Water Tribe

Video update

2008-11-16T12:32:00.000-08:00

It's been three weeks since the Green Race - the last time I paddled. We had a big group on the Lower Cullasaja yesterday. Here are some clips of my most recent footage.

Music by Atreyu
Footage by Chan Jones, Alexis Decosimo, Casey Jones, Rick Beverlin, and Alex Brantley

Clemson Whitewater Club Demo

2008-10-24T07:56:00.000-07:00

This past Tuesday night, the Clemson Whitewater Club hosted an LVM 27 premiere at Fike Recreation Building. Following dinner and the movie, Pyranha Kayaks hosted a demo and pool rodeo. Casey and I headed down to Clemson Friday evening from Franklin with a pile of boats and our good friend, Caleb. We were met with a good turnout of folks at the premiere and most blew off homework and other responsibilities to join us in the pool for a bit of fun.

Todd couldn't wait to get in!

Emily practicing her hand roll

Mac throwing a flatwater loop

Most of the time we spent in the pool was for folks to spend trying the different boats we had available but the highlight of the evening was the pool rodeo we held at the end of the night. The prestigious panel of judges decided to keep things simple by having two classes: Funniest Trick and Coolest Trick. There were no rules, as long as your ride involved a kayak and the best thing you could come up with. Some amazing feats of skill and daring were displayed but winners had to be chosen.

After much deliberation by the judges, it was decided that Todd Henry had performed the Funniest Trick – a bouncing seal launch to faceplant off the high diving board. Mac McGee did the Coolest Trick, an airscrew off the low diving board. Our winners walked away with Pyranha shirts, stickers, and other swag, but we brought enough that everyone who attended got something.

Thanks to Brian and Dave at Pyranha Kayaks for hooking us up with boats and swag for the event, to Penstock Productions for the video, to the Clemson Whitewater Club for organizing and promoting the event and getting food, and to Clemson University for hosting the event. We hope to be back!

Until next time......

Bricklayer Falls park n huck

2008-10-11T08:41:00.000-07:00

Mac McGee and I recently ran Bricklayer Falls on the Cullasaja River. I've heard about this drop and seen the circulating photos of Pat Keller or Joe Barkley running this drop years ago but never knew exactly where it was. FOUND IT! And...now I understand why this drop isn't run very often. It's a nasty 30 foot drop with a sloping entrance, tricky landing, and a terrible cave at the bottom. As I have paddled the Cullasaja and become better acquainted with it over the years, I've grown used to the steep, manky, consequential nature of this river, especially after I began paddling the section below the big falls. I haven't paddled the upper section of the river in its entirety yet, but everything I've seen and run fits the description above.
Enough talk, here are the goods, as well as a few other shots from that day.

Chan

Mac

Casey

Hurricane Fay

2008-09-12T09:17:00.000-07:00

It’s been a dry summer here in the southeast but recently we got a couple of days of water from Hurricane Fay. I was able to sneak out for an afternoon of high-water creeking with the Clemson boys on the Lower Cullasaja. Looking at the gauges, we knew it would be high and we were all fired up to get out and play in the rain. We watched the river at the takeout stay at a juicy level for a while. Thinking the parched ground wouldn’t allow the river to flood, we geared up and rallied to the git-in.

The git-in

Photo by Andy Jordan

Gameface on

Photo by Andy Jordan

I would estimate that the level was at about 6 feet when we put on. Now, I’ve run the Lower at high water several times but after the first rapid, it was clear that this was the highest I had ever been on the river. Then as we arrived at Eclipse, the river started going up. We didn’t see a dramatic wall of water rushing down the riverbed, only a gradual, fast rising water level. Eclipse was not an option, and though Next Time probably would have been fine, we decided to get around these two rapids as fast as we could so we could make some downstream progress and stay safely ahead of whatever water was behind us. Despite having the option to hike out near this point, we made a group decision to continue downstream, as the difficulty of the river decreases from difficult V+ to manageable class IV and V – at regular flows. This is what we found..

Trashcan after I ran it..probably around 8.5 feet here.

Photo by Andy Jordan

Me running Trashcan at a normal high level of about 5.5 feet

Photo by Mac McGee

Mac looking overwhelmed looking into Trashcan and Whale Tail

Photo by Andy Jordan

Whale Tail after I ran it - note the surging pockets and the water going over the rock in the center, making a pourover - it normally doesn't do that!

