It was very early in the morning, that part they remember!

It was possible that her friends from last time were strolling home again, visions of fries and gravy filling their eyes. However, up here in the suburbs, they were no where to be found. Instead, the bike racer was awake this time, his hands still stained with grease from the hasty tune up the night before. What was he thinking?

The weather was much too cold for jellyfish and it definitely affected her and her friend, the two of them coughing and sneezing their way through pasta dinner the night before. No diner food here they say. We have to try to do better than last year, they say. It would be tough this year they thought, we might have malaria they thought.

The two of them strolled across the dark parking lot towards the others: there was pajama pant guy, there was 1983 aero bar guy, and of course, Dr Waterski was there as always. It made them both smile; their first emotion of the day. They only knew a few of the others. Meghan, who had a great swim. Was that Bruce? Yockelson, who they knew was just plotting his next blog, and of course Mitch West. He came out of the water and onto his bike with ease; smiling and waving to the heckling bike racer as if this was just another spin class. His run was swift and he was only bested by impossibly young and fit cadets from West Point. There were four of them, he was close behind.

In the waves of rubber coated colored topped black dots that followed, she and her friend had only to fight seaweed and that fiery orange ball in the sky as it tried to blind them and force them into the rocky jetty. Damn you Poseidon, she yelled again, you can never beat me! Back on the bike, she smiled and rode away. The run, more of a jog really, finished up just in time for the beer tent to open. Nicely done. Her time was respectable despite her coughing and wheezing and the season was now over.

The trip home this time was different. No time for brunch, no need for reflection on an outbound train, just a short drive back across the border. From this angle, it looked like a good year.

Thanks for reading.