My family is visiting and helping me get sorted for the Big Day coming up on Saturday!
In order to keep sane and have some quality father daughter time, we headed to Ucluelet so I could race in the 4th race of the island series SUP races. I also thought it would be a sweet place to chill before the mad rush of getting a wedding sorted!
I met the crew from Comox Surf SUp and Compass Adventures. They are great and put on a solid race! I got to race on a prototype Starboard SUP board which was fun and reminded me of the "New" board that I have been paddling lately.
I have to keep this one short for now as there is tons of organizing to do but I wanted to push hard and I did and managed to stay in front with three other guys, two of which were on the K15 boards (I was on a 12'6). Yay, it was about a 6km race with some headwinds and chop. I stayed upright, felt good and had loads of fun. The event finished off with a BBQ at Relic Surf Shop.
Jessie, my old roommate, took my dad out on a whale watching tour and it was grand. We saw humpback whales, jumping, playing, eating, and even a mum and baby swimming around. We saw some crazy sea lions and enjoyed the speeds of the Zodiac! Thanks Jessie and Jamie's Whale Watching Tours!
This past weekend to celebrate finishing of my one year teaching degree and officially becoming a teacher, Andrew and I headed down Indian Arm for an overnight paddle camping trip. I thought it would be fun to do it STanding Up on the "New" Starboard paddleboard... it was fun for 99% of the time.... Andrew (aka the mule) kayaked and carried the luggage... We figured loading down Andrew would slow him down a little so he wasn't waiting too much for my slower Stand Up paddling.
Earlier in the summer I wanted to get a bunch of friends out on kayaks and down the Arm but due to a variety of reasons it didn't happen. As we had it Andrew and I were free with no plans for the weekend and decided to take the opportunity to sleep in and then head down to Granite falls. As it happens, this past weekend we were blessed with our first rainfall in over a month and despite some serious lack of desires to head back out in the rain (after a bike ride into town to meet some friends for coffee and getting soaked and cold) we went anyways.
I on the "New" Starboard SUP and ANdrew on the Looksha IV sea kayak. It took us a blistering 2.5 hours to get down to Granite Falls, we were blessed with some little downwind waves which helped in speed and increased the fun factor due to some minor surfing opportunities. I did have to sit down and create a semi canoe type vessicle out of the SUP for crossing through a side chop.... I managed and enjoyed the rest from concentrating on my balance. Despite the dismal weather Granite Falls was still packed with folks but we managed to find a perfect spot waterfront with trees. We set up camp with tarp and all. We managed to hiked around the falls as the water levels were low, ate, drank, and had some proper chillin time out under the tarp and by the ocean... no complaints just smiles.
We awoke to calm weather and headed down to the Wigwam Inn. A posh unfortunately members only Inn.... As we headed up the Arm back towards the Cove the wind picked up and I had quite the baddle with at times on the SUP. I thankfully did not a tow but at times wondered how I would make it back. I kneeled at points to try and become more aerodynamic... all in all it took us twice as long to get back, we hugged the shoreline nice and tightly and cruised into the Cove in time to make it for breakfast at Honey's. I wonder if I was the first SUP'er to make to Granite Falls and back?!?
A fine crew of us headed up to Pemberton for the long weekend to ride our mtn bikes and to celebrate Andrew's becoming Canadian. On Thursday July 29th Andrew became one of 70 new citizens of Canada. The celebration was quite good and the diversity of people was surprising from Russia to Argentina and everywhere in between.
We stayed at the Owl Creek Campground which was basic with a beautiful river (Andrew, Kala, and I had a little dip in the freezing yet refreshing river), the necessary outhouses and somewhere to park our tents. It was dirt cheap and nice enough. It even had two great trees for me to set up the slackline.... Talking about slacklining, a big congrats to the Yogaslackers and Dart Nuun for an awesome race in Tahoe...
We rode the trail 'resurrection' from the campground on Saturday . It was blistering hot with an adventure race style defunked logging road that was so steep and so loose that riding was near impossible... hike a biking up a logging road with our bikes in high heat was not considered to be too much fun by most BUT there was an exciting descent to follow... a little sandy at points but it added to the adventure... I was glad to have my flats and pads on for that one... The rest of the day we swam in the river, enjoyed some sun, drank coffee during a rather abrupt thunderstorm at the Mount Currie Coffee Co, hung out in Paul and Angie's massive tent during the second portion of the thunderstorm and slacklined once the rain ceased a little...
Sunday we rode Nimby in attempts to find the new Stimulus trail but read the map at the bike Co wrong and after some failed trail finding attempts ended up heading down Overnight Sensation, which is one stellar trail.. so all good! This trail has it all from rocks, to smooth in the forest trails, to technical steep trails and of course the heat and lack of rain (the rain the night prior did nothing to dampen the trails) some sand! I found it a little frustrating climbing nimby in my flats but I think with more practice I will get the technique but again enjoyed the steep technical downhill with my pads and flats. I am totally on a mtn bike buzz (as well as SUP and everything else buzz)We finished the ride off with a swim in One mile lake, and ice cream.... Perfect!
