For some reason someone convinced me that it would be a good idea to jump in lake Michigan on 01/01/08. So at 11:15 am on New Years day Ryan and I went down to North ave beach and I noticed right away this was not some small time show, the parking lot was already almost full and there were people all around. When we walked around that restaurant on the beach and saw the water I also saw about a 100 people standing around the swimmers entry point, now I knew people took this seriously. As we neared the lake I realized that I may have made a giant mistake, first off the wind and air was freezing, and I heard earlier on the news that the water temp last year was 54 degrees and this year it was 32. Once we got closer I really started to kinda freak out, there were giant chunks of ice floating around all over the water as the waves crashed in all around. It wasn't even a beach any more it was just a ledge of ice. Ryan and I waited for some more of our friends to show up before we took off our clothes. Colin and Brian showed up with a crew and then it was go time. They stripped down and to my hilarious amazement they were all wearing matching American flag speedos. The laugh was nice but didn't last long because now with my clothes off and my bare feet on the freezing cold snow I really just wanted to get this over with. Chanting USA! USA! we made our way towards the entry point. I got to the ledge looked in saw the ice and water and went for it, It was cold but the Adrenalin kept me going I ran about 15 feet out and then launched my self in and under the water. When I came back up my hair immediately froze but I was still feeling good. Everything was basically all good until there was a little bit of a bottle neck to get back out of the water, since you had to climb up the ice to get out, this is when I realized... I was cold and freezing cold. I started breathing heavier and just wanted to be back in bed, then I realized that even getting out of the water was not going to help me, man I was cold. So out of the water I fly and then run back to my clothes, right now my feet I think are frost bitten. I immediately wrap my feet in my two towels and just stand there. The pain in my feet makes me forget about everything else, all I want to do is get them warm. My entire body actually has ice on it and the only thing i can do is worry about my feet I finally get them in socks and shoes without even putting my pants back on and then I start to feel better. We get some pictures and then head back to the car. As soon as we were back in the car and sitting with the heat on in a large and somewhat chaotic traffic jam, It was all better. I really wasn't that cold at all and my feet were all good again. So even though that was ridiculous and stupid, I don't really think It would be that bad if I was better prepared with some awesome socks and or sandals so my feet were not directly on the snow.Friday, January 04, 2008
Jumpin In the Lake
For some reason someone convinced me that it would be a good idea to jump in lake Michigan on 01/01/08. So at 11:15 am on New Years day Ryan and I went down to North ave beach and I noticed right away this was not some small time show, the parking lot was already almost full and there were people all around. When we walked around that restaurant on the beach and saw the water I also saw about a 100 people standing around the swimmers entry point, now I knew people took this seriously. As we neared the lake I realized that I may have made a giant mistake, first off the wind and air was freezing, and I heard earlier on the news that the water temp last year was 54 degrees and this year it was 32. Once we got closer I really started to kinda freak out, there were giant chunks of ice floating around all over the water as the waves crashed in all around. It wasn't even a beach any more it was just a ledge of ice. Ryan and I waited for some more of our friends to show up before we took off our clothes. Colin and Brian showed up with a crew and then it was go time. They stripped down and to my hilarious amazement they were all wearing matching American flag speedos. The laugh was nice but didn't last long because now with my clothes off and my bare feet on the freezing cold snow I really just wanted to get this over with. Chanting USA! USA! we made our way towards the entry point. I got to the ledge looked in saw the ice and water and went for it, It was cold but the Adrenalin kept me going I ran about 15 feet out and then launched my self in and under the water. When I came back up my hair immediately froze but I was still feeling good. Everything was basically all good until there was a little bit of a bottle neck to get back out of the water, since you had to climb up the ice to get out, this is when I realized... I was cold and freezing cold. I started breathing heavier and just wanted to be back in bed, then I realized that even getting out of the water was not going to help me, man I was cold. So out of the water I fly and then run back to my clothes, right now my feet I think are frost bitten. I immediately wrap my feet in my two towels and just stand there. The pain in my feet makes me forget about everything else, all I want to do is get them warm. My entire body actually has ice on it and the only thing i can do is worry about my feet I finally get them in socks and shoes without even putting my pants back on and then I start to feel better. We get some pictures and then head back to the car. As soon as we were back in the car and sitting with the heat on in a large and somewhat chaotic traffic jam, It was all better. I really wasn't that cold at all and my feet were all good again. So even though that was ridiculous and stupid, I don't really think It would be that bad if I was better prepared with some awesome socks and or sandals so my feet were not directly on the snow.
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