Photo by Andy Jordan

With the worst behind us and decreased gradient ahead, we enjoyed some mad bombing, only needing to eddy out to scout or portage logjams. We arrived to the takeout to find the river lapping high on the pilings of the bridge at Peaks Creek. Big day! In the words of Daniel D, this was on the "high side of good".

Boaters like us rejoiced as rivers throughout the southeast went off on this day. As the waters rose and subsided, there came many stories of high-water runs, epic swims, mass hike-outs, and nights spent out in the woods. Sadly we also lost a friend on this day. By now, this is no new news to many of you. We'll all miss you Isaac.

Be safe out there.

"It's kind of like an IQ-test, and we failed"

2008-05-15T13:33:00.000-07:00

Sunshine Left - Photo by Dave Deggendorf

The last two weeks I have spent on my brief summer break. Nursing school at SCC goes year-round, with short breaks during the spring/summer, summer/fall, and fall/spring semesters. My class schedules usually keep me extremely busy, so I resolved to spend as much of this break paddling as I physically could. As you'll see, I certainly got my money's worth!

The southeastern class V creeking staple, the Green Narrows, was the only water available for the first week of my break. I usually paddle every week while school is in session, whether it's at the Green or on natural flow somewhere. I decided to go spend a few days in Saluda tangling with a big monkey, and got four days in a row on the Green. The only photos I managed to get during this break are from these few days at the Green, so enjoy.

Six in the Green River Eddy!

Gorilla

Gorilla a few days prior

Groove Tube

The next day, Chris Harjes and I headed down to Folly Beach and the Isle of Palms to do a bit of surfing. We heard there was a swell on its way toward shore and decided to go for a brief change of scenery. I brought along my 420 in case conditions were less than ideal for my beginner surfing skills, which turned out to be a good thing! Harjes and I spent two days at a friend's house and had 5 or 6 good surf sessions. I managed to get several good rides but the wind changed and I started having a hard time paddling out, so I switched to the 420 for the remainder of the trip. The waves were nice and I got some good aerial rides. After our second morning session, we headed up to Sumter to watch Chris's cousin graduate from nursing school, then headed on to Asheville.

No sooner had I unpacked my stuff from the beach, had Chris called again about another road trip. I missed his call and he left me a long, detailed message about his idea for pulling this trip off, complete with what he thought would be good and what the water levels already were. The next morning I was on my way back to Harjes's and soon we were on 26 N toward whitewater. 15 minutes outside Asheville, Eli Smith called and said he wanted to go with us, so we turned around and picked him up. At this point, it was almost mid-day, and we were going to be super late to do any sort of paddling. As we drove we called everyone we could think of and eventually got Bryan Kirk's number. He was about to board a plane in Reno after finishing the rodeo there, but he gave us Brian Jenning's number, whom we met when we arrived in Fayetteville later that afternoon.

When Brian finished in a meeting, we met up and headed to Mill Creek for some high-water action. The level was around 2 feet, which is apparently on the high side of good for that run, though YMMV. We made a couple of laps and were joined by David Hughes on our second. Sorry, no photos from our trip, as we were burning daylight and wanted to get as much paddling in as possible. However, here are a few to enjoy, courtesy of the AW page for Mill Creek.

John Warner, Mill Creek Falls, Courtesy of American Whitewater

Powderhouse Falls, Mill Creek -Courtesy of American Whitewater

The next morning, we discovered that the Dries of the New were in, so we went kayaking there. The Put-In Waves weren't in, but we got some incredible playboating anyway. Too bad my playboating skills have gotten rusty! No photos from that trip either..sorry.

Since the day was still young, Eli, the Bryans, and I decided to go run the Gauley. Before reading more, check out the gauge height for May 13th (the day we paddled it).

We got to the put-in for the Upper and found water squirting out of the tubes..about 15,000 cfs worth. The ground shook. It took us around 20 minutes to work up the nerve to put on, and when we did, it was on. I could not recognize any rapids, only where the big ones are supposed to be at normal levels, from rocks on the bank, etc. The smaller rapids usually lasted around 100 yards and had 8-10' wavetrains, waveholes, or holes I wouldn't want to surf.

Pillow, Lost Paddle, and Iron Ring were horrifically big and the noise in the rapids was deafening. I remember paddling hard into Pillow, vaguely making out the top of Pillow Rock, and cresting a breaking 10 foot wave that stopped me...just before a 25'+ wave caused by VW Rock collapsed on me and ripped a hand off my paddle. I got absolutely chundered by that wave but rolled up and got away from a terrible looking 8' pourover 1/4 mile downstream. The freeze-frame image of that house-sized wave about to crash down on me still sends chills down my spine!

