Her Age is on Her Leg…How Cool is That…

The weekend marked the return of tri-athletes to the area. Sunday was the big day of competition, but the events began Saturday morning.

This was Cheri’s third time participating in the Webster She Rox Triathlon—previously the Danskin Triathlon, then the Danskin / She Rox Triathlon—an all women event on the fourth weekend of July that supports the Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation. What started out three years ago with Cheri agreeing to participate (egged on by our Niece Kristina) has now grown to the point that Cheri is convincing others to join-in.

Rita Wallen, seen here with Cheri at the expo event on Saturday, claims that Cheri first plied her with a couple of glasses of wine before getting her to say, “…I could do that.” We met Scott and Rita at the expo and listened to all the race instructions and a former women’s world champion—who competed in the event as well—give a little motivational talk to some of the 2,100 women competing.

It was inspiring and helped with some of the nervousness in the auditorium. The expo was also the time to get timing chips, bib numbers, and event T-shirts.








Noted by her absence in these photos is Liz Manz. Not because she hadn’t been hooked by Cheri into doing the event. No it was because first, they were traveling from Vermont they got a late start and planned to attend the afternoon presentations at the expo, and second—more importantly—she was traveling with her husband Dan.

Dan has a bit of a history with travel delays, cancelled flights, broken-down vehicles (a key item), and general travel issues…not always, but enough to make one wary. They started out mid-morning driving their camper-van heading south. Around Randolph Liz commented that she smelled something from the van and Dan said, “probably some oil spilled on the engine.” Dan had been preparing the vehicle to go from spending the weekend with us to going on a week long vacation.

They traveled as far as southeastern Vermont—almost the exact half way point between our house and theirs—when the vehicle broke down completely. Fortunately Liz has a brother who lives in Keene, NH who was able to pick them up and loan them a vehicle for the day. Dan and Liz drove back home to Underhill, re-packed everything into the pickup truck (including their bikes), headed back to Keene to leave off the loaned vehicle and then drove on to our house.

In the meantime, Cheri drove back to the expo to see if she could pick up Liz’s race packet. It turns out that they need to see a photo ID, but fortunately they would have tables set up the next morning before the race where Liz could check-in. Dan and Liz showed up close to 10:30 pm and we were soon off to bed in anticipation of an early start the next day.

Four am rolled around quickly and we had a planned time of 5 am for wheels to be rolling out of the yard. One last load of coffee (for those of us not competing) and we were on our way…bikes loaded, back packs filled, English muffins and juice to start the day.

We parked fairly close and headed out for the start area. Liz was able to get her number and information and we soon had the bikes all set and the ladies heading off to position their bikes and gear in the transition area.

Spouses are not allowed into the transition area—they want to keep bib numbers and bike numbers lined up—so we headed off to position ourselves near the end of the first leg. Having experienced the event from a spectator’s point of view in the past I got us in a great location and brought some portable chairs—position and timing are everything as a spectator.

The racers came down to scope out the swimming leg of the triathlon, so we took the opportunity to get a “before” photo of the ladies…

Then it was off to the races with a ½ mile swim in Webster Lake (or Lake Chargoggagoggmanchauggagoggchaubunagungamaugg the Algonquin Tribe name for the lake and cited as the longest name for a place in the US—ask my Dad about it…he can say it). Kristina showed up about this time and joined us in cheering the ladies on.

Rita was in an earlier wave of contestants than Cheri and Liz so she started earlier and was actually out of the water before Cheri and Liz even began—waves were 4 minutes apart and Rita was in wave 11 while Cheri and Liz were in wave 18.

Coming out of the water they all looked good—would you expect anything else—and were smiling…glad that the swimming part was over. They were then on to 12 mile bike ride.

Because of the different starting waves and times coming out of the water I didn’t get pictures of everyone starting out on their bikes…but I do have some of  them coming in.

It was a fairly quick transition turn around for them and then they were on the road for a three mile run.

Again, the starting time difference, plus Rita being a faster runner, meant that I didn’t get pictures of all of them coming in to the finish—we were still watching them make the transition from bike to running.

But I did get a photo of all our lady competitors after the race. Their standing in front of the Paramedics van had nothing to do with their condition…it was one of the few shady spots in the field where the race ended.

After waiting until the last biker came in before picking up the bikes—it cuts down on the confusion in the transition area, plus allows the staff to keep an eye on matching up bib numbers with the number on the bike being walked out—we headed for the car and back home.

It was before 11 am and already so much was done (OK more was done by the competitors, but it can be tiring for the spectators as well). Scott and Rita joined the Manz’s and us at the house, as well as Kristina, plus Sandy Zacek and her husband Ron (Sandy works for Scott) for snacks and some hamburgers.

Rita had made some Armenian dishes, Dan and Liz had some cheese and dips, a few bottles of wine showed up and we had the makings of a celebration party. We all snacked our way through noon time and into the early afternoon—the snacks were also topped off with a peach and raspberry pie that Liz made and a blueberry with pie crust dessert that Cheri made…isn’t it great when the competitors feed us as well!

