Keep Away The Ironman? No Way

In the wake of the applause and cheers that greeted competitors in the recent Los Cabos Ironman Triathlon, a loud and persistent voice can be heard saying, "Enough!"

In a front-page commentary of her latest edition, Carrie Duncan, publisher of Gringo Gazette, an English-language Los Cabos biweekly catering principally to tourists and ex-pats from the United States and Canada, lists numerous grievances concerning the Ironman Triathlon and concludes that it shouldn't be welcomed back. (Too late, next year's second running already is scheduled for March 30.)

While any observer or participant can agree with several of her points, to conclude that another Ironman Triathlon is unwarranted and unwanted is off-target.

Just one of many groups cheering the triathletes

Were tourists and ex-pats inconvenienced by the event? Yes, some streets were closed temporarily. (On the other hand, most of the potholes along the route used by competitors got filled in the days before the marathon, a blessing she doesn't mention.) Yes, the coordination of and communication with volunteers was laughable in its ineptitude. (On the other hand, if a person persisted in attempting to help, an opportunity seemed to materialize; I know by putting in shifts each of four days, the last a 10-hour stint in and about the medical tent at the finish line.) Did it take longer than usual for tourists to get to their hotels or the airport? Apparently, but was that due to the triathlon or was it the fault of hotel operators, shuttle services and taxi drivers who had plenty of warning about the impending congestion and seem not to have planned for it. Duncan claims that tourists were dumped at the Mega market in San Jose del Cabo, then had to hoof it to their hotel along the town's resort row, even though vehicle access all the way to the hotels was available; is the blame for that to be put on the organizers of the triathlon or on the shuttle and taxi drivers, quite possibly hell-bent on returning to the airport for another lucrative fare? No cold water for the press? I passed the media tent plenty of times, and can't say whether members of the press had cold water or not, but I envied the plates they were heaping with hot pasta. No publicity for Los Cabos? True, that could be a failure by the organizers, though I have heard that ESPN has or will air coverage. By the same token, the mass media generally doesn't give much coverage to triathletes, perhaps because of shrunken newsrooms, perhaps because of the heavy commercialism of the events.

A competitor gets encouragement at the plaza

Duncan wraps up her piece by claiming without any concrete evidence that the standing of Los Cabos among tourists has been critically damaged by the Ironman Triathlon. "We will be pilloried on Trip Advisor," she frets. Sorry, but even at this late date I can't find a single negative comment on Trip Advisor concerning San Jose del Cabo and the Ironman Triathlon. Furthermore, every triathlete I chatted with afterwards, and there were many, praised the course as the toughest they've endured, expressed gratitude for the support of volunteers and spectators, and gave every indication that they, their families and their friends would welcome a return engagement. Remember, this was a first, and while there were problems, they quite possibly will be corrected for next year's running.

If Carrie Duncan wants to more effectively use her time and ink, there are many more crucial issues affecting or potentially affecting the happiness and health of the tourist and ex-pat segments of Los Cabos. They include:

- Commercial encroachment and a generally benign attitude among officials concerning the environmental, historic and scenic value of the estuary of San Jose del Cabo. A good start would be an editorial campaign to relocate the town's sewage-treatment plant away from the estuary. Couple that with a call for a comprehensive umbrella organization to recruit volunteers to help preserve and enhance the estuary.

- Investigate the penchant for authorities of Los Cabos to build monstrous public works - the cultural center in Cabo San Lucas, the convention center in San Jose del Cabo - and then let them sit idle, with no apparent effort to promote and use them.

- Launch a continuing series of articles to explain to tourists and residents alike how to deal with immigration officials, how to cope with federales, how to persuade authorities to replace the stolen trash can in your neighborhood.

- Find out and explain why Carlos Slim and his telecommunications empire can't provide English-language, comprehensive, fairly priced and reliable television service to Baja California Sur.

- And most serious of all, undertake a campaign to break Grupo Modelo's lock on beer service in the restaurants of Los Cabos. Enough with the insipid beers Corona and Pacifico, let's get more Tecate and other competing brands on the beverage lists. Then just watch the tourists flock to Los Cabos.

