General Clinton Canoe Regatta

Just one year after we started racing canoes, my attention was drawn to a race in upstate New York - the General Clinton Canoe Regatta. This is a 70-mile brute of a race, which starts in Cooperstown, NY and travels down the Susquehenna River to the finish line in Bainbridge, NY. The sheer number of boats participating in the race is impressive - nearly 240 canoes and kayaks over three different start times. This was our sixth year and it was one of the hardest.

The race starts on the shores of Otsego Lake with 80 canoes poised to sprint across the lake to a buoy turn before starting down the river. The starts are always chaotic with barely enough room to paddle. There are crisscrossing waves trying to throw your canoe off course and threatening to flip your boat. Because of this, we've adopted a "stay out of the crap" approach to the start by lining up far to the left. This works well and we usually don't have to deal with waves until we get close to the buoy turn. This year, however, we had a great start and made it clean around the buoy and didn't have to deal with the waves until we were nearly in the river.

The first part of the river is known as the Swamp. This section is twisty and narrow with a good amount of current and a lot of debris in the water. Every turn brings a new surprise with downed trees blocking your way and submerged trees lurking just below the surface. You are also dealing with many canoes and a lot of adrenaline since it is still early in the race. In preparation for this section, we pre-run a five mile section to see what we are in for on race day and we were pleased to find that it was the cleanest we had ever seen it.

Eventually, the river slows down, getting wider and straighter. This is the time to find a group of canoes to paddle with. Similar to bike racing, there is a substantial benefit to paddling in a group. Each canoe throws off waves as it travels through the water. If you paddle in front of the waves from another canoe, you can go faster while using less energy. This also serves as a sort of "pace car" since you are willing to put in a little extra effort at times to make sure you don't lose the pack.

In past years, we've tried to join a pack of canoes, but we struggled to stay on the wave. This year was different. Our ability ride another wake has improved dramatically and we were in a large pack of canoes for a long time. This contributed greatly to how well we did over the first half of the course.

After the Goodyear Lake portage, there is always some good current from the dam release. This feels great after spending a few hours on slow-moving flat water. But there was a problem this year. For some reason, it didn't look like there had been a release from the dam. The big waves, which had scared us our first year, were nowhere to be seen. Instead, the water was shallow and not too fast. Knowing that our weakness is shallow water, we knew we were in for a long day.

The rest of the day consisted of finding the deeper channels when possible and dodging the rocks in the shallows. We were able to do this much better than in years past, yet we were still forced to get out of the canoe several times and carry our boat across some very shallow sections.

The lower section of the river seems to drag on forever and you are continually battling the ebbs and flows of your energy level. One thing that helps is the number of people cheering you along the way. In addition to the cheers of strangers, we had much of our family there, too, which is always nice.

After crossing the finish line, you pull up alongside a dock and try to get out of your boat. After ten long hours, you are tired and your legs are a bit wobbly. Though we did okay, we watched some people who could barely stand.

In the end, we finished 15th out of forty boats - our highest finish ever. We felt strong for most of the race and we were moving forward within our class for most of the day.

And of course, we are already thinking about doing it next year.

Commuting in the Spring

This was a wonderful day to bike to work. A beautiful clear day with no wind. The flowers are in bloom, bringing with them the wonderful fragrance of spring.

The ride to work started as most do - passing all the cars, which are stopped in traffic in the center of town. I rolled past some apple orchards and some farms before passing the hospital. A short time later, I rode through a small neighborhood before hitting my favorite part of the ride - crossing the causeway over Sandy Pond.

On this day, I was even looking forward to riding down "Stinky Farm" road since the lilacs were sure to mask the normally awful stench. I approached the most difficult intersection of my commute and was pleased to see that there were no cars coming from either direction. I started across and was on my way to "Stinky Farm" road.

"What the ....!"

Once I was halfway across the road, I spotted the car pulling out from the gas station. The driver was looking down the road and never looked my way before pulling out. I tried to take evasive maneuvers, but I didn't have time. Soon enough, I was on the pavement.

I took a quick inventory and realized I wasn't hurt too badly. I think I was yelling at the driver before I even got up from the ground.

She apologized repeatedly and said, "I didn't even see you. Where did you come from?" - admissions of guilt as far as I am concerned. I gathered her information and said I would be in touch to let her know what it would cost to repair my bike. I also was able to get the name and number of a witness.

The rear wheel was trashed, making it impossible to ride the bike. I called home and waited for my ride. While I waited, I looked the bike over and was amazed that most of the damage was superficial. When my ride arrived, I took off my helmet and was surprised to see that I had obviously hit the back of my head when I fell. The helmet had done a wonderful job.

As the day went on, I started feeling the injuries I sustained - a sprained wrist, bruises and a couple of cuts and abrasions. Upon further reflection, I realize how lucky I was not to have sustained any significant injuries. Had the driver accelerated quickly, I would have been hit with a much greater force and may have even been run over. Also, with the exception of the rear wheel, the bike was fixed with only a couple of hours of work.

