Surfski Knowledge Base

Reivers dominates 12 K course!
allipp@aol.com
09/16/23 #34402
https://www.webscorer.com/racedetails?raceid=328843&did=408827

SimonB
09/16/23 #34403

And Denise and Wilson!!

Reivers Dustin 09/16/23 #34404

Er, well. Things are not always what they seem. Excellent conditions, lots of talent. The big dogs ran with the 18km pack. I picked 12km and it was pretty good. About like those old time deep cove races only Cates Park is a better venue. I kept my plans to myself about going so all my arch-rivals would be thinking about Sammish. It worked perfect.

There was a guy named Dave from Kowlona who was a much faster paddler. But he got tangled up making the wrong turn at the half-way point. And no I did not put any “funny pills” in his coffee. I had my usual “what the heck am I doing here” start. I saw three surfskis pulling away from me early. Dave was the fastest, next was a slim young man, maybe 14 or 16 y.o. Next was a really tough young lady, Lori Velisek. Took me 1/3 of the race to catch up. She was strong and smart. She worked the back eddies like a pro. She also knew how to talk to all the touring paddlers getting in our way. It was such a nice day out - there were “algae sniffers” everywhere. I tried my best to keep up with Lori and that was a charm. We reeled in some of the slower 18km racers as well as that spirited young man with the rocket start. We were a pack of three at the mid-race turn. But I noticed the young guy wasn't good at working the draft and he lost focus on us two paddlers. He put himself out of shape going across from Jug Island to Deep Cove. I could also tell that both these kids had burnt themselves with such a hard start to the race. So I kept the power on and gapped those two. Meanwhile I kept looking ahead for Dave from Kowlona and no sign of him.

Anywhoo. I feel like I beat up on a kid and a young lady to get my podium. And you will know Dave if you meet him. He looks a lot like “The Rock”. He's huge and cut. Has to paddle a V-10sport because he's a big guy.

My average velocity for the race was 6.53mph. That's respectable for me. I credit Lori, because there was an ebb going against us on the way up the Arm. This was a well run race, lots of bling, an hour and half from B'ham. Great to see Bob P., Daryl, … all the Canadian rascals. Extra nice to have Deano, dMow, LB and some of the others not hogging the podium all the time. Which, by the way, Wilson killed it today, and Denise W. Bham brought back some little wood plaques. yay for us.

rd

beau whitehead 09/16/23 #34405

Here’s the link to the 18k race (actually was more like 17k, but it hurt just the same)

https://www.webscorer.com/racedetails?raceid=328843&did=408828

Reivers Dustin 09/16/23 #34406

OK, so taking my average speed over 12km, cranking that into 18km (unlikely that I could actually hold that speed) means I would have finished about 43rd overall.

Argh! I'm a pretender, not a contender.

Well. I had a fun day anyway. yay for me.

Bob Putnam
09/17/23 #34407

Strong Work Reivers. Great to see you north of the border. Kind of like the old days. Was hoping some of the other barnacles would have made it up but now I understand your logic of keeping the trip a secret. I always like how the young sprinters try to win an 18km race in the first Km. We’ll probably see you at Lk Samish.

Paul Reavley
09/17/23 #34408

Excellent race Bob! Pretty uncommon city venue that can handle that many racers (149) that well - parking o'plenty, etc. - good crowd, good food…

(I should have worn some kind of shoe - if you turned in at the end too far west the walk back up to the grass was a little rough on feet - hope you're no worse the wear from your tumble)

Paul Reavley
09/17/23 #34409
Reivers - don't know exactly what your race path would have been, but Wilson says his measured 17.52 k - so maybe that makes up for any lost speed in your whatif calculation about the longer race…

1999.4 miles by the Pretenders

Thanks for the race description