Thru the Eyes of a Spectator - IMMT
With IMTremblant being a mere 2hours away from Ottawa, it was a no brainer that Ross's, Pilon's and Delaney's were going to go to the race to spectate and provide EN Mojo for Team Mates. We were also looking forward to hanging out with Tim Cronk and Peter Wicks Wife and hopefully running into Carolyn Yeo and her brood, among others.
We had originally planned to arrive on Saturday afternoon, but our plans changed and we did not arrive until Saturday night. We had accommodations in Val David, which is a quaint little village 17 miles from Tremblant. We had an adventurous trip from the onset.
On our way to Tremblant, which we have travelled to a number of times, we got off track. We missed our turn off. What is usually a 2hr drive turned into a 3 hour drive. Not a big deal, but a pre-curser to what the race day was going to be like. We checked into our hotel, and promptly started to look for a place to eat. We felt like Goldy Locks and the Three Bears. First restaurant was not a fit - no vegetarian option. The second restaurant was a perfect fit, but they could no room at the inn. The third restaurant had a menu that was 20 pages long = frozen good in my opinion, so off to the Italian restaurant that we saw on our way in.
Apparently restaurants close early in Val David. When we arrived at the restaurant the host said he would ask the chef if she was still cooking. Bingo - we struck it rich. She was. Not so fast......after sitting down we realize that there is nothing on the menu that I can eat except a salad. The host was eager to please, so he sent the chef out and she spoke to Natalie (who speaks French). After she heard that I do not eat dairy, meat, fish or gluten her response was "Well I guess she is going to watch you eat" - 
I will not go into details about what the salad was like - Just a WARNING: if you have food allergies I would call ahead to restaurants and see if they can accommodate you or rent accommodations where you can cook your own meals.
After a fitful sleep, we got up at 4:30am to leave the hotel at 5am, so that we could get to transition at 6:00am to meet up with Peter Wick wife and Tim Cronk. We ended up leaving 15 minutes later than we wanted. The signage to the parking was clear and concise and we were loaded on a bus right away, but it was 6am. We did not arrive at Tremblant until 6:20am, so we went straight to the swim venue which is about 1km away. We made it in time to see the pro's start and see all the age groupers go off.
We stayed at the swim venue until the last age groupers went off and then head the 1km back to transition to see them come out of the swim. We were able to see a couple of EN peeps come out of the water, then headed over to transition to see them head out on the bike.
After 30 or more minutes our stomachs were telling us that we were hungry, so we headed to La Shack at the top of the mountain for a buffet breakfast. Although they have a wide variety of options at the buffet, I do not eat enough food in the morning to warrant a $25.00 fee. I would pass on this in the future. What was a nice surprise at the top of the mountain was a section to sit and watch the live feed on a big screen of the event as it was taking place. That was kewl.
After brunch we headed over to the round about on the route out to Lac Superior and cheered on the riders as they were finishing their first loop. Got alot of "Ha EN" and was only able to get pics of those in EN kit. If you have the chance to get EN kit and wear it on the course, I highly recommend you do it. The MOJO you get from the sherpa's and your team mates is invaluable. Did recognize Eva Mohan and Nemo B but unfortunately missed Peter Wick and anyone not in EN kit.
Once we figured that most of our athletes had completed their first loop, we headed back to the village to wait for them to come into transition. Caught a couple of peeps getting off their bike and wished them well on their run.
We waited at transition until we thought everyone was off there bikes and then headed over to the run to cheer. Once it hit 5:30pm, we were hungry so we went to Spag and Co and got us some grub. I was able to get some great options, even with my restrictions. Thanks Tim for letting me know. With our belly's full we headed back to the run venue to resume cheering duties. We were not able to stay until everyone finished unfortunately. We all had to work the next day, so at 10pm we called it a night, but our adventure did not stop here.
We hoped on a bus which we were sure was taking us back to the airport in Saint Jovite where our car was parked, but after about 5 min we realized we were on the wrong bus. This bus was doing a tour of the old Village. He assured us he would bring us back to Tremblant, but as he drove along we realized that after going through the old village he was heading out to Saint Jovite. Steven noticed the signs to parking and the big lights and we were able to get off instead of going back into Tremblant to start all over again. Note: if you are using the shuttle make sure you know where to get on when you want to go back to your car.
So, we made it home at 1pm. Needless to say I, and everyone else were zombies the next day.
What an adventure.
Comments
And once again thanks to the Ross's and the Pilon's they amazing people raising the quality of EN constantly!