Just Summer

Trying to be mellow by parking myself in front of the euro feed of TdF right now. Dudes are killing it bombing down the Tourmalet at the moment. Glad I'm right here sipping a big cup of joe. Just mellow.

Dodgey experience yesterday down on the south shore of the island paradise at Cupsogue County Beach. For summer the swell was pretty big, and there was a powerful sweep from east to west down the beach. Was out in the break with two killer swimmers: my daughter and friend. Both strong, all-county quality in the water. Tide coming in, and quickly we were caught up in a large set of waves. The first two in the set broke over us, washed up the beach, and then washed back out pulling us with the volume of water.

OK, this now officially sucked. We were now washed out to the furthest breakers, and the big overhead swells just kept pounding down. Not much time to breath as the swells were coming in tight sets. Others got washed out too. The Atlantic was flexing its muscles. Not fun.

Luckily these two girls were killer! My daughter, the smallest by far, was struggling. She was getting tossed and held down. We pulled together. Ducked and got pounded. Came up together for air. Assessed the situation. Put our energies into calmly moving toward the beach.

Wasn't easy at all. The sweep down the beach kept us moving parallel to shore. Lifeguard teams jumped to full alert. Guys were flying out into the surf with cans and ropes. We were getting completely shellacked by the surf. As we were moving in, lifeguard teams were screaming past us to those way out. They were in real trouble.

We finally caught some swells that lurched us toward the beach. Felt great to finally be in knee-deep wash. The girls were awesome. The lifeguards were awesome. Others--adults, teenagers, strong-looking people--were being rescued out behind us. Towed, roped, finally all made it in sputtering and gasping and thankful.

It's the old cliche but true: it's amazing how fast things can change and turn to shit!

Back to TdF. Front groups ready to climb Hautacam. Coffee's about gone. It's a steamy day here. Showers passing through. I've got new cross wheels coming from UPS today. Going to throw on a cassette and check those out later. Countdown to cold and cross.


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But it's just summer now.