Surfski Knowledge Base

Nicholas Cryder
09/14/19 #25420

“Well that was hard, but it could have been worse”

Good turnout, almost 100 paddlers which is surprising because the weather was less than inviting. But a few of the usual suspects were absent; either horking croissants while sniffing fine cheese and slurping brilliant wine or not old enough to enjoy any of the above and chasing olympic level dreams. Oh yeah, and the Traverse was today so there's that.

Three wave start, with the self designated fastest paddlers going last at 9:30 which was single skis, rowers, oc2's and some double skis. No out of class drafting. It was a little strange to not blast off the line for a race start for a change, actually no it was very weird. Sort of an orderly and thoughtful gradual acceleration as maybe everyone took a moment to do some self reflection as to why on earth we'd be racing 20 miles in the rain in mid-September… “oh yeah, this is how I pay for my love of yummy food and drink!”

Once everyone got the race pace dialed in, the pressure started to build and the gaps started to form. At about 3k mark, Greg Redman took control of the race, and after a decent effort of staying with him for the next few km I knew that he'd only add speed and that I'd only loose speed and that I needed to just find a pace I could live with for the next ten miles. A young woman rower who had been dicing with us suddenly got leg cramps and I think we were sad to see her go. But I am pretty sure she finished the race anyway. Grit! As we rounded the final island and scooted past Granite Falls for the return trip, I imagined everyone on shore sipping cocoa and wrapped in snuggly towells… It was a handy reminder to be more friendly in order to get invited to be on a relay team.

The punishingly strong ebb that had made the trip north into the Fjord a grind was now my new best friend, and I was very grateful for the fast km's ticking by as the rain started to downpour.

By the race end, everyone had seemed to have paddled out the crazy inside and were pretty pleased that the forecasted 20mph wind never materialized (which would have been like paddling to upwind Eliza on a big day from the harbor…) so it wound up being very fun paddling for the most part in the rainy, super flat water.

Hats off to Deep Cove for hosting and running a dialed event; great food and drink afterwards and nice tents everywhere to shelter from the rain was a brilliant touch.

RESULTS: https://www.webscorer.com/racedetails?raceid=195203&did=217054

Nicholas Cryder

David Hooper
09/14/19 #25423

Nice write-up, Nick. Indeed we lucked out with the weather. I'd been watching the forecast all week, which was for rain all day and south winds gusting to 20+ mph. That would make the return 10 miles rather unappealing, so I didn't end up registering for the race until about 11 pm on Friday night. By then, the forecast had dropped to 8-10, gusting to 17. But in the end, none of it materialized, until about 2 or 3 pm. By then, we had all finished. Just glassy.

I started in the “fast” group at 9:30, but after trying to hang with Larry B. and a crew of folks in the middle pack for the first few k, I dropped back to a slower group. It's hard to judge how hard to go when you know some people are doing relays; I knew I had to pace myself for the full 20 miles. We chugged up the Arm, swapping leads and tailgates, until things spread out a bit at Croker Island, near the turn-around at Granite Falls. I think I saw Larry B. coming into the hand-off to Marc W. a little ways ahead of me.

The paddle back down the Arm was very differernt - all spread out, and I mostly paddled alone until Marc W. and a pack of 2nd-leggers blew by about half-way back. Then suddenly it was a race again, not just a weekend paddle in a beautiful fjord with clouds (and rain) drifting among the peaks. I would've liked to have jumped on the train, but didn't have the juice at that point. I had some good back-and-forth with another middle-aged male HPK doing the whole course. When we rounded Jug Island though, I was able to call forth some interval training muscle memory for a couple hard pushes that dropped him off my wake. Then it was just a grind to the finish for the last couple k.

In the end, I was pretty happy to knock several minutes off my time from last year and not have to paddle upwind for 10 miles. By the way, Larry B and Marc, I have the beers you won for being 3rd place in Men's HPK Relay. I'll try not to drink them between now and intervals on Monday.

A fun, beautiful, well-run, well-fed race. Highly recommended.

Dave H.

John Schwandt

09/15/19 #25426

Great Job to Nicholas (2nd overall) and David (23rd overall)! Thanks for the narrative. It sounds like a heck of a race.

The traverse was the opposite; short, downwind, and a complete blast till that little jog after (which I didn't budget for). :)
John S.

David Hooper
09/15/19 #25429

Thanks, John. Kudos also to Team Bussinger/Whitlock (20th overall) and B'ham SUP paddler Dale Plant, who finished 7th amongst the male SUPs - the only category with almost as many people as the male surfskis.

Glad you got to do your Traverse kayak leg!

Dave H.