Surfski Knowledge Base

flypaddle
05/21/08 #4400

Hey Gang,

Well last evening's wet ride from Stevens Pass to Bellingham marked
the end of an otherwise hot, sunny, six day motorcycle trip. In, and
among all the events, scenery, and general happenings that had
occured since last Thursday, I also participated in the Truckee
Downriver Race that runs through downtown Reno.

Last Saturday morning, I walked from our hotel, down to the Truckee
River a few blocks away. This river runs through a very nicelly
developed river front area within Reno. To my surprise, a full
slalom, whitewater course has been permanently set up, and people
from as far away as southern California, come here to train. When I
got there, people were busy setting up the regristration table for a
downriver race that would be held later that day, and a slalom race
for Sunday. During my enquiry, they asked me if I wanted to sign up.
When telling them that I just showed up the previous night on a
motorcycle, and didn't have any paddling gear, they immediately
directed me to Charles A. After the introductions, and general
paddling discussions, Charles took me to his house to get me a DR
boat, wing blade, PFD, and helmet. When I entered his garage, and
looked at the dozen (or so,) boats, I realized that this guy was
serious about paddling. Then, I entered his house, where hanging from
his vaulted ceiling were another dozen (or so) boats, that included a
beautifully restored wooded K-4, K-2, a couple of K-1's. Also
accompanying those boats were a mako surfski, Phantom, two person
high kneel canoe, various types of slalom boats, etc. It didn't take
long before I had a Zastra Savage 2000 Downriver boat and gear set
up. When I seemed impressed by his collection, he told me to go down
to the basement, where an additional 40 +/- boats were placed. then
glancing in his back yard was another pile of boats. I estimated
seeing around 60 boats!! Larry G, eat your heart out, you have some
catching up to do!

The race course was approximately 4.5 mile long, and rated as a class
2+, river. Since I have never run this course before, I had no
expectaion of myself other than to have fun. It did take me a bit to
get used to the 65 degree pitch russian wing blade, which has a
different feel to it from my 82 degree epic blade. Once the race got
underway, I took an early lead, and in spite of some seat issues, and
quick last second navigation techniques, I ended up winning. The
prize for having the fastest time was a very nice camelback, stuffed
with a teashirt, and sunblock lotion. I felt a bit guilty about
taking it because everyone was so nice to me, and bent over backwards
getting me gear at the last minute, and giving me advise on various
places to be aware of during the course. The paddling communtiy in
Reno could'nt have been nicer to me, and I would certainly encourage
anyone that travels there to check out the beautiful Truckee river
park.

See you on the water,

Joost

Re: Reno trip
Bob Putnam
05/21/08 #4401

Nice one Joost! A few year back at Port Townsend Sea Kayak Symposium
I met a couple of guys from the “Desert Canoe & Kayak Club” based in
Reno. They were doing a presentation on how to set up a “virtual
kayak club”. I can't remember their names. It sounded like the sea
kayak segment of the club was small in comparison to the whitewater
segment. Wonder why?
Bob