If anyone’s planning on heading out there to watch it should be fun, the race will probably start around 10:30-ish 1 pm-ish (pushed back because flows were too high in the morning, if in doubt check Professor Paddle) and a good viewing point is supposed to be just after the first railroad tunnel on the Robe Historical Trail, about a 1.5 mile hike in I think.

Marco, NOT on the Wenatchee run.

Last Sunday when I was videoing a bunch of guys running Tumwater I ran into Marco Colella and Jean-Luc Robicheaux, two amazingly good Leavenworth paddlers who are working at getting more people involved in whitewater kayaking through their World Kayak ‘Paddle the Wenatchee’ blog and various events.

Marco asked me to pass along an invite to one and all to join them on a beginner-friendly Paddle the Wenatchee play run this Saturday, April 24, 2010, brought to you by World Kayak, Crossfit Cashmere and Leavenworth Moutain Sports, here’s the scoop:

Jean-Luc, NOT on the Wenatchee run.

- Meet at 10 a.m. at the Cashmere Riverside park (click here for the Google Map link).

- Show up as early as 4:30 pm at Crossfit Cashmere for a 6 pm showing of “Dream Result” by River Roots.  Crossfit Cashmere is located at 253 Independence Way, behind the Cashmere Valley Bank in the big red and white buildings (they say it can be confusing but just look for the red and white buildings and they are in there – here’s the Google Map link.)

Bring your own chairs, and kids are welcome.  I got sidelined this week by the Mother of All Colds so don’t know if I will make it, but I think this is a great opportunity to make a first spring run down the Wenatchee with some world class paddlers, so I highly recommend!

For more info you can also call Marco at (509) 699-0413, or Jean-Luc at (360) 319-2865.

Classes start you out on friendly Class II whitewater.

(Don’t be like me and then do a total of three river runs over the next eight years before you actually get into it – oh, the time I’ve squandered!)

There are four courses coming up, in April, June, July, and August 2010 – here’s the link to their course calendar page.  It’s an easy-to-take class, with four evening classes and a total of two river days on separate weekends.

One thing I love about how Herbie, one of the NWOC owners, teaches this class is that I think they do a really good job of teaching the Eskimo roll.  I got mine during the class, and years later when I hadn’t gotten into a boat for a few years and suddenly realized I had lost my roll (trying it alone in my friend’s pool – in hindsight, not too smart ) I went back for a roll class at NWOC and Herbie fixed it.   Notably, this was right after an instructor at another company’s roll session had told me I needed a different boat (even though I had learned to roll in that boat!) and then even one of Herbie’s own instructors was having trouble fixing it during their roll class.  Herbie waded over, said “Oh, you need to adjust your elbow angle by like 12 degrees”, and bam, I was rolling again.

So if you’re working on the roll, just remember you might get mixed advice, and it’s not a strength move at all.  I highly recommend Eric Jackson’s Rolling and Bracing DVD, which shows beginner moves and then advanced moves that help you transition into rolling up in any kind of water.  I’ve obsessed on the roll for the past year and a half and have a really strong one now, but even just watching that video a couple of months ago taught me some stuff that has helped me transition into not having to do a traditional setup for every roll.

Anyway, I wanted to also mention that the Washington Kayak Club also has whitewater kayaking classes, I don’t think they have as many as NWOC and the difference is that you’ll need to come up with your own gear, but I know that Charles at AquaSports in Redmond has some kind of special deal for you if you’re taking the WKC class.  I couldn’t find a link to the class on their site, but you can contact them through their website, www.washingtonkayakclub.org.

After the class... look at you, you rock star!

Update:  I checked my WKC newsletter and their class is halfway through already, so go ahead and check with Northwest Outdoor Center about their classes.  (Tell Herbie I said ‘Hi’ – just be warned that he may have no idea who you’re talking about.)

Photo by Gary Luhm, used with permission.

CEDAR RIVER WHITEWATER RACES

Photo from the 2009 race.

