Summer Adventure: Tennessee and the Smokey Mountains

This post is another throwback to coping with the pandemic and lockdown. Ontario had nothing going on in terms of camps or activities, or at least not when you could plan for the summer, and the kids were long overdue for some adventure, and the adults needed their alone-time.

We had researched FlipFest and its sister event NinjaFest; a competitive gymnastics, and obstacle course/ninja warrior camp respectively, that are held in Crossville, Tennessee. We enrolled the kids for mid-July and plotted how to get there. The land border was closed into the US, while flights back into Canada had their passengers diverted into Quarantine hotels (which could only serve to help spread the virus by concentrating at-risk travellers into small spaces), so the workaround was to fly there and drive back.

The Drive Down

My car was shipped across the border from Niagara Falls, Canada to Niagara, NY, and we flew on 2 helicopters to meet it.

Each flight was only 7-8 minutes long, but the chopper could only seat 3, so we needed 2 flights. The car left on a truck ahead of our scheduled flights. After clearing customs, we hopped into the car and drove till we got hungry in Erie, PA, and had some pizza for lunch.

Then we drove on to Cleveland West- I booked mostly Holiday Inn Express and Suites on this trip since I’m an IHG rewards member. Unfortunately, the pool at this hotel was under repair/maintenance of some kind, so there was no fun reward for the kids being patient in the car. Instead, we found a SkyZone Trampoline Park. We found a nice Italian restaurant in a shopping village.

From the Lightning Kid YouTube Channel

On Day 2, we made our way to Lexington, KY. Our timetable getting to Tennessee was not an aggressive one, because none of us were sure how well we’d fare with the long drive. I’d made it to Kentucky in a day on a road trip in my twenties, but travelling with a family (never mind one that is recovering from lockdown blues) is obviously different. Before hitting the road, the Lightning Kid and I did a little geocaching – whenever there’s time and we’re in an unfamiliar area, it’s worth checking if there’s anything nearby to be found.

After some driving, we decided to try our first Chick-Fil-A at Columbus’ Polaris Fashion Mall food court. I’ve got to say, their chicken sandwiches were overhyped – I don’t think we’ve been missing that much in Canada. On the other hand, we gorged ourselves at a Cheesecake Factory once we reached Lexington.

The third day was the 4th of July. We tried Sonic and their killer milkshakes for lunch en route. We had We got a Holiday Inn in Newport, TN, and went to see the sequel to Boss Baby (Boss Baby: Back in Business) in a theatre – in Ontario, they still weren’t open. We had dinner at a Cracker Barrel and tried Okra for the first time while trying to distinguish between Chicken Fried and Country Fried – if we figured it out, I’ve since forgotten it. Once it got dark, we were able to see a few fireworks from the hotel windows.

Tennesee Family Time

Having arrived in Tennessee, we stayed at a ‘Glamping’ Camp Resort, and our first night was spent in a Treehouse!

We spent the day in a fairly relaxed manner, swimming in the pool, playing Cornhole, as well as eating Barbecue and ice cream. We took some time to check out Gatlinburg, which is quite the tourist trap – I had the verse from Johnny Cash’s ‘Boy Named Sue’ running through my head: It was Gatlinburg, in mid-July, and I’d just hit town, and my throat was dry… I thought I’d grab myself a brew… We drove up to Ober, which was just closing, so we didn’t get to try much in terms of activities. In winter it’s a ski resort, which kind of blows my mind that people can ski in Tennessee. We slept well in that treehouse and were sad to have to leave it.

The next day we used the Gatlinburg Trolley Service to go into town and had a long wait in line to ride a chairlift to the top of Anakeesta, a local theme park.

We were highly unused to crowds at this stage, and since standing in crowded lines is part of any theme park day, we were a little unnerved and unable to fully enjoy the experience. It was a hot day, and the Lightning Kid took to a splash pad we found near the top after lunch. He and I were going to take a coaster ride, but the wait times were too long. The kids did enjoy a cat-walk play area, but I didn’t get pictures. Still, it was a great view of the Smokey’s and we opted for a bus ride back down to the bottom.