Lost Paddle and Iron Ring were also huge but they went well. The line in Lost Paddle was pretty much the same as it always is, except we had to scramble to get left of the submerged Mail Slot. Sweet's Falls was a hole about 8 or 10 feet tall, and Postage Due rock had about 2 feet of water going over it, creating a horrible hole. The quote of the day came from Bryan Kirk: "It's kind of like an IQ-test, and we failed."

We paddled on down to Wood's Ferry, surfing huge green glassy waves, pulling aerial tricks, and took out 16 miles downstream of the dam, 2 1/2 hours later.

I don't think I'll paddle big water like that too often, as I don't like being in the middle of a huge rapid with no eddy options or any way to to get help in the event of something going wrong. Lots of stuff relying on luck in those situations.

Here are some photos of a quick session at the NOC wave in my new Rev M-Long.
Photos by Casey Jones
Good lines out there

Raven Fork!

2008-02-11T08:56:00.002-08:00

Razorback - Photo by Andy Jordan

I recently began running the Raven Fork, a tributary of the Oconaluftee River that flows through the Eastern Cherokee Reservation here in Western North Carolina. Previously to running this creek, my favorite run was the Green, though it is still a close second. Remote creeks are the best but the Raven Fork clearly stands far above and beyond the other places I have paddled a kayak. Anywhere there is information on the Raven Fork, you will notice talk of how steep the run is. What does not always come through in Raven Fork lore is the pool/drop nature of the creek and its very long window of runnability after a rain for a stream of this type.

Though similar to the Green in that you can bite off as much as you want in the way of whitewater, the Raven Fork takes this analogy to a whole different level. The difficulty is strong, full-blooded class V for the duration, with a consequential 30-foot drop in the very midst of the gradient storm, known as Big Boy. The quality of the water, bedrock, and the rapids is unbelievable! Add the incredible beauty of the gorge this creek lies in, and you have a winner!

Fortunately, I live near enough to the Raven Fork that running this creek often should be possible, even while I’m in nursing school! Paddling here leaves me up on cloud nine for days afterward – this run will take precedence over most others every time it rains for me.

Now for a plug for Pyranha. The Burn is a great creek boat that I thoroughly enjoy paddling…but hello Everest! The Everest loves this type of river! Loaded with equipment, it paddled beautifully Saturday afternoon. I feel like the Burn M is a little small for me with the equipment I usually bring along on trips like these but the way the Everest handles it is fantastic! Without feeling too big, the boat rides high and resurfaces quickly in all situations. The combo of a flat hull/beveled edges allow you to zip around and make moves without being trippy like the H:3 or at times, the Burn. A true class V machine! I look forward to continuing to paddle this boat!

**As a side note, last weekend Emmanuel’s driveway was blocked and some boaters “wore out their welcome”. Everyone likes company but sometimes it’s easy to for company to wear you out. Please be considerate and respect Emmanuel’s wishes, and don’t forget the gift!

I’ll leave you with a few photos of a recent trip.

Chan in Headless Horseman - photos by Jacob Black

Jacob in Headless Horseman - Photo by Chan Jones

Sliding into Razorback - Photo by Andy Jordan

Jacob Black in Mortal Kombat- Photo by Chan Jones

Chan Jones in Wet Willy - Photos by Andy Jordan

Chan Jones in Wet Willy - Photo by Jacob Black

Big Boy doesn't look so bad from up here...

The crew at Big Boy - Photo by Jacob Black

Gorge below Big Boy - Can you name the rapids?

Chan Jones in Mike Tyson's - Photos by Jacob Black

Andy backwards off the last drop in Mike Tyson's - scary, but turned out fine

Chan Jones running the entrance to Caveman - Photo by Jacob Black

Jacob Black sticking the boof at Caveman - Photo by Chan Jones

Garen Stephens in Caveman - Photo by Chan Jones

The Road Prong - my first Smokies run

2008-02-04T08:14:00.000-08:00

Airing out the new Everest off the kicker of the Road Prong's 30 foot Skyline Falls
Photo by Joe Barkley

January started well for me with an awesome paddling trip in Tennessee and Alabama but after the holidays passed, the skies cleared and the reality of my school load set in – a sad time for a kayaker. The last year, the Green has been a main staple of my creek boating diet but January passed and for most of the month, the dam was shut down or running at a meager 60% release.