This event is Northwest Cup Race #1 for Slalom and Downriver and is a USA Regional Team qualifying event for Juniors, Seniors and Masters.  It’s also just a lot of fun and a perfect event for those new to slalom racing.  The race is open to all ages of boaters and types of whitewater craft.  The Cedar River is class II+.  Flow will be 390 cfs. Flow and river information is available from the American Whitewater website.

Location: Landsburg Bridge – where the Cedar River crosses the Issaquah-Hobart Road.  Adjacent to the City of Seattle park at the Cedar River Watershed and the King County Regional Cedar River trail.  Home of the League of Northwest Whitewater Racers permanent slalom training site about 40 minutes east of Seattle.

Cost: $25/racer ($5.00 discount with proof of ACA membership.  Most WKC members are ACA members).  FREE to Spectators and Volunteers!  Special deals for Juniors!

SCHEDULE – Downriver races on Saturday and Slalom races on Sunday.  The course is open for practice all day Saturday and Sunday until 10:30 am.  (Practice gates are always up – race course will be set on Friday afternoon if enough folks are available.)  E-mail Jennie if you can help!  Otherwise will be done Saturday morning – if you come help, should be done in an hour.

Saturday – March 13

Registration – 9:00 am – 6:00 pm

11:00 am – Downriver sprint runs

12:00 pm – Boater Cross sprint event??

3:00 pm – Downriver Classic race

Sunday, March 14

2:00 am — Daylight savings – Don’t forget to move your clock ahead one hour!!

9:00 am – Late registration ($5.00 extra fee)

10:00 am – Registration closes

10:45 am – Racer’s Meeting

11:30 am – Morning Runs

1:30 pm – Afternoon Runs

3:00 pm – Team Runs

AWARDS – following course take-down

VOLUNTEERS always needed and appreciated for:

Course construction on Friday or early Saturday morning.
Timers for the Downriver sprint and classic races on Saturday.
Judges and Timers for the Slalom race on Sunday.
Registration assistance on Saturday.

THE CEDAR RIVER RACES are organized by the Washington Kayak Club, www.washingtonkayakclub.org,  and the League of Northwest Whitewater Racers, www.nwwhitewater.org.

Sanctioned by the American Canoe Association: www.americancanoe.org.

With specials thanks to Seattle Public Utilities.

To help out, or for more information, please contact:
Jennie Goldberg, Director
League of Northwest Whitewater Racers
206-933-1178
www.nwwhitewater.org

All you local kayakers are invited to come see some art, meet some artists, have some wine and yummy appetizers, and bring some non-perishable food for Hopelink. It’s from 6 pm to 8 pm at 12700 SE 32nd St., Bellevue, WA, 98005.

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Whatever.   I’ll be the first person to admit I flip over when a there’s not really a need to, but at the same time I’ve realized that at the other extreme, letting people hype you up about how difficult a run is may not always be helpful.

For example, when I was just getting into Classs IIIs I ran the optional lower Class III section of the Headworks on the Green all by myself because I thought it looked like fun.  It went fine, and later on it seemed harder when I followed people who made a big deal about the lines.  I realize that river levels change, etc. – but I guess there is a fine line between where to be reasonably careful and where to say – ‘Oh, what the heck”.   Based on past experience, I appear to be solidly in the Option 2 department.  (With reservations. of course  - I’m not a complete nut. )

Anyway, on the Saturday run we got to Boulder Drop (which is the Class IV rapid on the run) and I watched Dave Fusilli, Nicole Mansfield and Brett Barton throw ends over the entry drops.  I was scouting from land and planning on portaging.  Right when I got back to my boat (feeling crappy about portaging, by the way) I ran into Jared Seiler and David Space, who were just coming down and wanted to scout.

