Category Archives: Sports and Exercise

La Travesía Anual — Annual Community Swim from Playa Norte to Deer Island, Mazatlán

Club de Natación

Photo courtesy El Club de Natación Playa Norte

See those islands in the background of the photo above? Want to swim to the one in the middle, Isla de Venados/Deer Island? Think you can do it? It’s only 5.6 KILOMETERS of ocean swimming. Takes the average swimmer two to four hours. The best time in 2012 was ONE HOUR 20 MINUTES!

Every year on the first Sunday in November members of Mazatlán’s swim club (Club de Natación Playa Norte) do that very swim. This past November over 200 of them participated in this most wonderful Travesía Anual! Among the 200 swimmers who completed the event was an eight year old boy named José Luis Zazueta. I had the pleasure of interviewing Luisito this morning, along with his father (also Luis, a computer technician) and his swim teacher, Lourdes Ortega. Click on any of the photos below to view them larger and read the full captions.

Luisito Zazueta, at eight years old the youngest boy ever to complete the Travesía Anual, the 5.6 km swim to Deer Island, behind him in the photo.
Closeup of Luis’ too-cute toothless grin.
Lourdes (Lulu) with a few of her students. She runs a swimming school in Via Galaxia.

Luis Senior enrolled Luisito in lessons at a pool run by Lourdes, out where they live in Via Galaxia, when the boy was five years old. Luisito took to the sport so naturally that he graduated from Lulu’s small pool to the larger swim program at Montfort. In only three years’ time Luisito was able to develop the technique, strength and endurance to complete the Travesía Anual. During the event Dad rode in a kayak beside Luisito, and had to stay at least 10 meters away from his son at all times.

The swim club people are very open and inviting. Knowing of my interest, they invited us to their Christmas posada, which we were unable to attend, and then again invited Greg and I to attend this month’s competencias, during which everyone who wants to swim and get timed can do so and track their progress from the month(s) before. We met people from 7 to 70+, all happy and fit as fiddles. We met triathletes, multi-generational families of swimmers, groups of friends, and people who’d been swimming in the bay for over 50 years! What a good-natured bunch of interesting people! Click on any of the below to see a slideshow or captions.

Friends…
Father and sons…
Young…
And young at heart…
Encouraging one another…
Teaching one another…
People who’ve spent a lifetime on this beach
A grandson of the club’s founder
Teenagers…
And adults of all ages..
Together, enjoying life.
Friends, and fitness.

What is the Club de Natación Playa Norte?

The Club de Natación Playa Norte is one of Mazatlán’s oldest and most organized community groups. It will celebrate its 30th anniversary in 2013! You see the clubhouse on the beach in Playa Norte, just north of the gymnastics equipment and the skateboard park. We have walked by the club nearly every morning for five years, and at that early hour of the day it’s always a hotbed of activity and excitement. We’ve noticed the man holding the keys on a board of hooks, the people milling around in wet swimsuits, someone eating ceviche for breakfast, some people showering… Click on any of the photos below if you’d like to see them bigger, see the captions or slideshow.

Amazingly and fortunately for Mazatlán, this “little club” puts on TEN monthly competitions, an Aquatic Marathon (in September), and two big travesías in addition to the Travesía Anual a la Isla de Venados.

The club is incredible. It is run by an elected Comité. The Presidente for the past three years has been Martín, the man with the stop watch in the photos. The club originally started as a cycling club at a location further south, and evolved into the swim club at its current location. Annual dues are only 200 pesos. For that amount you receive an identification card, and you are welcome to use the facilities (including toilets and showers) as often as you wish. Your backpack of things and your car keys are watched over by Pancho, who welcomes members’ tips. The deal is that you show up in the early morning, ready to swim. If you don’t show; no worries. If your teacher isn’t there, someone else will help you. If you’re an experienced ocean swimmer, you teach someone newer to the sport. The club seems to be quite the idyllic self-organizing system! We observed that young children are closely supervised by older swimmers, both teenagers and experienced adult teachers. Among the many local swimmers this morning we also met two extranjeros: Fran Ittner, from Minneapolis, who has been part of the Club de Natación since 2000 (and has wintered in Mazatlán for 26 years), and “Tío Sam,” a most interesting South Korean gentleman who has lived in Mazatlán for three years. Fran told us that if you want to learn more about the club or the Travesía, just drop him a note.