Rock And Roll Out The Barrels

Paul Stanley, left, Gene Simmons

Along the southern stretches of Mexico's Baja peninsula lately, the Sea of Cortez has been putting on quite the show. Waves taller and more vigorous than usual thunder and shatter onto the beach, hurling spray inland like nature's own concert fog machine. Whales leap and spin a short distance offshore with the athleticism and grace of well-choreographed backup singers. The theatrics and noise can be enthralling, or distracting, as they were the other evening as two veterans of the concert stage explained why they were in Los Cabos.

At a casual press conference on a seaside patio of the posh Sheraton Hacienda Golf Resort & Spa just outside of Cabo San Lucas, Paul Stanley and Gene Simmons, the founders and only constant members of the rock group KISS, recognizing its 40th anniversary this year, kicked off the inauguration of the second link in their nascent restaurant chain, Rock & Brews.

The restaurant itself is neither at the resort nor in Cabo San Lucas, but at the older and more laid-back settlement of San Jose del Cabo 12 miles to the northeast.

Rock & Brews, San Jose del Cabo

Not the most animated and giving of entertainers when they aren't in makeup, Stanley and Simmons had little to say of what drew them to what up to now almost invariably has been called "sleepy San Jose del Cabo." Stanley did allow that the community's easy accessibility from Los Angeles factored into their calculations that a club with live entertainment, burgers and pizzas, and up to two-dozen craft beers on tap would appeal to Southern Californians hopping down to Los Cabos for the weekend.

"We want to help cultivate an area we love," he added, noting that an intent of the San Jose branch of Rock & Brews is to use local produce, hire local workers and headline local craft beers, of which there aren't many, though during the grand-opening weekend two from the town's Baja Brewing Co. were being poured.

The overall design and thrust of the club, said Stanley, is to pay homage to classic rock, in large part by creating the look and feel of a backstage party. "We're thanking rock and roll for what we have, and we want to give something back," he added.

For his part, Simmons had little positive to offer, possibly because he was jet-lagged, possibly because he was irked that someone unaware that KISS still tours had asked whether the band again would go on the road. When someone asked whether the two would jam at the club, he snapped, "Yes, because we have nothing better to do here."

KISS isn't shy about acknowledging significant others

This was not the time or place to bring up the sensitive matter of why KISS hasn't been elected to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, even though the group's 28 gold albums is more than any other American rock band has sold. Industry insiders indicate that the hall's electorate shuns KISS because of its emphasis on showmanship more than creativity and because of  its smart if crass commercialism, which has involved linking its brand to everything from cabernet sauvignon to caskets. When I asked Simmons if he felt KISS ever would get elected to the Hall of Fame, he deadpanned, "I'm too rich to care. I'm thinking of buying it. Why stand in line?"

With that, the KISS Army advanced up the road to the new Plaza del Pescador, a snazzy strip of restaurants and boutiques smack in the middle of San Jose del Cabo's resort row. It's a bright and engaging facility, with a central stage flanked by a loft appointed with plush couches, just as you might find in a well-appointed green room. Snippets of rock concerts and music videos play on several monitors about the premises - but why so much Queen and so little KISS? - while the art runs to vintage rock posters and photos.

More than the glitter and music, Rock & Brews has the potential to bring to San Jose del Cabo something sorely missing in the city - good beer. Almost without exception, the beer selection in Los Cabos restaurants and bars runs almost exclusively to the insipid brands of Grupo Modelo - Pacifico, Corona, Victoria and Leon. At the city's recent fiesta I noted that anyone who wanted to enjoy a decent drink during the concerts and games had stopped at a market and picked up a half-case of something decent to drink, usually Tecate.

Best seating, above and behind stage

At any rate, Rock & Brews is off to a slow start with its beer menu. Only a half-dozen of the 24 taps along the back bar have been hooked up, and then only to the usual suspects - Dos Equis and Modelo, plus a couple of the sort of craft beers that Stanley and Simmons says they want to promote, both from San Jose del Cabo's Baja Brewing Co.

In time, that could change. After all, the original branch of Rock & Brews at El Segundo has a pretty exciting rotating selection of beers, including Green Flash's West Coast IPA, Dog Fish's 90 Minute IPA, Firestone's Double Jack and Eagle Rock's Manifesto, among many others. We can only hope that at least a few of them will make it to the San Jose del Cabo branch of Rock & Brews.

Heck, the KISS archives is a veritable lode of catchy names for artisan beers, including Psycho Circus, The Demon and Starchild. My favorite, however, would be Wicked Lester, but when I suggested it to Simmons he merely shrugged and said, "Well, OK."

