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!

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 (?)

Electric City Regatta

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.

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.

The back of the first wave (yes ... that's the "Captain"in the red hat) at the finish line.

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-

Mixed canoe with top ranked male paddler in the bow.

Another mixed team with the talented Joe Shaw in the bow.

Madpaddler nearing the finish line.

I finished the 11.18 mile course in 1 hr and 33 minutes.

Macs 9-Miler

I raced my first kayak race of the season on saturday. It was a horrible race, but a great training paddle. The course is officially known as the Tupper Lake 9-miler, but is really a 7.3 mile course on a narrow, but deep river. I'd estimate the current to be about 0.3-0.5 mph. Prior to the race, the race director told us to be mindful of some giant rocks and ledges just under the surface. His advice was to stay b/w the green and red buoys.

After a 10 minute warmup, I was ready to race. It was too difficult to get a 'front position' on the starting line so I had to line up behind a mass of boaters. Nevertheless, I moved from the second line to first position within 3 minutes. I was now on clean, "fast" water and was putting time b/w myself and second position (perhaps b/w 30 seconds and a minute per mile). As I neared the 3 mile mark, I was moving into the first of three boulder strewn channels, marked with about 15 sets of red/green buoys. Recalling what the race director had said, I positioned myself b/w the first set of red/green buoys hoping to stay away from the boulders. Nearing the 3rd set of buoys, I felt my kayak heave hard to one side - I HAD HIT A BOULDER. [the buoys had apparently moved due to high water]. I tried valiantly, using whitewater technique, to keep the boat upright, but in the end I failed. I was upside down. I now had to swim to shore, empty the boat and get underway.

As I was swimming to shore, I saw the lead pack pass me. I also felt devastated as I saw the second and third packs pass me - I was now 'dead -last' and still swimming. As I was making my way to shore I noticed a touring class paddler getting into his boat - I learned after the race that he had hit the same rock.

Once I got to shore, I met perhaps the nicest 'little old lady' - she was watching the race from her dock. She offered to let me use her dock and also offered to help. I appreciated the offer of help, but didn't really want it nor need it. I knew I could empty my boat of water much faster than 'we' could. She insisted on helping (she even offered me a 'cold drink - lemonade, water, & cookies, etc' .. lol ) and after what seemed like an eternity, I had returned to racing.

I paddled hard, telling myself that I could catch the leaders b/f the finish. After about 2 miles, I had passed the third pack. Another mile and I'd chased down the 2nd pack. It wasn't until I turned the final corner and was pointed towards the finish that I came within sight of the leaders AND the finish line. I 'sucked it up' and sprinted the final 0.5 mile. The lead pack had broken up as people sprinted for the finish ... in sum, I passed all but three kayakers from the lead pack. Two paddlers belonged to the 'masters' class, so I came away with second place hardware and a chance to set the course record another day. I also came away with a very good training day as I had a very fast second half; I worked much harder trying to catch up than I would have if I'd paddled out front. Results are posted here.