Each year members select one person to be honored for their assiduous participation in the club—and they name that year’s Travesía Anual after them. In 2010 it was named after Lulu, Luisito’s swim teacher.

So What Was the Event This Morning?

As I said, ten times a year the club conducts competencias, or trials, which we observed this morning. Since the Triathlon is next week, there were a few more participants than usual this morning, I was told. Club members who wanted to participate in the trials showed up just before 8:00 am. They registered and received a t-shirt. They had a number written onto their upper arms.

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Today’s participants lined up for an official photo. Then a new triathlon team from ETI had their photo opp. After everyone stripped out of their official t-shirts, the adults lined up for their trial. Three buoys had been set out in the ocean, and Martín gave instructions that swimmers were to make a loop around the outside of the three buoys. A couple of the guys interpreted for Fran, so he would know the route. One of the men we met went out in a kayak to supervise, ready to provide emergency assistance if needed. Participants swam only one lap around the buoys today; we were told this was because the water is still so cold. There were quite a few people standing around who didn’t swim today, and told us they only swim from April, when the water is warmer.

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After the adults, next up were the young children, 7-10 years old or so. There were only two buoys for the kids’ trial, and they were brought in closer to shore. Martín assigned a strong teenaged swimmer to each of the younger children, and instructed them to stay close by in case the younger ones needed help. What a way to build responsibility and community! Then the kids were off. There were some tears shed at the conclusion of this trial, because the youngest swimmer lost a tooth while he was out. He was heartbroken, because he was afraid the ratón wouldn’t bring him money since he didn’t have the tooth that had fallen out! It was just too cute.

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While the Club has well over 100 members, today there were far more observers than swimmers, I think. Grandparents, parents, cousins, friends—whole groups showed up to cheer on their friends and family members. There were some women selling food and drinks: fresh fruits and cut vegetables, sandwiches, bolillos, cake. The Club itself had a crate of bananas and a bunch of bottles of water for all the participants to snack on after their heat. It was a fun social event.

I urge you, if you’re at all interested in swimming, to give the Club a try. If you want to take lessons or get involved, the best way is to show up at the clubhouse, ideally in the morning around 6:00 or 7:00. At the least, visit them for their next competencias. The group has a Facebook page that is administered by Rogelio Fontes, but Rogelio tells me he only logs in to upload photos, as he’s not a big Facebook user. To get an email response you can contact natacion.playanorte@gmail.com, or Rogelio’s office telephone is (669) 913-4900 (he speaks perfect English, graduated from UC Berkeley).

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An update and adaptation of this post was printed in M! Magazine in November, 2015, under the title, “Splish Splash.”

New Signs at the Lighthouse/El Faro

IMG_0974Can you run up the Mazatlán lighthouse in four minutes? The last running contest at the Faro that I know about, the winner got to the top in about six minutes. So what’s up with these new signs? I know I’m not in the greatest shape, despite climbing up twice a week for the past 18 months, but come on!

The guys who work there who walk up that hill every day tell me it takes them 21 minutes on average. Of course, they lug all those water and soda bottles in their backpack as they climb, and they don’t run up.

I found the sign rather demotivating, because I fell into the “second to last” of five categories. It was a great lesson for me in my cultural programming. With five categories, I would have expected the third/middle category to be the “average” user, the norm or central tendency. I also know that, having grown up in the US, we give “false positive” encouragement all the time. “Great batting, Jimmy,” we tell the Little Leaguer who strikes out. So what I would have expected on this sign might look something like this:

  • Expert: 7 minutes or less
  • Running: 8-15 minutes
  • Average Health: 15-20 minutes
  • Casual User: 20-25 minutes
  • Recreational User: 25 minutes or more

I might even add a sixth, humorous category:

  • Tourist with a Camera: around 40 minutes to the top

If you are able to get to the top of the lighthouse in four minutes, let me know, would you? I don’t take the shortcuts, but I know many people do. But I don’t think those shortcuts shave that much time off…

Since I took a photo of the sign above, I took a few others, also (slideshow below). If you visit the lighthouse you know the bathrooms have been installed now for months. They are gorgeous, very sturdy. Trouble is, no one thought to run any sewage lines to the sewage treatment facility next door. Or, at least that is what we have been told. The public sanitarios remain closed because they apparently do not function. 😦

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They also put a beautiful plaque in, with a few historical points on it. Trouble is, someone has planted a large plant right in front of the new plaque. Hopefully that will get moved a bit soon.

