Great weekend of activities for Team HERD at the second anual HERD-Fest. This year the chosen venue was Lake Tahoe and the team had athletes driving in from the SF Bay area, Washington state as well as Denver CO to make the trip. The crew had a total of 12 attendees for the event and the weekend is summed up nicely below...
~ For those that were not there... I thought a recap would be in order:
It was truly a fantastic Herd-Fest weekend!!
Everyone made it up Friday and within the first hour of arrival... Out to the Lake for a strong swim (even Ken threw down 296 yards in 50 minutes). The water was beautiful and it was a great way to start the weekend with 2 ice cold beers on the beach ready to crack the moment we got out of the water!!.
While there was a plan to hit South Shore, Fireball wanted to come out to play... Yes, that kept us in and Pizza delivery was on the way. Not sure who took the more impressive shot, Ryan who finished the bottle or the Pizza guy who says “I don’t like Fireball” and then pounded it like water... Ryan was clearly the winner.
After a late night where EVERYONE had too much to drink, we hit the pillow (except a few who thought the hot tub was open until 2AM) knowing the lake ride was to kick off at 7AM. I would guess that 75% woke up with a hangover! Ride started at 7:30 and everyone rode the whole lake and then some. No doubt a hot and hilly 80M+ took a bit longer than we all planned! Brennan was incredibly impressive and stayed strong with the front group the majority of the ride!!
While Bago was planned, we all got back too late and South Shore was on the docket. Just needed to shower, cleanup, drink a few beers, and peel Andrew off the floor who was passed out (also very impressive on the bike).
Great dinner at Azul where George gave an impressive toast and made it clear “Herd-Fest is a must every year no question“!
Finished up the weekend with a great run on Sunday morning where we had a 50% attendance rate. Everyone went out on their own pace and ran as much or as little as they wanted. 6 minutes too little for Ken apparently... Andrew called for a ride from the bottom of the hill and Brennan headed out to the rescue to pick him up (everyone else said “let him walk his ass up”).
I do want to acknowledge ONE individual that by far impressed everyone this weekend and would be considered the MVP of Herd-Fest 2018... Brennan Bochenek (Ski-dog) was seriously a stud and will be a force come IMAZ!! Nice work Brennan as EVERYONE saw the work you threw down on that bike.
All in all it was an incredible weekend. Next years planning is already underway!!Joe C.El Presidente