Monday it was down to three of us, Andrew, Kala, and I headed up to Whistler area and rode Kill me Thrill Me... despite living in Whistler I had never rode this trail... Yup, one of my favs.... loved it and it made me miss Whistler even more than I already do... what a wonderful wonderful place!
Now its 1 more week of school and then WEDDING and huge Multi sport honeymoon extravaganza!
There is 1.5 weeks of school left with 4 major assignments. I am just trying to keep my head above the water.... One full year of school is almost over and I will officially be a teacher... Woohoo! Its been a long but beautiful ride...
Because of my poor attention span and focus I can't actually do work for an entire day so Saturday my break consisted of running the Hanes Valley Trail with Andrew... He was feeling a little ill but is a superstar and pushed onwards. This is a fun trail that goes from the Lynn Valley Headwaters to the Top of Grouse Mountain. You run along the river, past Norvan Falls, through the valley and then climb up boulders and scree to Crown Mountain Pass. From there you follow the trails over Dam and Goat Mountains and find yourself at the Grouse Mountain lodge. If you don't start at 4pm then you might even make it in time for ice cream.
Workin at Deep Cove Canoe and Kayaks is fantastic! I feel so lucky to be involved with such a stellar group of people all around. That being said I was there for 11 hours on SUnday.... I got myself a nice tan on face and arms!!!!
Tuesday Night Races:
This Tuesday Night I met up with the Trident folks and I had the pleasure of trying out a new paddleboard from Starboard called "The New". it is 12 6' in length and 23.5' in width. It is a full on racing boat and not sure now if it was me or the boat really but the two of us together definitely picked up some speed. I was mingled among the surfskis. I was a little worried about stability but I managed to stay upright the entire race!!!!
I enjoyed the easy maneuverability of the board. I could turn it when I wanted and with ease and quickness. I also enjoy the acceleration of the board. It typically takes me a couple minutes to get going but found I could get up to speed quite quickly and efficiently.
I thought the stability would affect my stroke but found that I quickly adapted to the width and with my surprise paddled with ease (luckily, it was a relatively calm night out in the cove..).
It is fast...
All in all it was fun, I especially liked the extra challenge of the stability and the speed!
The race itself is a stellar one: one of my favorite multisport (paddle, run, swim) races...
Look forward to the next one!
Now its time for more school assignments, wedding planning, and whatever amount of work and training I can squeeze in in between!
After much indecision, and plans not coming together Andrew had the great idea to head to Hood River. Two years ago I did a 24 hour adventure race there with the Yogaslackers and remember only good things about the area. I was instantly in. Of course like many of our trips we brought a variety of equipment with us: mtn bikes, mountaineering gear and SUP gear.
I am really enjoying SUPin and the community surrounding it. I am still new to it all but am diving right in there. I love racing them, I know I would love expeditions on them and teaching fitness on SUP boards. Deep Cove has now invited SUP paddlers on the Tuesday Night Races. Last Tuesday a huge crowd turned up... it was fantastic and surprising. The sport is growing fast. I also met some of the Starboard reps. I managed to leave Deep Cove with a SUP board that needed repair in Hood River. SO hence, the SUP addition to our gear list. There also is a race series put on by BIg WInds in Hood River every Thursday night on the river. As we were heading over on Thursday and due to border delays (2 hours...boo) we actually arrived into town just in time for me to race.
Big Winds Race The water in the Hood can get mighty choppy due to wind and current and although not in full force on Thursday the chop was more than I was used to on the SUP. I was paddling the Starboard PIN (which I really like). It was racers choice for the course as the original route would have been too much in the higher than expected winds and current. The racers managed to still choose a pretty lenghty route but I didn't mind. There were some big names out on the water which was exciting stuff for me. It was a shore start which now I am 2 for 2 for terrible starts (I need to work on my off the board starts).
Other than the pros out front the rough chop didn't set me too far behind. It was out with the wind but against the current, back against the wind but with the current and then a little loop in the protected flat water area. I didn't want to embarrass myself so I pushed hard... In the end to my surprise I managed to be the first female to finish. Following the race, Andrew and I chatted with some local SUPers, all of whom were very welcoming. I got the pleasure to meet with Nikki Gregg who is one of the pioneers of SUP fitness. She was grand. We tried to meet up again but alas it didn't work out. Next time...
The crew at the SUP race let us in on a campground not too far from town... Tucker Park, we rolled in late Thursday night and very lucky to eventually find a spot... we were not the only Canucks with the idea of heading south for the long weekend... We even got to enjoy fireworks from the campground for Canada Day!