Once we got back to the Campground we had to check out our Safari Tent, thankfully it had a portable air-conditioner as the canvas walls weren’t breathable and the summer heat was on!

We were in this Safari tent for two nights. The second day was spent with more swimming, Cornhole, and searching for breakfast. We grilled sausages by the fire for dinner. We really enjoyed the community feel of our campsite, and it was so nice watching the boys make friends.

The next day we checked in at another campsite, this time in a cabin. The Jellystone Park in Pigeon Forge. Pigeon Forge is Dolly Parton’s hometown and where Dollywood is found. We didn’t make it there; as we were still a bit wary of crowds (and expenses) from being tourists in Gatlinburg, but I’d encourage anyone and everyone to look into Dolly Parton’s biography because she is fascinating.

The Jellystone campground had a fun jump pad/ trampoline that the boys got to use to warm up their skills prior to their sleepaway camp (which was the purpose of this trip).

Our final destination as a a family of four was Crossville TN. Checking your kids in to their first sleepaway camp can be a little nerve-wracking. Shark Boy did a couple of overnights with Beaver Scouts, and sometimes at a friend’s or grandparent’s place. The Lightning Kid had only done overnight Beaver Scout camps with me as a leader. They were both anxious, and so were we leading up to it, but the check-in process at Flipfest was so encouraging and we were so happy to see our kids be able to interact with peers again that there were plenty of smiles (brave smiles, but smiles all the same) around.

My wife and I headed back to our hotel in Crossville with nothing to do but enjoy the peace and quiet. For about an hour, when we got a call from the camp! We were terrified that the Lightning Kid was not fitting in somehow – the fear of the special needs parent, or at least, fear #437 – but it ended up that Shark Boy had twisted his ankle. We spoke to the camp director and we came to the consensus that we wanted to wait and see with some icing, rather than rush to a hospital. In the end it ended up being the right move, since he was training at full capacity within a couple of days, having taken one day to treat the ankle lightly.

After that, we were able to have a couples weekend (which actually took place on a Monday/Tuesday) in Nashville. We stayed in a beautiful hotel called the Bobby. Unfortunately not every amenity was in full swing (e.g. rooftop pool, rooftop bar weren’t operational during the week.

Our first night in Nashville made it hard to find the barbecue that Tennessee is famous for – the line-ups and crowds were a bit much for us. It was exciting to hear live music come out of every bar though.

We had better luck the next day and reserved at Puckett’s Grocery Store early. We spent part of our afternoon at the Johnny Cash Museum. Some of my favourite parts were listening to all the great artists that have covered the Man in Black over the years (did you know Miley Cyrus did a live cover of A Boy Named Sue?). We’d been listening to Johnny Cash a fair bit on the drive down as a Tennesse music primer. Seeing him act in some TV shows and movies was a hoot too (he seemed to like to play the villain).

At Puckett’s, I tried a flight of Tennessee whiskeys and I’ve been on the lookout for a bottle of George Dickel‘s ever since. There was great BBQ, and live music from an artist named Troy Kemp managed to stoke an appreciation for country music in this heart of mine.

The next day, we left the urban environment of Nashville behind (though hopefully not for the last time) for a bed and breakfast in a more picturesque area, and not so far from the Flipfest camp (just in case). The Garden Inn Bed and Breakfast had a nearby trail with some nice lookouts (especially the aptly named Bee rock – the large bees kind of scared us off extending a sunset walk beyond a certain point).

We were able to do some nice hiking by Falls Creek Falls State Park. I actually used the waterfalls themselves to cool off after a tough, hot hike down. We added a little more walking and tried the suspension bridge with some trepidation.

Another day went by and suddenly we were picking the boys up from camp. They had a wonderful time, apparently their favourite part was the ‘Blob’ – a giant inflated pad which launches one kid up and into the lake when another kid drops onto it from a height. They had campfires, dance nights, and loads of other fun, and they’ll be begging us to go back next summer, I’m sure.

