Time Trial

I paddled a 4-person canoe tonight at the time trials. It was a lot of fun. I was in the second seat, behind Alec Davis. FWIW, second and third seats in a 4-person canoe are difficult positions to be in; the canoe is soo wide that it is difficult to use efficient technique. I am glad the course is only 3.45 miles in length.

We had a lot of fun .. we got a jump on all the paddlers at the start, then we got stuck on some rocks and got behind. We had to work hard as a team to get back into first place. At the finish we were edged out by a nose by an unlimited kayak. It was high fives and smiles all around after the race!

Distance: 3.45 miles
Time: 29'15"

If I were to paddle that c-4 again, I'd try to move the second seat closer to the bow and use a longer paddle.

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.

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.

Northern New York Paddlers TIme Trial

Tonight was my first NNYP time trial. I had to drive 1Hr 15 minutes to get my boat and get to the Erie Canal. The time trials are held in a little park owned by the local rowing club in Rexford, NY. I arrived with only minutes to ready myself for the race.

I had heard that a very good local paddler usually shows up with his kayak and destroys the field. Indeed, he is a very good paddler and I'd lost at least twice to him two years earlier when he was paddling the NYMCRA circuit. So ... I was expecting a similar result.

We all lined up, and then the race was off.

I paddled moderately because I had no idea where I was going. I was paddling out front, looking over my shoulder, trying to anticipate the course based on the direction and actions of the paddlers behind me. I had slowed at the 1/2 mile mark because I wasn't sure if we were turning at the bridge abutment! It was actually a lot of fun, but I didn't get a great workout.

After the race, the NNYP had a small party for one of its members and they offered me cake! It sure beats the pizza that I'd normally have with SLVP. I can't wait for the Electric City Regatta on Saturday.