Think Legend

Ok. I needed to clear my head, so I took out the think legend for a 1 hr time trial.

All I can write is *Wow*! The legend is a lot of fun ... fast, accelerates well, and is fun!

I did my usual loop.



Time: 57 minutes
Distance: 7.00 miles

I must say, it was a great way to clear my head!

Disappointment

So, Dot called Mac to confirm my registration, only to learn that I somehow got dropped from the 90-miler and *can't race* unlimited k1. Paydirt! This is unfair.

For me, the 90 miler comes around only once every 6 years.

I was registered to paddle in the 90 with a very good friend in stock canoe. Mac acknowledged this in June at the 9-miler; we laughed and goofed about our training program. Later, my friend had to withdraw from the 90-miler due to work conflicts. However, Mac told me that everything would be ok and that I still have a 'seat' at the 90 in spite of the set-back. I asked him specifically about paddling k1 at the St. Regis race and he said "no problem".

Now, I am told that I cannot race.

My plans are like a bad MasterCard commercial.

a second hand boat: $1950
two nights accomodations: $150
comfortable lifejacket: $120
gu and sports drink: $60
Getting *dropped* from the 90-miler: Priceless

Birthday present

So ... after lugging around a 41+ lb boat during practice yesterday, my wife purchased me a new lightweight surfski for my birthday!! She bought me a second hand 'Think Legend'. It is a nice boat, fast in the shallows, good in the deep water and it's *only* 26 lbs! It should be a great companion for the 90-miler!

We drove all night to pick it up ...

I had it for a short session. I notice a few things about the boat: (1) it is *very* stable, (2) at speed, it has slightly less glide [or is slightly more 'draggy'] compared to my fenn mako6, this maybe a result of the horribly shaped rudder? or the flattish bottom? The jury is still out. (3) it is the *most* comfortable cockpit ever built into a ski - I can rotate, (4) it planes out well in shallows, but bogs hard in suckwater.

I wonder what the Think Uno is like ... Mmmm ... now that might be fun!

Reference for picture - http://www.thinkkayaks.com

90 Practice Run

Today I tagged along with the NNYP club for a day of portages and paddling. In short, I needed to learn where the portages were in order to ready myself for the 90.

I started with paddling with a stock canoe around 10:30ish. We talked and paddled to the first portage, where it was clear that I was *too* slow on the portages.

An analogy can be made to the motion of a slinky ... they would leave me behind on land and I would spring forward on the water easily catch and pass them. We did the 'slinky dance' until Brown's track portage. When I put on at Brown's track, the canoe was long gone and I couldn't tell if they'd paddled up- or down-stream. So ... I sat on the dock and waited for nearly 1/2 hour before getting directions from Kim. Kim, Joan, and my wife were setting up a pit stop for the lagging war-canoe.

I then got to Racquette lake. I was alone and desperate for directions, so I talked to some fishermen. It turns out that they share a difference of opinion as to what constitutes a 'cove'. [They told me to, " ... paddle along until you get to the second cove ... the second cove will be the marion river ...". Incidently, the second cove by leads you into another gigantic lake.] Nevertheless, after about an hour, I finally spotted Bob [a great guy and good stock boater]. I followed Bob into the Marion River and slowly made my way to the final portage.

Alas, the war canoe finally caught up and I raced them to the take out. They were slightly faster on the portage [my kayak weighs 40+ lbs], but I had the advantage on the water. I beat them to the take out! Woot! Woot!

Newcomb North Country Challenge

It seems the more I paddle the slower I go, in training I am consistently paddling over 7.25 mph for 1-2+ hrs. On race day I struggle and often fail to hit 7.25 mph. I have no idea why this is the case lately ...? In the past, I am far faster come race day than I'd been in training. Not the case lately ...

Anyway, this weekend was the Newcomb Northcountry Challenge. The last time I paddled it was 2007 and if memory serves me correctly it was *wicked windy*. That year, there were a few swimmers on one end of the lake. I remember that race well ...

This year, the course was as flat as a duck pond. In spite of not having my flatwater boat, I enjoyed racing a k2. I had a very good first lap [37 min], and barely held it together on the second lap [got some severe foot/leg cramps ... ].

I couldn't get a consistent glide from my boat - I wonder how much of the course is cement water?

Time: 1hr17min

Dist: 9.15 mi

It was enough for fastest time of the day and first place. I was more excited by the TWO packs of free granola nut clusters that they provided after the race!! Mmmmm ... Mmmmmm ....

Nearing the speed of light &Time Trial

The theory of relativity holds significant fascination for me. As a particle approaches the speed of light, 'relativistic effects' become significant. These relativistic effects are immeasurably small for everyday objects, but as a particles speed approaches the speed of light, relativistic effects become measurable. Two such relativistic effects are time dilation and length contraction. If two observers are moving relative to one another, they will get different measurements for the length of a given object or the time that passes between the two observers. At tonight's time trial, I believe I was able to measure time dilation. (jking of course)

I paddled the bow of a stock canoe this week. I started my watch on "go" and I crossed the finish line in 31'20", our timer said 32'07". What? Three, four or even ten seconds could be attributed to *random error*. However, standard watches, yet different times?? Hmm ... Relativistic effects?! We must have been moving very fast! LOL.

