Life is especially great in the summer!  The weather has been amazing so I'm up before sunrise to paddle, then jump on my bike or into the convertible to go to work.  Also, there's lots to do in the evenings and on weekends.   I'm only working a 4-day week for the summer so if it's my day off, I enjoy a post-workout Starbuck's and then do what stay-at-home moms and retired people do; meet friends for lunch, take naps, read books, dig in the yard.
Louise is in the country for a few weeks. Rather than sit in a bar or backyard, we decided to meet up for a paddle one night. I'm so glad I bought that extra board and paddle for exactly this reason - although there's no shortage of people offering loaners. She's never tried stand up but of course she was naturally good at it. It was a choppy night too. We had a great time catching up. She's off to the cottage for a week or two but everyone's hoping we can organize a dinner or something with her before she heads back to Singapore. 

Meanwhile, The No Book Book Club has developed a collective crush on Channing Tatum so we went to see Magic Mike on Friday. Overall a fun night out, starting with sangria at Philthy's, while we waited for Jackie. The theatre was PACKED with women in the 36-60 range (plus 3 adolescent boys, one with a date, who sat in the back row and giggled). The movie was pretty awful but I don't think any of us were expecting something Oscar-worthy. I mean seriously, Olivia Munn is in it.

I was glad I'd put in so many kilometres on the lake on Friday because Saturday morning was miserable. Thunderstorms, excessively hot and humid, zero wind. I rolled over and went back to sleep.
It's too bad about the conditions because it was Derek's 'downwinder' race that day. This is the second year for his event. I haven't done this race, mainly because he doesn't allow race-day registration. I understand his perspective - if he didn't get the money up front, a year like this would put him in debt - but with our less-than-ideal stand up conditions on Lake Ontario, it's a deal breaker for a lot of people. That stretch is an agonizing 15km slog on a flat day. The only thing that could make it worse would be knowing you actually paid Schrotter money to DO it.
As far as connecting with the sup community? Well, the people I paddle with are great and we get together regularly. Unfortunately, the southern Ontario sup scene is dominated by middle-aged suburbanites who run around squealing "Sweet!!", "Brah", "Stoked!!" and throwing up shakas every couple of minutes. They're all really nice people, just a little ... uh, you know...over the top.

I met up with friends who did the race at a party later in the evening and it sounds like everything that could go wrong, did go wrong. The race start was delayed for a number of reasons; unexpected road closures due to the Indy and a broken water main on the Gardner, thunderstorms with pelting rain rolled through right around the planned start time, there was no organizer at the rec race starting point and participants were left to wander aimlessly, the wind direction shifted to easterly after he declared a westerly race direction. Racers had to paddle into a stiff headwind and a west-running current. The after-party dragged on so long, lots of people had to leave before the awards even started.
Quite a few "names" from the U.S. stand up community had made the trip to Canada to support this event so it's too bad the conditions didn't cooperate. (although I'm sure Derek made sure they enjoyed themselves). I would like to have met that group - I own their boards, use their paddles, follow their blogs and facebook groups - but I'm sure the chance will come up at other, legit races.