A great time was had by all and later in the afternoon everyone straggled off in their own directions…Sandy and Ron back home (probably to go kayaking)…Scott and Rita off to another family event…Kristina to work…Dan and Liz to take the more reliable truck on their vacation.

Cheri and I settled in for a quiet afternoon (I even took a nap), before our somewhat traditional Sunday pizza dinner, a little movie time and then collapsing into bed.

An outstanding adventure full of ladies that make us proud!

Parades…Fireworks…Barbeque…Americana

This past weekend was not just another excuse to get together at the cottage…away from the office…escaping the heat. No, it was a chance to celebrate 140 years since Congress declared July 4^th a Federal Holiday—it only took 94 years from 1776 to 1870 to get that enacted…is it any wonder that issues today seem to move at the same pace—plus, get to the cottage and escape the heat.

Cheri and I came to East Andover from different directions on Friday evening. I spent Thursday and Friday at a meeting in Rye, NH so I used the opportunity to drive the MG up to the coast and then take back roads from Portsmouth to the cottage. Cheri meanwhile worked on Thursday, spent Friday cleaning the house, doing laundry, filling the pond, packing the car—sounds like the guest writer on the last post—and then headed for NH.

Of course as Cheri followed another driver on the back roads between Worcester and Manchester (that driver who is going 5 mph below the speed limit while the cars pile up in line behind), she had a moment to think back on all she had accomplished without me there to get in the way…the cleaning…the laundry…putting the hose in the pond…not shutting the water to the hose off…Not Shutting the Water Off.

Since she was already an hour-and-a-half on the road she called me (already in NH) to see what I could do to help. I tried calling several of our neighbors, who were either all away or ignoring a call from a NH area code, and finally contacted someone from our church to swing by the house and shut off the hose. Actually, I think the goldfish may have enjoyed having the very cold well water flushing out the pond before the very warm weekend.

Regardless of the routes and events—Deb, Scott and Laura also experienced some traffic issues…Tim and Kayla arrived earlier in the day—we all arrived at the cottage Friday evening for pizza and a start to the Holiday weekend.

Cheri and I stayed at Nana and Papa’s house in a basement bedroom that remains nice an cool with or without the house air conditioning being on. Dad Swenson arrived Saturday morning to round out the group…and we spent a little time planning our activities.


After a bicycle ride over to Webster Lake and then making Cheri do the toughest bicycle climb in the area—the road from Franklin to the top of the VA Ski Area—we headed over to the cottage. It quickly turned into an afternoon of naps and reading by the lake, but some did manage to fit in some swimming, tubing and water-skiing as well.



Late in the afternoon the annual boat parade took place—an opportunity for people on the lake to dress up their boats and themselves and parade around the lake—looking for cheers and applause from those of us on shore. This year’s theme seemed to be movie based and we had representatives from South Pacific, Star Wars, and (although I can’t think of an associated movie) the boat getting the “cuteness” award with three little ducklings in tow.



Scott grilled up some great steaks for dinner to go along with a broccoli-bacon salad made by Cheri and some red wine to balance out the meal. We then had a little more beach time and daylight before the fireworks would begin.

The Moran’s, two cottages down from us, put on an annual show that rivals many cities and possibly Disney. We are fortunate to be able to sit on the dock and the boat and have front row viewing.This year the show was set for Saturday the 3rd since some of the Moran children had to leave on Sunday.   It was 45 minutes of fireworks right overhead.

The next morning—the actual 4^th of July—had us coordinating schedules and riders to get to the “Annual Andover Old Fashion 4^th of July Parade”. A great contributing factor this year was the selection of Dennis Fenton (Papa) as the Grand Marshall. His place of honor was a seat in a Concord Coach drawn by a pair of horses. Accompanying him were Margaret (Nana) and representatives of the US Navy (and Naval Academy) Scott Whitney ’79 and Tim Whitney ’10.



Besides the Grand Marshall the parade had its normal fill of Shriners, cannon blasts, and fife-and-drum corps…and of course Uncle Sam!



The weather was hot and humid so returning   to the cottage after the parade was a welcome relief…at least for some of us initially. Nana, Papa, Cheri and Deb headed off to Gilmanton, NH for a surprise 50^th wedding anniversary party for Dave and Louise Osborne (Nana’s sister). Following the return of the travelers the word that came back as well that a good family time was had at the party.

We managed to fill the rest of the day and the evening with relaxation and swimming. The day was topped off with the grilling of four whole “chickens under a brick” or what we have come to call “Brick’n-Chick’n”. With some potato-salad on the side, some white wines for a change—which went great with the brick’n-chick’n—and a fruit trifle that Cheri made for dessert everyone waddled away from the table.
It was an earlier evening for leaving the cottage, but we were able to see some more fireworks over the lake before heading off to bed.



The next morning we sent Dad Swenson on his way to an early dialysis appointment, took a run around the lake to try and exhume the evils of the last few days, and then spent a few more hours at the lake before heading back to Connecticut.

Our trip home was uneventful other than being hot in the MG and having only hot air blowing over me…a small price to pay for driving back roads with the top down. We did manage to stop at our “new favorite place” in Townsend, MA—the Ice Cream Factory—for a dairy themed supper.

A great adventure of parades, fireworks and barbeque….America on the 4th of July.