My time:
31'44" (I'll take the median)
3.49 miles
173 HR avg

Nevertheless, it was a lot of fun and a good workout!

5th Time trial

Tonight was *HOT and HUMID*.

Three weeks ago I *cruised* the course and ended up with a sub 28 minute time, tonight I planned to break my previous PR. Despite near perfect conditions and a very hard effort, I failed.

In the end, I paddled:
Fiberglass Mako6 (aka blue bullet)
3.45 miles
27'30"
7.53 mph

Dang!

GPS from fifth time trial.

FWIW - In the surfski, I have to start my GPS early in order to get data, as I can't reach it on the bulkhead to push "start". So I start it about 10 minutes b/f the race. If you look closely, you can see that the race started at a distance of 0.28 miles.

Comedy of errors

Ok ... so this weekend was a comedy of errors.

It all started when I got to my apartment Friday after work, too late to drive home to go camping as previously planned. It continued on Sunday, when I thought I could race my ICF on a wind blown lake, and culminated in my running through the woods with a canoe on my back!

I got to the St. Regis Canoe Classic with plenty of time to register and ready myself for the race. In fact, all was well until I walked past the sheltered parking lot. At the water's edge, my boat nearly blew out of my hands. No big deal, right? WRONG!

Madpaddler testing the waters about 40 minutes before the race start.

The waves were coming into my cockpit!

A quick test run revealed that it wouldn't be a good idea from me to paddle my Mohawk. So ... I was going to "chicken out" and go to Lake Placid to have dinner with some friends. As I was packing up, I saw MAC. Mac was very gracious and offered me his woodstrip c1.

The only catch was that I'd have to drive out to his place, pick it up, and drive back before the race started (ca. 15 minutes). He gave me directions, which I remembered as "turn right on Rte 30, drive to the 'T', turn right, drive 2 miles, and turn right." I followed his instructions and as it turns out, exactly 2 miles past the 'T' there is a a right hand turn onto a side road. I turned right on the side road and was still looking for his place when the race started. In short, I *shouldn't* have turned right, as MAC's place is about 2.1 miles past the 'T'.

After returning from my trip, I was 20 minutes late. My wife informed the race director that I had changed boats and was now paddling a stock c1. For the record, I have only ever raced a C1 once. No problem ... they are like kayaks with training wheels, right? Not true ...

I found that paddling a canoe in the wind has its own unique set of problems. Instead of getting swamped, the bow is pushed around A LOT more than the bow of my kayak. Save for the wind-cocking issues, the trip across the lake through spitfire and onto lower St. Regis was mostly uneventful.

As I was making my way to the portage, I looked skyward and saw a bald eagle frolicking in the breeze. I allowed my canoe to glide and watched in enjoyment. On the portage, the enjoyment of watching the eagle was replaced with agony.

I grabbed the wood strip boat, threw it on my right shoulder and began jogging, essentially barefoot. The path is a 1/4 mile route uphill on a narrow path through the woods, then is about another 1/4 mile on a dirt road. As I was running with my head-down uphill, I passed by an Adirondack lean-to, continued down hill, through a stream, next to a pond, back up hill, and then the trail disappeared! Suddenly I realized that I was not on the portage path! I backtracked to the lean to and found the portage path. I figure I ran an extra 1/4 mile or so ... (detour marked in red below ...lol)

I was amazed that I wasn't out of breath when I arrived at the put-in. I started to make my way back to Paul Smith's College. Within 5 minutes, I was passed by a C2. It was the C2 of Kennedy/Santor. [They were paddling the long course and I was at the back of the pack for the short course] We exchanged well wishes and then they were off.

As I made my way to the lake, wind-driven waves replaced the calm water of the river. I had a hard time surfing the c1 to the finish line. A c1 doesn't have a rocker profile nor the chines to permit surfing at angles of greater than 45 degrees to the direction of the waves. Surfing straight down wind and about 10 degree to straight is fine ... but 45 to 60 will make the boat heave and bob. In any event, I managed to make my way to the finish line.

Madpaddler in c1 stock at finish.

My GPS tracks.

I finished the race with a GPS time of 1hr 27min. I guesstimate that I can subtract about 3 to 4 minutes from this time (because of running on the wrong trail in the woods), which would also subtract about 0.25 miles from the 7.7 miles.

Distance 7.45 miles

Time 1 hr 25 min (?)

4th Time Trial

Tonite I didn't paddle. The hot glue that fixes the blades to the shaft came undone during my previous workout. I don't have the tools to fix them while I am away from home. So, once again, I was waiting on a promise to paddle tandem canoe. The canoe and paddler never showed up.

I sat on a picnic table, reflecting on life and enjoying the evening. Below are two images taken about 1/2 an hour after the time trial at the Park.

The barge canal at the rexford park looking "downstream".

The barge canal at the rexford park looking "upstream".

Tempo workout

I had a fair bit of excess energy from tapering and NOT racing at the Owasco Challenge. I needed to race. Given that there were no races on Monday, I decided to do a 1 hour time trial on the Erie Canal. I can normally paddle about 7.2 miles in an hour, which is about the distance from the Rexford boathouse to the 3rd upstream bridge.


I paddled 7.2 miles in just about 57 minutes.

Lake Owasco

My wife came down Saturday night, so I am skipping the Lake Owasco challenge. Maybe next year?!