Round the Rock
My day started at 3:40am. I woke up, made some coffee and breakfast and met up with Harry from WAZ SUP shop and local SUPer. He was a trooper driving Scott and I down and back from Seattle. We picked up Scott in Surrey and made our way down to Mercer Island. It was a beautiful morning with the fog really low and the air crisp.. There weren't many gas stations open over the border but when we did find one Scott and I had an unpleasant surprise in the outhouse... GROSS!
We arrived to the race site with enough time to get ready say hello, warm up and have the race meeting.. It was pretty cool out in the morning with some small chop developing on the water. Although chilly at the start I figured it was going to be a hot day so I still brought hydration(VestPac) and dressed for HOT rather than cold...
With about 200 racers at the line it was a little crazy out on the water. Starts are always a little hectic anyways so I was pretty glad once the gun went off and people started spreading out.. I had a decent start and managed to get out far on one side where there was some clean water.
Quickly I found myself on my own as I had no one to draft... the water went from chop to smooth and the air temps from cool to HOT..haha.. I managed to come across the line in 8th overall and 1st overall female. I felt pretty good throughout the long race on my SIC X14 ProLITE and my hydration packed full of SkratchLab goodness. Unfortunately, I missed the awards but fortunately was back in Vancouver at a decent time and got to hang out with that wonderful hubby of mine (and friends:)).
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| finish line at RTR photo: village of Stoke |
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| start line at RTR photo: village of Stoke |
Board the Fjord
Board the Fjord was the final for the SUP BC CUP and a beauty of a race, especially in 28C Sunny weather. The toughest part of the race was the boat wake... but it also made the long distance even more interesting and kept me on my toes (the scenery on this race is amazing.. it does not need help but it is a long distance flat water race... still tough on the mind sometimes) . A sunny day in Deep Cove brings out the boaters for sure. I raced on a 12'6 so I could qualify for points on the BC series. It would make it tougher and longer race but thats okay... good training:)
The cool thing about this race is the sprint HOT SPOT $$$. About 400m from the start there was a buoy and the first female and male won some $$$ thanks to THINK kayaks. Even though I was on a 12'6 I managed to get to the buoy first among the ladies.. I had a nice clean start without too much rough water so I lucked out:)
The rest of the race I was mainly on my own, surrounded by some men that I couldn't draft:) In the end I managed to get first overall for the 12'6 division. I had a great race and felt great throughout. I am now addicted to Skratch Labs for my hydration mix thanks to Feed the Machine. I also tried my new Larry Alison A team fin... and of course as always paddling my small Werner Grand Prix paddle and on my SIC 12'6 XPRO LITE board... Mike and Karly of Deep Cove Canoe and Kayaks really put on a great event, with food at the end, a shorter course, and a kids course... THANKS guys!
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| course photo: Mark Klein |
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| top 3 12'6 photo: Mark Klein |
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| photo: Mark Klein |
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| photo: Mark Klein |
SoCal Time
Now the main season is coming to a close.... so its California time for Hunting Beach World Series and BOP... and maybe a small one in between the two.. 'cause why not? Big thanks to the Howson's for hosting me, the Paddle Academy for helping me on and off the water... SIC always so supportive... so many people to thank.. this sport is amazing:)
live, love, laugh,..DREAM!
lina
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