5 days in Los Angeles

This is just a short summary of our 5 day stay in Los Angeles. I will have to write a book to give you all the details. It is very hard to put each experience in words as each day was a once in lifetime experience…something that you can’t explain to anyone.

After a very long flight, we arrived in Los Angeles on Wednesday at midday.

We dropped our bags and bikes at the house and we went for a drive to see what Hollywood California is all about. We all think Hollywood is beautiful and full of glitz and glam like in the movies. To be honest, the city is dry, dull and dirty, but don’t let the dull and dirty give you the wrong impression…the vibe, atmosphere and activities makes up for it!

The beaches and some areas like Beverly Hills are beautiful.

Thursday:  Universal Studios

This place is unreal and something you need to see for yourself to get an idea. We did a tour of the park on a tram, the tram takes you through scenes and streets where movies/series (like Desperate Housewives, Jaws, Jurassic park and many more) were shot. We went through a 3D tunnel with scenes from Jurassic Park. The tram stops on a track that moves as the dinosaur’s bumps and stands on the tram. It felt so real and it was kind of scary.

                                               

The Jurassic Park, The Mummy and Transformer Rides were awesome. The Jurassic Park ride was a water ride and we got soaked. The Transformers was a 3D ride where you fall of buildings, fight other transformers and dodge bullets. The Mummy ride was scary as hell and super fast.

Universal Studios is unbelievable.

After Universal Studios we did the ‘Walk of Fame’. We also did a tour of Hollywood, Beverly Hills and Sunset Boulevard. They took us to the Hollywood sign. They showed us some ‘Star Houses’ including the Playboy Mansion and Michael Jacksons house where he passed away.

After the tour we walked around in Hollywood Boulevard. Hollywood at night is so alive and the vibe is amazing …an experience I will never forget.

Friday was our shopping day. I first went for a 10km run on the bike/run patch on the beach before we drove around looking for Outlet stores. We found one but it was a bit expensive and disappointing. We ended up in Venice Beach. WOW what an awesome little place. It’s so hard to explain this street. It’s a street on the beach with little shops owned by locals. They sell anything you can think of to make a living. You can even get a certificate to legally buy dagga. This is a real trailer trash street, everyone is high and dirty but so friendly. It was an indescribable experience to see how these people live and make a living. It just makes you realise how grateful we should be for what we have.

Saturday we went to Orange County for some mountain biking. We cycled in the Laguna Nature reserve. They have over 70miles of mountain biking tracks. The route that we did was about 20km…but that was enough…20km of mountain after mountain. After our ride we went to two cycle shops where the shopping was way to successful. After spending too much money on cycling kit we went home for an easy night and a BBQ.

Sunday: Six Flags Magic Mountain theme park.

O my word…this place was huge. They have about 20 different rides. We only survived 5. We did the fastest, longest and highest and most insane= rides in the world. The 2 rides that had me on the edge of a nervous breakdown was the first ride we did, the X2 and the Superman. To be completely honest, I nearly cried after the X2. The X2 is a roller coaster ride with face first free falls and the seats turn upside down as you go down falls and around loops. Superman is just plain crazy. I refused to do it but when we got to the front of the line there was no exit. They strap you in a little car and with no warning you pull away backwards at a neck breaking speed. You go backwards and 50feet up in the air at 100mph (160km/h) and then you come back down.  It was INSANE.

After Magic Mountain we headed home to pack for an early morning flight to Hawaii.

Will keep you updated and post more photos on Facebook in Hawaii.

Clanwilliam Fitness Festival

Saturday morning at 5:30 my alarm went off. I still wanted to sleep, I was feeling tired and miserable.

I dragged myself out of bed, got dressed and headed to Clanwilliam Dam. 
It was a perfect morning and the dam looked like a mirror.

I entered the 1.5km swim with some team mates. It was my first race or long swim in my new Xterra Vendetta wetsuit. I struggle to get going but as we turned at the first buoy I got into a great rhythm. I finished the swim in 26min at a comfortable pace.

It was a long day as the triathlon only started at 3. I felt tired and not in race mood but I knew I had to have a great race to prepare myself mentally for Xterra Worlds.

The swim start was fast and I was 21st out of the swim...not my best.
In and out of T1, I didn't expect much on the bike as I haven't been on my road bike for a while.

As we left the town, Jayde Morison caught up to me. We worked together on the bike and caught Dominique D'Oliveira and another girl. The 4 of us worked together and soon dropped the girl.

Into T2 the 3 of us was still together. I knew it was going to be a hard run and I went as hard as I could out of T2 to open up a gap. The run route is an out and back with the out being a long hill. I pushed hard but it felt comfortable.

I finished 4th and felt great. 

Thanks to Xterra Wetsuits, 32GI, Mobii, Glider eyewear, Linebreak Compression and Virgin Active and Cape Auto Centre Triathlon Team.

Thank you!

12 Days to go before I leave for Xterra Worlds Champs in Maui Hawaii.

I would just like to thank every single person that supported me to make a dream come true.

From the people that bought one raffle ticket to the ones that bought hundreds. From the people that donated funds to the people that paid money into my account even after the draw...family, friends and even people that I don't know.

I am so overwhelmed by everyone's generosity and will be forever grateful. Every cent is so much appreciated. Words can't explain.

Thank you to Jonkheer Wine for the Wine sponsor. 
 Also to Mobii for the Mobii Unit that they sponsored.

SO...the winners:
3rd prize (Lam) Rory McKinley
2nd prize (Jonker Wine Hamper) Marinda Lindeque
1st prize (Ipad) Hermanus De Jager

The highest bid for the 'special edition' Mobii Unit went to Tiaan Pretorius. The closing bid was R3500.

Thank you to my sponsors: