Surfski Knowledge Base

gorge news
Reivers Dustin
07/21/17 #21692

quite a show. for the barge and stern wheeler boats it was a target rich week. Lots of nice crunchy fiberglass bits with the brightly colored spandex people on top. steady flow of paddlers all up and down the river. Duncan and Kevin had trailers so they were hauling for downwinders pretty steady. Wind was good and conditions felt better for the race than last year. Race day Thursday this year. really incredible to see a 500 boat event. As a study in human behavior it seemed like Carter was trying to stage a beetle race. Only the beetles in this event had a shorter attention span. Lots of antanea rubbing when they should have been looking for the cheese.

I (rd) am borrowing LG's laptop to post so this message might not have my usual laser like focus. My race was a little less fun since I sorta overdid myself in the prior days. Hard to act my age with all the youthful enthusiasm going off all over. The Aussies and Saffa's were well represented. Also the SoCal gang. A relatively local guy won the give-away surfski (Micheal Wood). Micheal immediately donated it to the Bellingham Youth paddler program. Lots of other bling. Jasper Mocke won a PFD (yeah, a Mocke). He has plenty, So he staged up a planking competition in which the winner was our Dmow (Dennis M.) I have to say also there were tons of incredible women athletes. Gwen D did well, Heather rocked it, Tracy L. done good. A cool lady down here named Kelly diced OC-1s with LG for mile after mile.

I'm still knackered from yesterday so will close. I got to practice for real the notion that I can enjoy a race without being overly attached to the results. It was harder than I thought, but the spectacle of this event helped. genuinely awesome.

rd

paul clement
07/21/17 #21693

Great post. Quite the show down here.
It is impossible to overstate the performance of Ana Swetish yesterday. She absolutely killed it (probably worthy of all caps). She's a cool kid with her head screwed on properly. Proof positive of the program that Steve, Tom and E'Lana run.
Paul

duncanhowat

07/22/17 #21698

The good news is that there was only one hospital case all week and it wasn't me or RD ,David ,LG Larry B (although all were close) . And legit rookie of the year, with only about 4 months of paddling blazed it down here.goes To Josh. All in all many great down wind runs were made by thousands. Next year whole new plan. Probably Paul also, and perhaps all Bellingham ready for the start; however it may happen. Larry B and I were but that didn't help me so much. Don't

David Hooper
07/25/17 #21707

Many thanks to all for a great week at the Gorge, from the organizers hard work to Duncan’s shuttling and porch hosting to Medler and his van/tent/boat-hauling rig to a great and welcoming Bellingham crew. My first time there and I had a blast. Many a good wave to ride.

Yeah, about that hospital case…It turns out that atrial fibrillation is like a bad house guest who returns when you least expect it. I’ve only had it once before, and a doc friend of mine said that there’s a 40% chance of recurrence over 5 years. Turned out it only took 5 months. At least I knew what was happening this time and so was in and out of the ER in ~2.5 hours: a quick trip to sleep thanks to prophinol, a quick zap to the heart, and about 1 hour recovery. Lunching with ambulance driver Medler by noon.

What brings on A fib? I’m trying to figure that out. Last time I’d spent the day chasing around a young buck on a backcountry ski trip in the Selkirks, with some work stress chasing me around on what was supposed to be a vacation. This time, I’d spent the day chasing a bunch of older bucks around on surfskis, but it would be a hard to call the week “stressful” (other than the 12 hour transition Sunday night getting back from skiing Mt. Baker to leaving Monday morning with Medler). Docs call A fib “holiday heart” – too much partying can bring it on. So maybe it was the Medler margarita the night before (he makes a very good one). Or all of the above. I’ll be trying to figure that out when I get back from field work in California at the end of the week.

Right now, I’m just glad it happened on the flattest day all week.

Hooper

Michael Gregory

07/26/17 #21710

David,

Good to hear your Atrial Fibrillation (AF)responded well to cardioversion. However, a visit with a Cardiologist is recommended to make clear that there are no worrisome causes for your AF and to formulate a treatment plan.

Typically AF is seen in those with untreated hypertension but, there is another group that has is affected. Surprise, mature endurance athletes have increased incidence of AF. I had the opportunity to visit with a UW Cardiologist and enquired what might be the cause of AF in such an otherwise very healthy group. His response, “we really don't know”. Reassuring, right?

Mike.

David Hooper

07/27/17 #21723

Hey Mike,

Thanks for the info. Yes, I’m setting up appointments to figure out how to proceed. I was lax about that the first time – just figured it was some weird one-off occurrence. But this last slap in the chest has me motivated, for sure.

I’ve been hearing about the endurance athlete – heart problem link from Pete Beglin (ski buddy and cardiologist, who fortunately was with me the first time the AF happened). I guess I’m one more data point in that link.

Thanks again,

Dave

Michael Gregory

07/27/17 #21725

Dr Beglin is a excellent resource. Flecanide has been a great remedy for my AF. Mike.

lori & beau whitehead

07/27/17 #21730

Cardioverting a conscious patient who is in a-fib is always entertaining. We usually start by saying “this isn't going to feel very good.” Normally we are shocking an unconscious patient during CPR. Glad you were asleep for it & it was a quick fix.