I decided to head out to Langener (lake) Waldsee about a little before noon. The sun was periodically peeking through in the morning, so I was hoping it would warm up a tad. Upon the advice of Mark, I was going to hop in a taxi for a short ride down to lake (12km).
I should have known the minute I leaned into the taxi cab’s window and the driver was having a hard time understanding me in English. He was a nice, older German gentleman so I thought we’d be able to get through the language barrier. I decide to pull out my map and point to the lake while making a swimming motion with my arms. In typical German, he responds, “Ya, Ya, I know”.
We then proceed to head out. In looking at the map, I have a general idea of the direction we should be heading and know that the lake is Southeast of the Airport and we’re directly north of the airport. In a strange sequence of events, he pulls over at a hotel as we are heading out of town. He jumps out and walks up to the doorman. They exchange conversation and then start walking to me in the taxi. Ahh, he speaks English and my driver must know him. I repeat where I’m trying to go and the listen to doorman and my driver go back and forth. After a few minutes, my driver jumps back in the cab and says, “Got it, I know”.
We’re back on the road, yeah. I begin to get a little concerned because we’ve been driving for about 25 minutes and according to the map, the lake should only be about 12k from downtown. We are now at the airport going all the way around. What the heck?
I cordially lean forward and ask if everything is ok. He tries to put me at ease but I can tell he’s getting a little jittery. We finally hit a gas station and he jumps out to speak to a young man. After about a 5 minute conversation, we’re back on the road. He again tells me, “I know where it is. No problems. Name changed from when I was kid.” I’m thinking to myself, “Please, I just want to get to the lake.” Now I’m in the middle of nowhere with a nice German taxi driver watching my meter hit cross 40 Euro.
Finally, after an hour we pull down into the road headed for the lake. Thank the Lord! Total ride charge 49 euros (about $65).
I pay 3 euros to get into the park and head down to the beach. The lake is beautiful. I didn’t take my camera because I wasn’t sure how secure my bag would be. I thought there would be more people, but I did run into a handful of swimmers.
I said hello to one of the gents as we were getting in and noticed after his reply that he had to be American. Next thing you know we’re chatting it up. Poor soul, he told me he missed the cutoff by 10 minutes at Ironman Switzerland last weekend. He’s here with his brother who is participating in Ironman Germany. I guess he passed a kidney stone early last week and had to be admitted to the hospital on Tuesday. He was out Thursday and decided to still do the race. Triathletes are NUTS, no matter where you are from!
As it’s been lately, the wind was howling pretty well and the water was rather choppy. The lake is extraordinarily clean and clear. It appears to be an old sand and rock quarry. I figure swimming into the waves would be a good simulation for the rough swimming conditions found in an IM event. I heard someone mention that there were 2,600 racers. That’s a lot of bodies in the water and on the bike course. No doubt, it will be interesting. After about 30 minutes, I decide that’s enough and pack it in.
I cordially ask the attendant if she can call me a taxi (thankfully I brought extra money). No problem. I make it home safe and sound.
That was the most expensive swim workout ever! 49+3+25=77 euros (almost $100).
In the afternoon, I headed over to pickup my race packet. It’s official. I’m in.
For dinner, I took the advice of an acquaintance that said I should check out Vapiano’s. I guess they just opened one in Ballston. It was delicioso!
By the way, the acquaintance I mentioned above is Steve Tappan. I was introduced to him through Ted. He participated last year at this event. He’s been money with his great advice and overall “what to expect” suggestions. If you’re reading this Steve, thanks again!
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