Left to right: Mag (canoe), Tyler (mountain bike), Sara (canoe), Eric (road bike), Dan (down hill ski). Not pictured: Frank (cross country), Steve (run), and John (kayak)
Results are in! Tippy placed 176th overall (out of 456 teams) and 49th (out of 150) in their division. AND... all members arrived at the finish line in one piece! It just doesn't get any better than that!
Congrats to Eric, Tyler, Mag and Sara! Better you, than me!?! At little history:
I once again left Pat in the lurch by taking three of his employees to compete in Ski to Sea. Mag and Sara are the canoers, Tyler is the mountain biker, and I am the team captain/road biker. Team name is "Tippy Canoe and Tyler 2."
The team is made up of 3 teammates of mine from last year: Frank(CC), Dan(DH), and John(KA)...and 3 teammates from 3 years ago: Steve(RU), Sara(CA), and Tyler(MB). The 8th member is new - Mag(CA) - and has been brought on board for his balance and buoyancy.
For those of you who don't know the story: The team of 3 years ago (Piddle Down Our Legs) was steaming along at a respectable top-two-thirds-of-the-pack-pace when tragedy struck. Sara was canoeing with a renegade fisherman named Jon who tempted fate one too many times. While trying to "shoot the gap" Sara and Jon hooked their vessel on some LWD (large woody debris) and were tossed helplessly into the raging Nooksack. According to Jon's account, death was imminent...albeit according to Sara's account, "it was kinda scary and pretty cold." Although the canoe itself went on to finish the leg, Sara and Jon were not aboard. The team was disqualified, and Tyler's epic mountain bike ride (on a girl's bike) went unnoticed in the records. Tyler and Sara left Bellingham in shame and moved to Lake Tahoe to "get away from it all" for two years.
That brings us to today...Tippy Canoe and Tyler 2 was born out of redemption. We have Frank and Dan, the snow team from last year that helped get me away from the Shuksan DOT almost an hour before I had in any other race. We have Steve shredding his knees down the mountain. I will suck the wheels of faster riders all the way to Everson. Sara now has Mag (who grew up in a float tube) paddling with her and determined to arrive as a threesome, including canoe, in Ferndale. Tyler now has a boys bike. And John will bring it home and ring the bell in triumph. We will all hug and laugh and take pictures of each other... It's gonna be AWE-SOME!
Eric Bemis
Captain
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