Post Canyon Mtn BIking Friday morning, we decided to check out a local mtn bike area called Post Canyon. The trails are plentiful, smooth, and fast. We rode for about 3.5 hours with a mini adventure Andrew and Lina style (lost but not lost, a little bushwhacking, checking out closed trails, understanding why they are closed and finding the trail we wanted by accident and because Andrew is a curious man in a very good way).
Mt. Hood and its SUMMIT Wake Up call:
Friday night after making dinner at camp and gathering up our mountaineering gear we drove away from sunshine into some extremely harsh weather. We drove up to Timberline Lodge on Mt. Hood to get ourselves ready for our summit day on Saturday. We arrived as the sun was setting but we couldnt tell as we drove straight into dense fog, harsh winds and rain. We got our paperwork done and made the back fo the subaru outback ready for bed.... We slept in the car to only get up in a few hours. We began our hike with a harsh 3am wake up call (and we think we were one of the last to leave the park lot that morning compared to the other climbing parties, actually we heard some leaving at midnight or so...). We set off in the dark but to our surprise the rain had stopped and we could actually see some stars... The day was looking hopeful. I was feeling surprisingly good. I really love doing outdoor activities in the dark (it reminded me of my time in Whistler when Megan, Nick, Adrian and I would start some local hikes at midnight due to our weird work schedules, oh and adventure racing...I digress). As we hiked over and on moraines light was beginning to enter the dark sky. Once we hit the top of the ski lifts we could put away our headlamps and put on our crampons... I set us off at a blistering pace over the first hump as I really really had to use the "bathroom" but we managed to catch too many climbers and I wanted to get away from them... AFter my little bathroom experience with a blue bag (lets just say I don't deal with bodily things very well...) As we headed past the crater and onto Hogsback one of the first climbers was on his way down... speedy guy. The climb wasn't too bad and the toughest part both physically and mentally was the last pitch to the summit. It was steep, I had crampons but not mountaineering ones and one axe that I hammered into that snow each time with effort and security (in my head it was my lifeline...) the tough part was that we managed to catch a load of people and so found ourselves heading straight up the middle of three chutes and right below two guys making their way down. While they were coming down they were knocking chunks of icy snow down along with them... one managed to hit me square face right in between my eyes on the top of nose... I was concentrating so hard on sticking all of my spiky things into the hard snow that I neglected to pay attention to the snow falling on top of me... I am still wearing my hard core scab from it all..haha.. I decided the best solution was to stop thinking and just giver' to pass the two guys coming down... it worked. Andrew and I reached the summit at about 630am... But we didn't hang out there for very long as the summit managed to be a long huge cornice hanging over a steep cliff... hmmm... not my idea of a place to chill... so we took our pictures and began the descent.
Now, I am definitely an UP girl.... I find descents tough and a little more nerve racking. You always read about deaths and injuries from people coming DOWN... SO, I took my time. We eventually made it through the tough spots, stopped for second breakfast and tried out some glisading to save the knees but instead gave ourselves bum burn (the snow was sharp...). We were back at our cars at around 10am... We spent the rest of the day napping, swimming in rivers, drinking coffee and doing that kind of thing. We wanted to head out for a SUP but alas it was too windy and we couldn't get ourselves any boards...
Surveyor's Ridge Mtn Biking We fell asleep quite early Saturday night due to our early start and so getting up fairly early to get in a bike ride didn't seem so harsh, well especialy after our 3am wake up the morning prior. We headed down to another mtn bike area and found a loop that would take about an hour, 8 mile loop (we were heading into to Portland to meet a good friend of mine, Risa from my MN camp days). The ride was a blast, fun single track up and down with great views... loved it! We will be back for more biking...
We met Risa, ate, caught up and then headed back north... the border was a breeze and now its full on with school work, assignments and other life things....
all in all a fabulous weekend away with my awesome husband to be (wow, thats kind of nutty sounding but love it....)
I am back from the rockies and have a lot to write about. First though, I would like to write about my first big SUP race experience. Traveling, and going back to school within the same year has drained me financially and so the sport I fell in love with for a couple of years (adventure racing) has been put on hold for a little bit (I'm not done with it just yet...) due to its high expense, finding myself without a team, and other life things, etc etc..... no biggy: always looking on the bright side of things and always searching for new ways to test my abilities and limits it has forced me to look for other opportunities locally in the same sport, related sports and new sports.
Along came Stand Up Paddleboarding.... I am not too sure where it all started but I believe in November 2008 at Santa Claus Beach in CA with old Camp Olson friends.... a little play in the surf and trial with the boards ( Andrew paddled with dolphins...super cool) I instantly fell in love but was off to travel South America so forgot about it for awhile...
