Hot, Hot, Hot

I have never been so grateful for cool, San Francisco summers as I was when I got back from Bonnaroo last week. Manchester, TN in early June is likely what it feels like at the gates of Hell. No, I'm not being dramatic.

I have no idea how (or WHY) 90,000 people manage to survive this epic music festival. Here's the daily schedule of your typical Bonnaroo festival attendee:

8:30am Wake up, escape tent--otherwise, you will literally bake alive

8:33am Begrudgingly put on your bikini and grungy flip flops

8:40am Walk to festival area, stand under water fountain to "shower"

9am Sit comatose in heat until music starts, smoke weed

12pm Watch first show, take 1294657th trip to nasty porta-potties

2pm Watch next show, start drinking, smoke weed

2:07pm Realize you're still alive

4pm Take 1294658th trip to nasty porta-potties

4:15pm Eat vendor food, smoke weed

5pm - 4am Watch shows, drink more beer, smoke weed, do other drugs

4:27am Go to sleep in bikini

8:27am Wake up, escape tent--otherwise, you will literally bake alive

As for my schedule, replace tent with "RV", add shorts and t-shirt over bikini, swap in public shower stalls for public fountain shower, leave comatose and porta-potty, include some shows, take away all drugs but ice cold beer, and add in "WORK"--it was, well, epic.

And what, exactly, does it mean to "work" at a festival like this? Well, Emily and I roamed the festival grounds with a giant cardboard "picture frame" with a Sierra Nevada logo and asked folks to pose for a photo. Yes, we got used to rejection, but successful shots looked like this (Emily and me after we'd taken our LAST photo of the weekend):

Also, sharing an RV with your colleagues is a fast way to really get to know them. Thankfully, Emily and I get along swimmingly. She even grabbed a photo when I woke up with perfect "Elvis hair" from all the dirt and grit.

Now, don't be fooled. Despite the late-nights and general party-like atmosphere, it did not feel like some giant drug-fest with zombies walking around. People were under control, mellow (yes, they smoked a lot of weed), and generally happy to be there. I actually enjoyed myself! When all 90,000 Bonnaroo-ians were squished together in the masses in front of the main stage, we got VIP access to the beloved bleachers, where we could sit and listen without rubbing against people's sweaty armpits or inhaling 3-days-with-bathing stench!

When I got back, I got to grab a few days up at our family cabin with my parents and Chris and Erinn (and the peanut!), then it was down to Big Bear lake for a mountain bike race. I'm here in San Francisco on a sunny, clear day until 3pm today, when I head up to Chico for a team meeting tomorrow. Then I'm off to Oregon for a week for the next music festival.

It is certainly life in the fast lane, but my farmer's tan is growing worse (better?) by the day!

Escape! From Alcatraz

I know, I know. I have been entirely delinquent and haven't posted anything since the end of my winter season. But I've actually been busy running around to different events the past couple of months, though not with the same intensity as the winter. However, summer is upon us and the event season is picking up once again!

Last weekend, I finally got to work an event in my home city--San Francisco! We were sponsoring the Escape from Alcatraz Triathlon, which is an iconic event in the Bay Area and around the world.

Yes, it's true. There are 2,000 crazy athletes who jump off a ferry boat (all 2,000 within 8 minutes!) and into the freezing cold water on their 1.5 mile swim around the Bay and towards the shore. Then they grab their bikes for a nice 18-miler out through the Presidio towards Ocean Beach, then start up the run towards Baker Beach and back to the Marina Green.

Despite the torrential downpour on Saturday, it was absolutely one of my favorite events of the year. Sunday brought a decent amount of sun and warmth as we all milled about the Marina Green watching the athletes take on this incredible course.

I should probably note here that my colleague Emily and I are NOT draft technicians--we are marketers. When we go to events, we are not pouring beer--we are standing in a booth and talking to folks about our brewery. For this race, we posted signs outside our booth for the athletes to pose with:

Though we come from marketing backgrounds, we are both fiercely committed to learning as much about beer as possible. This weekend, the two of us executed an entire beer garden and 3 VIP pouring stations all by ourselves, setting up the draft systems, switching out empty kegs, and problem-solving for the volunteer bartenders if the beer was too foamy. We are, admittedly, quite proud of our achievement. And it's also a pretty serious workout! Maneuvering 170 pound barrels is no joke.

Here's Emily in her full rain gear, wheeling around a keg.

I absolutely loved watching the athletes come down the finish chute as they made their Escape from Alcatraz official. Here's a shot of the winner--yes, he's quite fit, as was everyone else in the race:

Overall, it was a successful weekend and an incredible event to be a part of. I'm already looking forward to next year. Hopefully the Beer Garden will be even MORE packed than this:

In the meantime, I was pretty inspired by everything and I'm playing with the idea of training for this thing next year, but I'll need one helluva swim coach!