail, right?"  The Transition Zone is where all the action is.

 

A week later, there was a concert that featured the MacGillicuddies, a funky, genre-busting band we both had friends in.  That's how I knew her name, we had lots of mutual friends and had probably met at Mex Night at ABC Cafe, and definitely at Merlefest in NC where I wanted to get to see Tim O'Brien and didn't have time to chat with someone just because they were from Ithaca.  At the concert that evening, I was about to leave when she asked me to dance.  Timing is everything.

 

She has been volunteering at the triathlon for most years since, but I stopped after the first one.  Once you've won the grand prize, Why go back?  We were going to be on the kayak safety team during the swim this year to mark the anniversary, but it was canceled due to HABS.  Since we had the kayaks on the car we decided to tool around the waterways of Ithaca.  This is the farthest we've been able to get up Cascadilla Creek that I can remember.