The drive back was through Lexington and we stopped in Cincinatti. From there to Detroit and across the border thanks to the negative PCR test results we got from a CVS in Crossville. We got home and spent 2 weeks quarantining which was difficult, but probably worth it in the long run.

5 Peaks Trail Race Recaps: Terra Cotta and Rattlesnake Point

Well, the summer is almost over, I guess I should break the radio silence.  I had previously recapped the 2 Kids’ Triathlons we did this summer, now it’s time to tackle our favourite trail races.

The season started at the Terra Cotta Conservation Area.  This April race tends to have cooler weather, but on this particular day, I think we’d had some of the nicer weather of the Spring season.  It was also my first race as an official Trail Crew Leader, so while I was nervous about fulfilling duties, it was exciting to deepen my connections with the 5 Peaks community, especially those excellent people who help make these races so fun.

Shark Boy did very well for himself and got himself all the way to the podium for the 3 km Kids Timed event; I think the concepts of pacing yourself and racing strategy (which at his age is mostly not looking behind yourself too much) might be getting through to him.

The Lightning Kid participated in the 1 km fun run, which he might think is some kind of parade considering how much he likes to ham it up for the crowds.

I hadn’t gotten a lot of running training in during the winter months so I limited myself to the Sport Course (5.4 km).  Not only did I have a lot of fun (with a back of the pack finish time) but I got the sweet convertible running gloves to take home.

The Rattlesnake Point race took place in June, and I have to say the highly technical clambering involved on that course makes it one of my favourites.  Of course, I did commit to the difficulty of the Enduro Course – at 12.7 km it is well over double the distance of the Sport Course on the same day (and most other races) – so I had plenty of time to rethink my decision on the trail…

But first, let me talk about the kids’ races.  I volunteered to ‘sweep’ the kids’ races to make sure no one was left behind… and I got to witness the sweetest little girl (who was no bigger than the Lightning Kid) and was tackling the timed Kids’ 3 km.   She was accompanied by her mom so my presence was mostly superfluous, but you know, safety first!  Anyway, she completed that course with nothing but smiles, and I heard her chirp “I love this because of the challenge!”, or something along those lines.  My heart nearly burst.

My own kids were no slouches either, of course.

Credit: Sue Sitki of Sue Sitki Photography

We had hot weather and plenty of exhausting climbs, but the scenery is gorgeous along the Niagara Escapement – don’t mind the Turkey Vultures… they won’t feed on you unless you run really slow.  I slowed down enough to take in (and photograph) some beautiful wood sculptures.

 

If some of this (fun for kids, beautiful scenery, hustling your butt along a trail…) looks like fun, the next race is at the Heart Lake Conservation Area in Brampton, ON on September 16th.  Please consider joining me by clicking on this link and using the code IRONROGUE for a 10% discount.  There’s even a free water bottle as take home swag!

And if you can’t make that one, the Kortright Centre Race is on October 28th.  Register here with the same IRONROGUE discount code.

 

Will I see you there?

Welcome Back – Revenge of the Iron Rogue

Hi Everyone!

If you’re here as a previous reader of this blog, you’ll have noticed my new digs on WordPress and the new look of the place.  If this is your first visit, welcome!

2016 was a rough year for me and my family – I don’t want to go into gory details, but there was job loss, terminal illness, death, hospital visits, emergency home renovation… you know what, I’m getting bummed out just listing them all, even vaguely and generically.  The point is, both blogging and the kind of adventures that I love to write about took a back seat all year long, in spite of my efforts to “dig myself out of a hole.”

There were a few positives in 2016 and while they really deserve their own individual posts, I’m going to start 2017 with looking forward, but I’ll just list a few honourable mentions…

 

We took a trip to Jamaica….

The kids did the C3 /Kinetico Caledon  Kids of Steel Triathlon,

with Shark Boy also competing in the East End Kids of Steel (the Lightning Kid was sick that day).