The short version is that we scouted and Jared made Boulder Drop not sound like a big deal, so I decided to do it.  Not that he made it sound like a cake-walk either, but I think he’s the kind of person who’s really good at making things sound reasonable without making you feel like he’s trivializing the Precipice of Doom.  Not a  bad mix.

Anyway, we did Boulder Drop through Airplane Turn and I actually made the drop after Airplane Turn, using a couple of massive high braces.  This is a big deal for me because I historically have sucked at bracing – so I actually felt like some skill (and not just luck) played into me making it that far.

David flipped on the ferry over to Airplane Turn and swam through one of the needle routes – but keep in mind this was his third river ever in his life, so just the fact that he was trying it was amazing.

On the last drop I went a bit to the left of Jared and flipped over in the side of a hole – tried twice to roll, and then swam.  I seriously think I should have gone for a third roll – I was right at the in-between point where I was thinking about it (having decided to swim, then thinking ‘ “But, maybe…”) when my paddle hit me in the face and I thought – “OK, I’m done.”

Fortunately there’s a nice eddy below Boulder Drop, Nicole did the ‘boat-over-boat’ thing that made emptying my kayak look easy (I’m pretty sure it’s not really) and it wasn’t really traumatic.  Overall, I have to say that the whole experience, even with swimming, was so much fun that I could have gone back and done it again right afterwards.

Kayaking down the Skykomish River really makes you think about how fortunate you are to be in a place like that.  Everywhere you look there are big craggy mountains making outlines against the sky, the river is beautiful, and on an 80 degree like Saturday you seriously (especially if you read international news and remember that somewhere, someone just like you is staring through the wire barrier of a refugee camp wishing they were someplace else) have to just thank God that you are fortunate enough to be in that spot, at that time.

After the paddle we met up at AquaSports in Redmond for a viewing of Team Pyranha’s “Demshitz” movie – very fun, and I bought a copy.  I love the movie, and there’s a ton of great footage that makes you think, “Holy smokes, if that were me I’d be dead in two seconds.”  I guess in the interest of being an honest reviewer I have to say that there’s one part in there involving an insect that lost me.  It may seem like a little thing (and no, I’m not a PETA person) but I see those things as kind of symbolic of how we rationalize why it’s OK to treat people, or things, a certain way just because our big ‘why’ is that we hate what that person, or thing, does.  (For reference, see virtually anything related to Dick Cheney.)  I’m sure this seems like an overreaction to most people, but for me, it isn’t – so I’d be a hypocrite if I didn’t mention it.

See, now you’ll have to buy the movie to figure out what I’m talking about.

Anyway, it’s an extremely fun movie – amazing waterfall and huge rapid stuff, and Jared told me he and another guy are responsible for the time-lapse footage, which I think is really well done.

Charles at AquaSports hosted the movie event, including $50 worth of gear plus a free T-shirt for attendees – nice!   People walked out with big smiles, and Team Pyranha ended up staying at my house overnight.  They are a really nice group of people, and great house guests – I actually felt like I ignored them this morning because my face was in a computer for 5 hours, and then I pretty much blinked twice and they were gone – with all their dishes washed behind them.  So if they’re in your neck of the woods and you have the means to put them up, they’ve got my two thumbs up.

Umm… did I mention that this was only David Space’s third time on a river?

Following that there will be a premier of TeamPyranha’s video “Demshitz the Movie” at Aqua-Sports in Redmond, starting at 7 pm.  Word on the street – well, the eddyline – is that there will be free river-shwag for all, as well as the usual beer and refreshments.

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I was really impressed by the canoeists – that looks twice as hard as trying to maneuver a whitewater kayak around those gates.

There was also a display by Keen Footwear.  The guy there (whose name I of course have forgotten) was nice enough to give me a couple of pairs of socks to try out, one of which were these.

I have to say both are great, the one thing I should point out is that the sizing appears small, so the ones that fit the best are in the size range above what I would normally take.  But other than that – two thumbs up on the socks, especially since the ones I’ve been using are these lame-o cotton ones.