A Salute To Ironmen...And Ironwomen

For about 10 hours Sunday, I floated about the finish line of the first Los Cabos Ironman Triathlon. If I heard it once, I heard it a hundred times - "Congratulations, Nancy - or Kathleen or Christine or Molly or Heidi - you are now an Ironman." Would it have killed the announcer - and I have to say, he sounded as enthusiastic, happy and proud for each competitor at midnight as he had at 3 p.m. - to say "Ironwoman"?

Calle Valerio Gonzalez Canseco never had less traffic

But maybe that would have raised gender issues that Ironman sponsors would rather not address. On the other hand, the Ironman organization is recognizing its 35th anniversary this year, so it has been around long enough to already have debated and settled the matter. I don't have a clue. Only a few of the participating women grumbled about the slight; most took it in stride. Before Sunday, I'd never even seen an Ironman Triathlon. I'd certainly never participated in one.

I was drawn to this one in large part because it was the first to be in San Jose del Cabo and because the organizers had put out a call for volunteers. I signed up and put in stints each of the key days, Thursday through Sunday. The first two days I worked the registration counter, where I was to greet incoming athletes, verify their papers and issue their credentials and assorted other things to confirm their participation. I got to meet people from all over the world - Australia, Germany, Costa Rica, Ireland, Panama, Wisconsin, Colorado, France. I met a woman from Argentina so happy to be taking on this challenge for the first time she couldn't stop beaming, and a septuagenarian from New Jersey who was about to participate in his 130th triathlon; he wasn't smiling as much - "This is costing my wife and I $4,000." Some 400 were from the United States, another 400 or so from Mexico, including a large contingent from Mexico City. I was issued my very own stapler, but what made me feel like a real Mexican bureaucrat was when I got to shake my head over their lack of documentation and direct them to the table where they were to fill out another form, to the copy machines where they were to print out copies of their passport or driver's license, and to the booth of the Federacion Mexicana de Triatlon where they were to fork over another 125 pesos (about $10 U.S.) for a slip of paper I had to staple to all the rest of their documents before I could strap on their wristband (to sign up, they'd already paid $650 each). They indulged my weak joke: "Congratulations, you've just finished the first of the three legs."

I looked forward to seeing many of them again, or at least to learning how they finished. As a group, they were fit - no surprise there - but also persistently positive, not at all intimidated by the course that awaited them, a 2.4-mile swim at dawn just off the beach at Palmilla on the southern edge of San Jose del Cabo, a 112-mile cycling race on a course that wound about San Jose del Cabo and Cabo San Lucas, and a three-lap, 26.2-mile marathon in San Jose del Cabo.

Winner Timo Bracht and his wife Bettina

I didn't, however, want to see any of them in the medical tent where I was assigned the day of the race, but I did; the positively giddy Argentine woman was brought in by ambulance after she faltered early in the cycling segment. I made the mistake of asking her what in the world she was doing on a cot, at which point she burst into tears. I never did see the guy participating in his 130th triathlon, but the list of participants after the race indicated he didn't proceed beyond the cycling leg. When I wasn't in the medical tent, I generally was at the finish line, casually and quickly sizing up the condition of the finishers and escorting most of them to the recovery area. On the long serpentine path to the cooling pools and massage tables virtually every participant said the Los Cabos course, which included a total vertical climb of between 5,500 feet and 6,000 feet, was the toughest they'd faced, even more challenging than the world-championship route in Hawaii. It didn't help that Sunday also was one of the warmer days of the year in Los Cabos, with the heat complicated by stiff and erratic winds.

Despite the camaraderie I saw in the registration lines and at informal gatherings leading up to Sunday, participation in a triathlon is basically a lonely undertaking, with each competitor having an individualistic goal - to improve their time, to qualify for the world championships this fall in Hawaii, to simply finish. No one said a word about the $75,000 in prize money. More than one said triathletes almost without exception are "Type A" individuals, which was enough to explain their gumption, sacrifice and dedication.

A few other observations:

- The bigger the guy, the more likely he was to break into tears when crossing the finish line.

- By and large, Mexican competitors finished the course in stronger shape that participants from the United States. Don't know what to make of that, but a disproportionate number of the Mexicans looked as fresh and strong at the end as they had at the start; very few ended up in the medical tent. Maybe they simply were more acclimated to the heat and the sun.