While the 5 Peaks Terra Cotta Trail Race got its own post, you guys never got to hear about the 5 Peaks Rattlesnake Point Race…

which we used as an opportunity to take our first family camping trip.

 

We managed to make a shorter, later version of our annual trip to Germany.

We capped off the year by spending New Year’s at the cottage, which is the first time we did that as a family.  We tried some downhill skiing, some cross-country skiing, and lots of snow-frolicking.

 

What does 2017 hold for this space? Lots of the same outdoor, active family living, with a focus on multi-sport/triathlon.  Some things in our life have changed; the kids are older and pursue their own extra-curricular activity with less parental involvement (except driving them to and from the venue), and I’m less fit than when I was writing this blog regularly, so some of the fitness subjects will be more on the rehabilitative side (though I’m not going to turn this into a weight loss blog).  I will probably incorporate more mental health and productivity content, and I’d really like to step up the amount of gear and technology review.  Also, this might not be the final look of the blog, but I have to shout out and thank Janice from Salads4Lunch for getting me this far!

I’m already looking forward to my next post, recapping the Snowshoe Fondue event at Hardwood Hills!

The Lance Armstrong Thing

Last week I linked to the Top 10 Sport Science Stories of 2012… Lance Armstrong’s fall was #1.

As I write this, the Lance Armstrong/Oprah interview has not aired yet, though people on the internet already seem to know that he has admitted to doping.  I wanted to do a write-up on this situation (and it’s impact on triathlon) when the USADA first revealed its evidence against him but I didn’t get around to it, and again before 2012 was out I wanted to do a post as part of a end-of-year review.  I’m a little late on that score, but this interview and new revelations will freshen it up a little.

Sifting through all the evidence brought by the USADA is more than some paid, professional journalists can handle, so I don’t like my chances at all.  Still, at this stage, Lance Armstrong’s guilt of using performance-enhancing substances seems to be a foregone conclusion, so let’s run with that.  Though I’d bet his defenders are getting harder and harder to come by now, as the court of public opinion was convicting him, I still saw statements like:

“It’s a shame the state of the sport gives these athletes the need to cheat”


Others would question if it’s really cheating when so many other advancements in our understanding of human physiology (and cycling technology) make things possible today that weren’t before.  Still others point to Livestrong and the good it does against cancer – attacking Lance Armstrong is akin to attacking Livestrong.  His tale of beating cancer (as detailed in It’s Not About the Bike) has inspired so many people, and they worship him as a hero.

This is all garbage.

It’s true that in sports, to succeed is to win.  Athletes who want to get paid need to win, and winning means being better than the others – if the others cheat, you’ll need to cheat or else you go hungry, right? Wrong.  In a world of adults with free will, you make choices and you’re responsible accepting the consequences of those actions.  Need to get paid?  GET A JOB.  Those of us sitting under fluorescent lighting, waiting out the clock till we get a chance to do the same thing professional athletes get to do all day – PLAY GAMES – have little sympathy for those pros.

Should doping really be considered cheating above and beyond the enhancements that can be achieved through better science and medicine available from technology and nutrition?  I’ll give you a hint: if you have to hide what you’re doing, it’s wrong and dishonest, and even worse, you obviously realize that.

And Livestrong?  I’ve got a pair of shorts from them that I really like, and their website is a great overall resource for healthy living and fitness.  What they aren’t doing it curing cancer.  This expose from Outside Magazine purports that they’re in the business of building ‘Lance Awareness’.  Let’s call that accusation the worst case scenario, but if they’re not funneling money into research, then what?  Building awareness?  How much more aware of cancer can we get when it touches the life of 1 in 3 people.  Someone you know is in a fight with cancer or has been.  There is a small space of work in the war on cancer in terms of support services and coordinating them to best help cancer patients.  Personally, I think these services vary widely from location to location and might be better served with local organizations, but if Livestrong can help, more power to them and I wish them well.

