Chalk Hill Has A Whole New Meaning.

The name Chalk Hill comes from the volcanic soil of chalky white ash, which produces remarkable wines like Chardonnay and

Sauvignon Blanc. However the soils themselves do not contain any chalk but rather are composed of a mixture of quartzite  volcanic ash, sand and silty loam. The volcanic was emitted into the area by Mount St. Helena over a course of centuries, creating vineyard soils that are not very fertile and are able to restrain vigor in the vines.

We noticed that Chalk Hilll had a nice curve at the top of the hill,

and was just where our husbands, spouses, and friends were going to be needing just a bit more motivation as they pulled themselves up this hill on the 112 mile bike ride, after the 2.4 mile swim, and just before the 26.2 mile marathon. This was our surprise to our athletes.

So, we got out our chalk, the kid-kind, not the kind that makes good wine, and started decorating the road with our athletes names.

And words of encouragement

that’s me.

While the cows watched. When I visit somehwere… I like to really get into the habit of where we are… and really learn about the character of a place. And, is there any better way to do it than to get out there on the road and walk around?

And when we realized, after we had risked life and limb on this curve, that when the trucks drove over our artwork,

that the tires on these heavy trucks just blew all the chalk dust up into the atmosphere… see the blurred words, above?

So, we wrote on signs that said, “we report

suspcious characters.” (Like us, perhaps?)

And then, we climbed trees, looking for places to write messages they would see as they climbed the hill on those bikes.

Because, this was one spot, we didn’t think we could stand to cheer them on, because of traffic. So we let chalk do the talk for us. And our athletes, could still see our work. The trucks didn’t quite blow it all away.