- A surprising number of finishers volunteered that the volunteers were doing a smashing job of providing support while they were in town, particularly during the race. A lot of those volunteers, incidentally, were youths, who virtually to a person were conscientious, energetic and focused, though at the end I was ready to throttle the girl who at every opportunity seemed to be grabbing my red "Medical" shirt and urging me to hurry up and attend someone who was throwing up in the recovery area; generally, all they needed was a little time to catch their breath, turn in their tracking chips and get their "Finisher" t-shirt before easing onto massage table, recovery mat or ice bath. Actually, I admired her spunk. No matter how dazed and exhausted a competitor, incidentally, they all had enough wits about them to grab that "Finisher" t-shirt and check that it was the right size before relaxing.

Kathleen Calkins cools off with husband Shane, son Brady

- As an old newspaperman, I continue to look for the local angle. I found it when one of the persons I helped register early on was Kathleen Calkins, from Gold River, a suburb of the California's capitol city, Sacramento, where I live when not in San Jose del Cabo. Turns out that while the principal newspaper in our home region hasn't done a feature on her she's one of the world's high-ranking triathletes, finishing fifth among the professional women with an overall time of 9:46:55, just 11 minutes and 21 seconds behind the winning woman, Erika Csomor from Hungary. The winning man was Timo Bracht from Germany with an overall time of 8:26:48. Calkins, who purely by chance I spotted during the cycling segment before starting my turn at the medical tent, was one of those competitors who looked as fresh and relaxed at the end as she had early on in the race.

The day after: cleanup time

- There were glitches in the running of the triathlon, to be sure, such as no clear and comfortable area for friends and family to reunite with participants, particularly those who ended up for an uncertain stretch in the medical tent. On the other hand, most of the long-standing potholes in the roads that constituted the course got patched, and even dreaded topes - speed bumps - got resculpted so they wouldn't jar or throw speeding cyclists. From the standpoint of a volunteer, the most serious shortcoming was poor scheduling, coordination and communication early on; few volunteers appeared to be given a date, time and assignment beforehand, and, like me, just showed up at Ironman central to be directed to a specific place and role. Though volunteers took this lack of foresight in stride, it is something that needs to be rectified before next year's Los Cabos Ironman Triathlon, which, incidentally, is to be March 30.

Catching Up With San Jose Del Cabo

I've been remiss, also spelled l-a-z-y. No posting has appeared here for nearly a year. But after more than a month back in Los Cabos, and with spring break just around the corner, the time seems right to share a few discoveries that have gotten me excited this visit. Here's hoping they interest visitors soon to arrive:



Lyle Brunson with a rubbing of a Sea of Cortez dorado

- You can find some mighty fine produce at the Saturday farmers market in San Jose del Cabo, but the influx of vendors selling prepared foods and assorted arts and crafts looks to be outpacing the proportion of real-live farmers dealing in raw provisions. You can rue it or you can enjoy it, and after my initial hesitation I've come to appreciate the greeting-card artist, the furniture makers and even some of the jewelers. The vendor with the most unusual and striking art to sell, however, just may be Lyle Brunson of Los Barriles, a fishing and second-home retreat just to the north of San Jose del Cabo. Brunson practices with precision and sensitivity the old Japanese art of gyotaku printing, whereby freshly caught fish are painted with ink (in his case, acrylic), covered with a cloth (in his case, unbleached muslin made in Mexico), and then hand-rubbed in the style of tombstone rubbings. A longtime yacht skipper in the Caribbean and then Hong Kong, Brunson was taught the technique by a Japanese friend's grandfather before he moved to Baja 12 years ago. In addition to these sorts of prints, he is apt to be found along the beaches of the East Cape between San Jose del Cabo and Los Barirriles, ready to do rubbings of trophy catches as they are hauled in.



