This morning I woke with a pinched nerve in my lower back and could barely walk. I talked it over with Dot and was just going to use the race as a chance to do an Long Distance paddle and speed recovery to my sore back.
The Electric City Regatta is held on Lock 9 on the Erie Canal. When we arrived, the weather was overcast and cool with no breeze. It was beautiful and there was even a barge near the canal.
The Electric City Regatta is held on Lock 9 on the Erie Canal. When we arrived, the weather was overcast and cool with no breeze. It was beautiful and there was even a barge near the canal.
After I registered, I did a 1 mile warmup. I was interested to know if my back could survive a 12 mile paddle. The pinched nerve limited my rotation on the right side, but I worked at stretching it on water.
The race start-
About 20 minutes before the first starting wave the winds picked up. Kayaks were to go last and I paddled around waiting for the start. I saw my friends Tom and Scott in their new K2. Scott trains A LOT [ I think he trains more than I sleep] and is a very good paddler. In sum, I expected to get dusted at the start.
Tom and Scott in their K2.
For whatever reason, they didn't blast off at the start and it made for a very lonely 9 or so miles of the race. I paddled up-canal for 5 miles turned at a buoy and then started to make my way down canal to the finish. In fact, when making a hard sweep at the buoy I felt something 'let go' in my lower back and was able to rotate and paddle without pain. Finally! I could now *race*. I was also now in the deep part of the Erie canal were my boat speed is relatively unaffected by the shallow water effect and I had finally caught up to the back of the first wave.
I caught the front of the first wave of canoes heading down canal, about 2 miles from the finish line. About 6 or 7 canoes were side waking and moving along very well as a pack. I knew from past experience that if I paddled alongside, that I would bring out the competitive nature of several of these canoeists and they would break formation. I didn't want to see this happen, as I think there was a lot of learning going on within the pack.
When I was spotted by one of the racers, the pack split. A mixed team, with a top male paddler seated in the bow, spotted me and made chase while another all male team slide onto my stern wake. [You can see the all male c2 just over my should in the photo below].
The race start-
About 20 minutes before the first starting wave the winds picked up. Kayaks were to go last and I paddled around waiting for the start. I saw my friends Tom and Scott in their new K2. Scott trains A LOT [ I think he trains more than I sleep] and is a very good paddler. In sum, I expected to get dusted at the start.
For whatever reason, they didn't blast off at the start and it made for a very lonely 9 or so miles of the race. I paddled up-canal for 5 miles turned at a buoy and then started to make my way down canal to the finish. In fact, when making a hard sweep at the buoy I felt something 'let go' in my lower back and was able to rotate and paddle without pain. Finally! I could now *race*. I was also now in the deep part of the Erie canal were my boat speed is relatively unaffected by the shallow water effect and I had finally caught up to the back of the first wave.
I caught the front of the first wave of canoes heading down canal, about 2 miles from the finish line. About 6 or 7 canoes were side waking and moving along very well as a pack. I knew from past experience that if I paddled alongside, that I would bring out the competitive nature of several of these canoeists and they would break formation. I didn't want to see this happen, as I think there was a lot of learning going on within the pack.
When I was spotted by one of the racers, the pack split. A mixed team, with a top male paddler seated in the bow, spotted me and made chase while another all male team slide onto my stern wake. [You can see the all male c2 just over my should in the photo below].
Race Finish Photos-
Another mixed team with the talented Joe Shaw in the bow.
Madpaddler nearing the finish line.
No comments:
Post a Comment