This was an extremely disappointing race. Long story short I couldn’t breathe heading up the first “hill” and got dropped. This was 2 miles into the 4 lap, 28 mile race. On the second lap I nearly got hit by traffic and ended up making a wrong turn, sweet. By the time I made it back to the course the 35+ 4/5’s had caught me. I pulled out at the end of the second lap completely frustrated.
Why did I get dropped so early? A bunch of possibilities including a) no warmup whatsoever, b) pollen allergies make breathing difficult, c) just barely missing an accident a quarter mile into the race on the wet roads made drafting terrifying, or d) I’m just plain out of shape.
TPM and Big Time also raced today and did well finishing with the pack.
Run of the Charles
This is a fun canoe race for me. I don’t train at all for it, just hop in and go. This was my sixth year doing it, but my first year doing it in the OC-1 (one man racing canoe). Perhaps one of the best things about this race was that it didn’t start until
The race was fun, although the portages were nasty. It’s a lot harder than it looks portaging with an 18 foot boat. No matter how you hold it you still hurt. I have a huge bruise on my hip now.
C-1’s were the first non-pro division to go off, and there were only 8-10 of us sitting at the line. I think I was the only person under 50. I’ve heard that the OC-1 division has been really dieing off in recent years as the kayak class gets more and more popular. Makes sense I suppose. Ask Big Time or Ken how hard it can be to make a canoe go straight with one person.
I was slow right from the start, although I’d like to think I sped up a little bit as the race went on and I remembered to canoe again. After all, the last time I raced a canoe was this time last year. Pretty much all the other boats dusted me in the water. I could paddle as hard as I wanted and still be unable match the 19-mile pace of everyone else. These guys are incredible.
As much as the portages hurt, they were my saving grace as usual. I felt like I was crawling along compared to running with an OC-2 boat, yet I was still passing a bunch of older folks struggling to carry their kayaks. I did manage to pass one older guy in a C-1 racing boat and stay ahead of him to the finish, although that was about my only real accomplishment for the day.
Coming out of a portage in
There’s one brief whitewater section in the race that is by far the most entertaining spot from a spectator’s point of view. It’s in a location with high current, just after a series of twisty turns underneath a large cement bridge that causes a funneling-like effect. In addition, there must be some rocks not far underneath the waterline because the rapids are pretty significant. So many people dump their tippy flatwater racing boats here that there is a “rescue-crew” that throws you a booey on a rope if you tip.
I figured for sure I was going swimming again here but I just barely managed to stay upright. I came in at a decent angle but the turn in the river pushes you closer to the outer edge of the river than you’d like to be. My canoe turned just a little sideways and some of the really big rapids caused me to take on some water. A little bit of rolling at the hips really saved me.
I actually felt pretty decent in the last five miles to the finish where the river opens up a bit. Normally this part of the race is total death. Thanks to cycling training for this. I crossed the finish in just over 3 hours and 30 minutes.
Erica, Andrew and I went over to Rudy’s in
2 comments:
I wondered what happened. I was in the 35+ pack and thought you might have have a mechanical. FWIW - I got dropped too...
I wish I could say it was mechanical though! Sorry to hear about your race although it sounds like you were at least doing some good work up front!
Post a Comment