As a former cancer patient who won his battle, Lance Armstrong has inspired a lot of people but the hard truth is – fighting cancer involves a lot of luck.  Do you think everyone who has succumbed to the disease simply didn’t ‘want it bad enough’.  That they didn’t put enough effort in?  Certainly not taking your own steps in a cancer fight (making it to chemo treatments, improving your own nutrition, etc.) lessens your chances and not every cancer battle has the exact same adversities, but lauding those who make it without incorporating humility and acknowledging that luck, fate, the universe or God played a significant role is a smack in the face to those who weren’t so lucky.

I read a book once, The Diamond Age by Neal Stephenson.  In it, the future society has taken on a Victorian moral code, telling them right and wrong along those old, puritanical lines.  In that world, hypocrisy isn’t so bad; they look back at our society where hypocrisy is one of the worst sins, because the only moral code is the one each individual makes for him/herself.  That’s the world we live in – make your own moral code and live by it.

Imagine a rock star.  He womanizes, does drugs, smashes hotel rooms, that sort of standard, rock star stuff.   It’s expected and we as a society won’t condemn it that much.  When the televangelists of the 80s behaved in similar ways, it was a big deal – because their whole image and message was the exact opposite.  If our imaginary rock star recorded Public Service Announcements decrying the use of illegal narcotics, and recorded preachy songs while supporting a drug habit, we’d be pretty incensed.

Which bring us back to Lance Armstrong.  If he’d kept mum about doping like the average rock star does about drug abuse, it would have been one thing.  But no, he’s “the most tested athlete in the world” (obviously those tests are essentially meaningless), and investigations into his doping were “witchhunts”.  The charges were “baseless, motivated by spite and advanced through testimony bought and paid for by promises of anonymity and immunity.”  And of course his famous Nike commercial: “I’m on my bike,… what are you on?”


And that is why I have such a low opinion of him: he cast himself as some kind of angel while casting aspersions on all his peers, while being no better than them.  And now, he’ll probably hope to regain some credibility through confessing to Oprah Winfrey.  You won’t be worshipped any-more, Lance.  This society worshipped you, they worship winners, and now your victories are tainted.  This society doesn’t worship integrity, even though, apparently, it’s just as hard to achieve.


Looking Back on 2012: New Weight Categories

Earlier this year, the esteemable Swim Bike Mom helped draw my attention to the new rules for the weight categories (as dictated by the USA Triathlon).  As of 2013, Men weighing over 220 lbs could compete under a separate category ‘Clydesdales’ while women over 165 lbs could choose to compete as ‘Athenas’.  The old weight limits for these categories were 200 and 150 lbs respectively.

The purpose of these weight categories was to acknowledge that regardless of individual fitness, some people just don’t have the build to finish with times comparable to elites (even within age groups), and they should be recognized for their achievements relative to others with similar builds.  Which I found to be a noble sentiment.

Jan Frodeno in front; Simon Whitfield behind.  2008 Summer Olympics, Beijing

I’m just  “a few donuts away” from the old Clydesdale limit (in fact, thanks to the holidays, if they held a triathlon today, I could jump right in).  Yet, I never felt that tempted to enrol as one.  Regardless of how much I’m carrying around the middle, my build skeleton isn’t the one of a typical runner/triathlete; I’m broader in the shoulders for one thing.  Still, look at the difference between a Jan Frodeno and Simon Whitfield.  Frodeno’s a bigger guy too.


That’s probably a reasonable comparison to my build (minus plenty of body fat, of course), and Frodeno didn’t need a different weight class; he won the Gold!  The Clydesdale weight class should be more for men built like linebackers, and I think the 220 lb limit is more in line with that.  It could even be increased from my point of view.

Competing in these weight classes enables people to get a little closer to the top ten (albeit an arbitrary one) or even a podium spot.  That’s not really why I participate in triathlon though, and I doubt I’m alone in this sentiment.  I’ll be leaving the Clydesdale category alone; the donuts will have to wait.  Well, maybe just one…