Markus Saffert, and Maria

- I'll admit it, I'm not a big fan of Cabo San Lucas, the tourist-heavy port about 20 miles southwest of San Jose del Cabo. That's probably because it's where we have to go each spring to renew our immigrant status, a process so needlessly complicated and unpredictable that I suspect it was modeled on the system used in the U.S., thus explaining why so many Mexicans hoping for work north of the Rio Grande bypass the bureaucracy. Lately, however, I've come to recognize that Cabo San Lucas has several things to offer other than anxiety attacks. One is The Cabo Bakery, a relatively new enterprise whose profile was jacked-up unexpectedly last summer when the G-20 Summit, a gathering of finance ministers and presidents from throughout the world, convened at San Jose del Cabo's new convention center. Someone involved in the correct feeding of these dignataries apparently had stopped in at The Cabo Bakery, liked what they saw in its cinnamon rolls, apple empanadas and so forth, and commissioned it to provide the conference with its baked goods. Bakers in San Jose del Cabo reportedly weren't pleased with the choice, but ever since area residents and visitors alike have been thronging to The Cabo Bakery along Avenue Lazaro Cardenas just up from the beach. There, owner Markus Saffert and staff member Maria are just barely keeping up with demand for their baked goods.

David, at work at Monkey Business

- Pleasure in Cabo San Lucas also is to be found at the walk-up bar Monkey Business in the core of the tourist district, fittingly just up the street from the immigration office. There, bartender David painstakingly mixes margaritas both robust and refreshingly tangy, and palomas that respect the nature of the tequila he pulls from the shelf. He seems to taste every cocktail he makes to verify that it measures up to his high standards, but I've seen him at the end of his shift, walking away upright and straight.

Pizzas at Flora's Field Kitchen

- Not so much discovery as rediscovery, our two favorite dining destinations in San Jose del Cabo remain at the top of their game. Restaurant H in San Jose's art district has relocated, but not far, moving only next door into quarters once occupied by the pirate bar El Morro. This move gave chef/owner Luis Herrera about a half-dozen more tables where he continues to deliver his modern and personal interpretation of traditional Mexican cuisine. The restaurant that continues to generate the most buzz in Los Cabos - Flora's Field Kitchen - actually has improved since a year ago, mostly by more focused service and a more relaxed attitude, which had become haughty as personnel were carried away with all the acclaim its food and setting was receiving. The centerpiece is the farm's open-air restaurant, but it is much more than that, including a sprawling and varied produce garden that visitors once again can stroll about without being harassed by management, a cluster of culinary cottages, a farmers market, an art gallery, a bakery and a bar. Three fellow diners at brunch recently swore that the "Hair of the Dog" cocktail they ordered was the best-ever interpretation of a Bloody Mary, while I had no quibble about my earthy and spicy beet-and-ginger margarita. Reservations highly recommended, and given its location a few miles outside of San Jose del Cabo, consult the map on its website.

A statue in the San Jose cemetery 

- Other rediscoveries worth noting are two attractions so quiet and unassuming that most visitors hell-bent to get to downtown San Jose del Cabo's farmacias from their rooms along resort row stroll right by them. One is the settlement's old and historic cemetery, surrounded by a tall and rippling wall that explains why it is so easily overlooked. The gravesites are squeezed in tightly. Virtually each one is ablaze with artificial flowers in a dazzling range of style and color. Simple crosses mark some sites, while veritable chapels loom over others. The plot of an apparent avid fisherman is topped with a concrete replica of his boat. The plot of the local hero of the U.S./Mexico war, Antonio Mijares, is marked by a large but curiously plain monument. The cemetery is at once reverential and joyous, an oasis of eternal contemplation in the middle of a zone devoted to escape and pleasure.

Hopeful fisher casts his net in the estuary

Directly across Mijares Boulevard from the cemetery is the estuary, the reason why there is a San Jose del Cabo at all. Here is the one spot where early sailors on the Manila-to-Mazatlan run could depend on a supply of fresh water. It's also where the settlement's first mission was established, though mosquitoes compelled the early friars to move inland in hopes of escaping them. Today, the estuary is a wild, scenic and peaceful domain that endures despite the abuse locals have inflicted upon it. This is where they built the noxious sewage-treatment plant, and this is where vandals periodically set ablaze its groves of palm trees. No concentrated effort has been undertaken to develop a series of paths through the estuary, though over the past year some attempts have been made to clean up and bring some sort of respect and order to the place. It is home to countless varieties of migratory and resident birds, and a favorite destination of fishers. As I strolled about the estuary one recent day I came upon an apparent local who had ridden his bike into the enclave, secured a shady spot on a bank, turned on his portable radio, and to the music was belting out ballads so melodic and sincere I expect to see him on the Latin America equivalent of "American Idol" any day now.