Recently Irving Fregoso sent me some documents to translate from Spanish to English, saying they are planning to do a photo exhibit about the history of the Faro. What I translated was really interesting. I’ll tell you more as I hear about the exhibit.

Ice Skating in Mazatlan, Part 2

1.IMG_4822So many of you have asked, in response to my initial post, “So, how is it? How is the Christmas Fair and the whole ice skating thing? Post some pictures!” And, I’ve been so busy with work and partying that I haven’t gotten to it. ‘Tis the season. But, finally, here goes…. I’m using WordPress’ new slide show feature. I’ll post photos of the ice skating as well as of the fair itself, lit up at night. If you haven’t gone, it’s definitely worth a visit. It’s on the road right in front of the Bosque de la Ciudad/City Park, by the baseball stadium.

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I’ve been over to the fair a couple of times since it opened. It’s a whole lot of fun volunteering to help people with the skating. Bless those “Blue Shirts,” the Tourist Aide Volunteers or “Smurfs,” as the locals seem to call them. I was an honorary Smurf for this volunteer gig, but the real TAVs do this sort of thing all the time!

The skaters are just sooooooo very excited to be on skates and on ice! And to know that it’s free!

They are letting people in every hour on the hour. It takes about ten minutes to rent skates and get them laced. They clear the ice ten minutes before the hour, to give people time to turn their skates back in. So, everyone gets about 40 minutes of skating time. Most of the kids seem to go back in line and get right back out on the ice. And, I’ve seen the same kids there both nights I’ve gone. It’s a great deal! Lots of families in the bleachers, taking loads of photos. What a terrific holiday gift to our community! So so good to see!

The rink is staffed by volunteers from different government offices, in addition to the paid staff. All are very helpful and kind. Most everyone gets help putting on and lacing up their skates. Sure is better service than in the ice rinks and on the skate ponds I grew up with! The skates are not brand new but they are in very good condition. The ice isn’t as hard as what I’m used to, but, hey, I rarely was able to ice skate in shorts up north, either!

In addition to the skating, the Christmas Fair has loads of shopping opportunities (commercial and handicraft items), many snacks and drinks from which to choose, about a dozen carnival rides including the gondola and tilt-a-whirl, a petting zoo, Nativity, and a performance stage. Below is a video clip of a school marimba group we heard and watched. Enjoy!

Merry Christmas, everyone!

Zip Lining in Mazatlán / Tirolesa

2 Danny outWe had a terrific time driving up to La Noria for a day trip. The adrenaline highlight was zip lining at Huana Coa. We are fortunate here in Mazatlán to have a couple of great options for zip lining, and this is one of them.

Have you ever zip lined? Remember what it feels like? If you haven’t, do you wonder what it’s like? Here’s video that I took while riding the line they call “Shotgun.” Surrounded by trees, it almost felt like I was carving my own tunnel. So very much fun!

La Noria is about a 45 minute drive up into the Sierras. It is gorgeous up there: trees and mountains as far as the eye can see.

5 nice view

Huana Coa was built six years ago. They have nine lines and twelve platforms, plus rappelling in addition to the zip lining. There is also four-wheeling and horseback riding up here, plus of course the gorgeous town of La Noria and the tequila distillery, Vinata Los Osuna, which I’ll write about separately later.

The video below is what Greg took on an earlier line, a wide open one. It’ll give you an idea of the contrast among the nine lines here at Huana Coa.

equipment

Their equipment is state of the art, mostly German-made Petzl. All equipment was very well maintained. Huana Coa uses two lines one above the other and double pulleys, so even should one fail or turn sideways, which is highly unlikely, you still have backup. There was not a second that I wondered about safety. The staff had us tied to a line every moment we were there, tying us off to a stationary line before unhooking our harness from the zip line.