Then upon my return last summer and my keen interest in kayaking I found that Deep Cove Canoe and kayaks had started renting a couple of boards.. I went out a handful of times last summer and my interest in the sport peaked again but they were expensive and I didn't know much about the sport...
This summer I got hired with Deep Cove Canoe and Kayaks as a kayak guide and found myself even more "obsessed" with stand up paddleboards and with more opportunities to try them out. I now check websites, race reports, fitness and lesson ideas and it is becoming part of my daily life without actually owning a board or anything to do with SUP.... but it all has to start somewhere and usually it starts with being motivated, inspired, and keen to learn the history about what you are getting into.
I raced my first SUP race in May at the Tour de Indian Ar, which is primarily a kayak race but this year they added a SUP category as well. It was tough but I loved it.
While reading about the sport on the web I came across a posting for a race in vernon the Kalamalka Classic. Well, Kalavida Surf Shop did a good job of convinving me I wanted to go this "festival" that incorporated two races and a little dinner with festivities. Andrew and Kala came along and we brought bikes as we knew there was good trails in the area.
Deep Cove Canoe and Kayaks lent me a rental Starboard 12'6 Cruiser for the race. I had no idea if this was a good board or what? but was so happy that I could borrow it and have a board for the race that I didn't care.
The first race was Saturday morning, a 3.5 mile loop with a 200m portage run with the boards through a park. On the start line there were about 8 male and 8 females. They played a cheesy song and tried to use the conch as the start horn (you can watch this on the video at the top of the page) and then I managed to have the most horrible start EVER... I got squished between folks and then a girl fell off her board right in front of me, but being a rookie I just tried my best to paddle around her and catch the people in the front. I managed to catch the two girls in front just after crossing the Riviera channel... and then eventually pulled passed Jen Segger. My eyes were on the guys infront of me and the bouys we were to paddle around off in the distance. I kept a good pace and managed to pass the guy in fourth place before the portage. The portage was a greta little addition but with these huge boards tough to run with. I had to stop once to re adjust my fingers that had managed to loose grip... After the short run and back on the boards my chest could feel the sprint and I was breathing hard (I definitely need to do more sprint work outs... but I love the enduro stuff)... I never quite managed to catch the guy in third and had no idea how far infront I was from second place for the females so just kept paddling away as best as I knew how... I rolled around the corner to hear on the microphone that I was 1st female.... it was a great feeling to finish so well. After cooling off in the lake with Andrew and Kala we all headed for lunch and a ride around Kalamalka Provincial Park and Cosens Bay. It was a great ride on smoother trails than we normally ride! We managed to escape the thunder and rain, had another dip in the lake and some slacklining on the beach.... I love lakes as they make you feel so clean and refreshed!
Saturday night we headed to Gatzke Farm Market for a buffet dinner, music by some local ex surfer/musician dude.... he even wrote a song for the race! I managed to score a surftech paddle for my win and a bunch of nicely vibrant trucker hats and stickers for the crew....
Sunday morning, I forced the crew up nice and early (sorry! but thanks for being good sport about it) so I could get to the race start and find out which direction the race would be heading. We had to paddle the length of the Kalamalka Lake from Oyama to Vernon... Andrew and Kala dropped me off and met up with some friends and they hit up some more biking trails while I put my arms and back to the test in a 20km or so paddle across the lake. Only three brave ladies showed up for the big race.... we started off first and 10 minutes later the men took off... they wanted us all to finish in and around similar times and so decided to stagger the start... I thought the guys would catch up a lot quicker than they actually did and so the stagger actually worked out perfectly.... well calculated! We took off and the three of us stayed somewhat close together for the first quarter but I slowly pulled away and then didn't look back and didn't know how far behind anyone was at any point in the race... I figured it didn't really matter anyways cause I wasn't going to really push much harder so early in the race... I didn't want to fade or just not make it to the end... It was kind of neat to be in front for such a large part of the race... a little worrisome at points as I began doubting myself if I was heading in the direction (hard to get it wrong really but it happens when you get tired and think people should have come passed you already).... eventually the first two guys Beau and kelvin paddled past me. I was glad when they did as I was loosing my motivation a little with a wandering mind and seeing them sail past me got my mojo going again and I had someone to follow and try to catch! As I neared closer to the fnish a couple more guys paddled past but no girls.... I was starting to feel soreness in my arms and the heat was starting to get to me in the last third of the race but I paddled on as I knew if I stopped for anything I might have trouble starting again.... I managed to paddle into 1st place again and get crowned the Queen of Kalamalka...
There were some great athletes out there and this sport is something I can see myself really getting into... I enjoy this sort of pain and mental battle. I met some great folks, paddlers and volunteers. The volunteers were grand by the way and kudos to the organizers Kevin and michelle! Please do it again next year...
You will find me in more SUP races..... its the beginning of something big.... I can feel it!
