Tri-ing for China: Family triathlon training fun

So this weekend I am home visiting my parents and brother and sister, but obviously I still need to get in a few workouts. Today my training plan said 1000m swim (open water if possible) followed by 1-2 hour bike (back-to-back if possible). So I convinced my dad to load up the kayaks and we all went to Tanassee Creek Lake.

So pretty:

It was raining off and on, but my mom and my brother were still willing to be kayak support. I didn't get any pictures of my sister because she took most of these.

After I finished my 1000m, we couldn't figure out what the weather was going to do, so I took a turn paddling while we waited to see if it would clear up enough for my ride.

My decent weather luck so far this summer held out again - the rain stopped and there were a few patches of clear sky, so we decided to go for it. I had a pretty challenging ride planned - 16 miles with over 3000 feet of climbing (and not much descending at all) up to the Blue Ridge Parkway. My brother, who doesn't own a road bike and had never really biked on the road, decided to join me, so I brought my hybrid for him. :)

It was a really beautiful ride, despite the hills. I love the views from Tanassee Gap Road (no picture from today on the bike, but here's one from the Smoky Mountain Relay in April):

My dad was excellent sag support. :) The climb up 215 to the Parkway was tough, 6 miles of climbing with no breaks, but it wasn't too too steep. Finally, after an hour and a half, I made it to the Parkway:

Refueling. We had to bring our picnic inside because it poured almost as soon as we loaded the bikes.