Below are two videos of our son, one of him leaving a platform, and one of him coming in. This is a terrific family activity. He had a blast. Though of course, he’s 17, so he’s too cool to show too much enthusiasm when he’s with his parents.

Just in case you start thinking this is a young person activity, or one for thin people only, I’ll show some video of me coming in, whooping and hollering the whole way because it was just so much fun. They told us they’ve had 80+ year olds on the zip lines who fully enjoyed themselves. The lines themselves are fairly easy. Getting to the lines, however, requires an uphill climb, and there are stairs to several of the platforms. It does, therefore, require mobility.

safety demoJohnathan, one of the staff, gave us safety instructions before we headed out, and again once we arrived at the first platform. All the staff were bilingual and amazingly helpful and fun loving.

8 chanclaStaff members took time to help all of us suit up and get comfortable with our harnesses. They were so kind that they even taped on a woman’s flip flops so she wouldn’t lose them while she was zip lining!

secure platformAll of the platforms were very well made, and while we were on them we were always securely tethered. Staff hook you up for each line, ask if you are ready to go, and then push you off when you are ready. It was soooooo, oh so much fun!

carrying waterI was quite taken with how the crew transported water for us from one station to another. Fairly effective, wouldn’t you say?

familyIf you have family, family visits, or you just need some fun, adrenaline-raising activity, I definitely recommend zip lining!

As we went through the course today, the staff kept telling us they had a surprise for us at the end. Danny knew, because he has learned how to rappel. He saw the little gizmo on our belts, and guessed that at the end we would be rappelling. What they did was have us jump out, off the final platform, and then free fall (with a gentle pre-ground slowing) to the ground. It was very, very cool. Here’s video of Greg doing his dismount.

Mazatlán: Pulsating Center of Atleticísmo

malecón aerial view

You already know how much we love living in Mazatlán, and that one of our favorite delights is living in the center of the world’s largest and most beautiful gymnasium — the malecón.

For a couple of weeks now, during our morning walks, we have been accompanied by runners we don’t see the rest of the year. We know they are people who have come to acclimate and train for the marathon. They are also loads of locals, often accompanied by their children and friends, who decide to heighten their training this time of year in order to be prepared to participate in the shorter runs or the marathon itself.

42k marathon routeToday as Danny and I were out walking I was reminded how this, the day before El Gran Maratón del Pacífico, is so incredibly delightful. The space between the Bosque de la Ciudad/City Park and the baseball stadium pulsates with music, dancing and tents filled with running gear, as busloads of runners and their families and friends arrive from every corner of Mexico and beyond. They register, take a look around, and then fan out across the city. Nearly every restaurant, coffee house or juice stand we see is filled with healthy, excited, friendly people, eager to run and test their skills along Latin America’s largest bay. It is, truly, delightful.

marathon runners ocean viewTomorrow, non-runners that we are, we will awake to the sounds of that same music, plus the sounds of cheering, as the first runners glide by the front of our home. We will make coffee, get dressed, and go out to the street to join in the cheering. People compete in the 5k, 10k, 21k half-marathon, and 42k full marathon. Festivities will continue on the malecón until about 1:00 tomorrow afternoon.

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Then, tomorrow (Saturday) night, our bay lights up with fireworks launched from FOURTEEN different, coordinated locations around our beautiful bay. And, poor us, we are, again, right in the center. Gotta love it! On our beach the fireworks have been set up and ready to go since this morning. That’s different than in prior years, when they set up on Saturday morning during the run itself.

So, athletically speaking, we’ve got:

And, of course we have the normal daily, weekly and monthly athletic events of our good city, such as

I often imagine how it feels to live in the city that hosts the Olympics. Obviously it’s not a fair comparison to these events, but I can imagine the energy, the buena vibra, the buena onda, is very similar. And here, we get to experience it at least several times each year, rather than once in a lifetime (hosting the Olympics).

Mazatlán, a working port, center of tuna and shrimp industries, famous for its beaches, banda music and sport fishing, is becoming quite the hotbed of healthy, athletic living! And we are loving every moment of it!