What did I learn?

• Always where a helmet (something I already do)
• Drivers don't see you, even on days with perfect visibility
  
• Always use blinking lights to draw attention to yourself

And did I mention that this all happened during "Bike to Work" week. How's that for irony.

Run of the Charles

The Run of the Charles is the first race of the season for us. This 19-mile race starts in the suburbs of Boston and finishes near downtown Boston. Of all the races we compete in, this one has the best mix of racing canoes, kayaks and recreational canoes. It holds a special place for us since it was the first race we competed in.

Each race has it's own unique flavor. This one is marked by the number of portages. Six different times, we hop out of the boat, hoist it on our shoulders and run over trails and city sidewalks until the next put-in is reached. It's exhausting and it always feels great to get back in the canoe.

This spring, there hasn't been much rain so the river water level was much lower than typical. Paddling in shallow water is a weakness for us, so we expected it to be a long day. We just didn't know how long.

At the first portage, Seth hung his feet over the edge of the boat into the water to slow us down. His one foot caught a rock and before he knew it, he was flopping around in the water. He regained his footing and we started down the trail.

The race was went well after that. We were battling a couple of other canoes and the portages went better than the first. After portaging the Moody Street dam, the river is narrow and the water was shallow. We had done well on the portage and were putting in an effort in order to put some distance on the trailing canoe. Suddenly, Seth says, "Watch out!" and we hit a rock and I'm out of the boat and in the water. Amazingly, he stays in the boat.

Not five minutes later, Seth says, "Oh, shit!" and we hit another rock. Again, I'm in the water and Seth stays in the boat. This time, the canoe behind us took some evasive moves and thankfully avoided running into me as I lay in the water.

By this time, we were pretty discouraged and we still needed to get past the breached dam in Watertown. This has been a trouble spot for us in the past. Last year, we went for a swim. As we approached, we were were in a pretty good position, but we started drifting into the standing waves. The boat suddenly tips dramatically and we were all but going for the swim. But something different happened. We both fought it as hard as we could and we managed to stay upright. It was a miracle.

The rest of the race was uneventful as we cruised to the finish. We finished first, second and last - we were the only canoe in our category.

Mt. Osceola and East Osceola

On March 16th, our group of hikers, Greg, Tom, Chris and myself headed to the Greeley Pond Trail to climb East Osceola and Osceola. This is an out-and-back hike with 3100 feet of climbing over 7.6 miles. The day was slightly overcast with the temperature in the 20's. There was hope that the afternoon would bring clearer skies.

The hike started with a pleasant 1.3 mile walk through hardwood forest before it meeting up with the Mt. Osceola trail. This trail climbs the steep slope of East Osceola with most of the climbing over a 0.5 mile section. Crampons were required and Greg broke all sorts speed records when he finally decided to put them on.

The climb was very steep and tiring. Each time we rounded a bend, there was another long steep section. Finally, we reached the ridge and the climbing was over - for now. By this time Greg and Tom had eased into a leisurely pace in preparation for their "picnic" lunch.

Chris and I followed the ridge and after crossing the summit of East Osceola (don't blink or you missed it) we descended steeply to the col and headed toward Osceola. On the way, we came to a very step section where we were presented with two options - a steep climb up an icy "chimney" or a steep, semi-exposed climb around the "chimney". Since the chimney required the use of an ice axe, something we didn't have, we opted for the path around the chimney.

Continuing on, we reached the Osceola summit, which was completely in the clouds, paused briefly and started our return. The descent around the chimney was more exposed than we recalled and we nervously descended, hoping our crampons would hold tight.

The steep descent of East Osceola was a lot of work and Chris was overheating. After some encouragement, he decided to cool off by making a face print in the snow.

Being just before the start of spring, this was the last winter hike of the season. It was a great way to finish.

Back on the Water

After several months away from the water, I finally returned this past weekend. I enjoy many outdoor winter activities, so I usually wait until the weather warms up and the snow is gone before I load the canoe on the car. With all the snow we've received this year and the fast approaching race season, I couldn't afford that luxury this year. So on Saturday morning, I cleared yet another snowfall off of my car, mounted the Yakima rack on the roof and loaded up the canoe.

I headed to the Charles River in Newton to meet my brother Seth. The water was high and cold, so we would be paddling our most stable single canoes (Wenonah Advantage). Seth had already paddled a few times this year and I was still suffering from a rib injury. I expected to struggle to keep up.

From the start, my ribs were hurting, but I did my best to block out the pain. We paddled up river as far as we could, battling strong current in many spots. Of course, the return paddle was a lot of fun.

Along the way, we spotted numerous swans, ducks and geese - and a very large fake alligator.

We ended up paddling about 8 miles and finished loading the canoes onto the cars just before the suddenly vigilant state police came to chase us out of the parking lot before dusk.