Thankfully we got a good storm near the beginning of the month and I was able to run the Horsepasture River with Chris Gragtmans, Chris Galloway, Rob Tompkins, and Brad Kee. We put in much further upstream than most folks do, adding a lot of flatwater and two or three excellent drops to an already fun trip. Other than uncalled-for harassment from landowners upstream of Turtleback Falls, we had a great trip – and the river to ourselves at a medium water level. It’s a beautiful river with awesome rapids and I’m always glad to run something new but I probably won’t head back to the Horsepasture as often as other runs in the area.

On the Highway to Heaven, Horsepasture River - Photo courtesy of Catalyst Media Blog

After the Horsepasture trip, the rest of January was dry. The Green didn’t run either, so I didn’t paddle for three weeks..then the skies clouded once again and we were blessed once again by liquid sunshine. My homework has been piling up recently so I planned to stay close to home and run the Cullasaja so I could take care of some other things as well, but the river reached a pretty high level and other options became available. I was heading to Overflow Creek for a high water run there with the Clemson crew when I called a friend to invite her along. I ended up scrapping my plans to paddle Overflow in favor of joining LVM at the Raven Fork. Several calls back and forth later, we decided that since the rain hadn’t been in the area long and the Raven Fork was already at 22”, it would be prudent to go elsewhere. Luckily the Smokies are peppered with great whitewater, so a quick trip over Clingman’s Dome, and we arrived at the West Prong.

Me and the boats at the put-in. Photo by Adriene Levknecht, courtesy of LiquidlogicLadiesLounge

We found the river very high when we got to the put-in but it didn’t take long to decide that we were destined to the Road Prong today. I had no knowledge of the Road Prong other than that it was the steepest creek I have heard to exist in this area, complete with rapids with names such as Dr. Kevorkian, Oncoming Traffic, and Skyline Falls. The steepest mile of this creek drops 710 feet in all runnable drops! Again, because my camera is broken, I failed to bring home any photos of our trip, but thanks to John Grace, Nick Urquhart, and Joe Barkley, there are a few photos and some good video to be had. At the top of this post is one of me.

Other than this creek being the steepest freaking thing you can imagine, the quality of the whitewater, which Grace accurately describes as being like ski moguls, is amazing. There is some badly placed wood in a few rapids but we ran all but a minor drop that had a big tree across the river in the pool just below. I headed home that evening with a new favorite creek.

The next morning I headed off to school hoping to get a run on at least the Cullasaja in the afternoon. I ended up getting a much better treat after Clay Wright called and said he was on his way to the Raven Fork! Photos and more on that later…

Taking Out '07 With A Bang

2008-01-04T14:35:00.000-08:00

Since I started nursing school in August '07, I have been on a pretty short leash in regard to paddling. Thank goodness NC is such a great place to live if you're a kayaker, because I haven't been able to travel more than about two hours to paddle in a while due to the amount of schoolwork I've had. That's why there are breaks.Judging from the looks of the radar, the last week of 2007 looked to be the type of week southeastern boaters have longed for all year. Though it wasn't a week of rain, several inches of precipitation fell between December 28th and 30th, allowing an opportunity to chase the rain a final time before the new year. For me, this time would be a little different than the other (few) rain events of 2007. This time I could travel a little further.

I had made plans to spend New Year's with my girlfriend, Alexis and her family in Chattanooga. I was fired up about getting to spend some time with her but in the back of my head, I kind of wanted to stick around in NC until the storms got here and put water in the rivers. I ended up packing up my car and getting a couple of late runs on the Nantahala Cascades as they rose to a good level on my way to Chattanooga Friday afternoon. No pictures from that trip, as I was a bit rushed but needed a quick fix anyway. I arrived in Chattanooga around 7:30p.m., headed to dinner, then went out with Alexis and a couple of her friends to a bluegrass show at Mtn. Opry on Lookout Mtn.

After a good night's rest, I spoke with Clay Wright and Terry Smith about paddling. Terry and I met Clay at Suck Creek for a morning run. The water was low but I hadn't ever paddled Suck so I enjoyed myself anyway. For those who have never done it, Suck is a steep, low volume, boulder creek. It reminds me of the Lower Cullasaja by the number of sharp or badly placed rocks and undercut, seived-out, and continuous nature. The only real difference I noticed is that Suck doesn't seem to have as many medium-sized vertical drops as the Cullasaja, and that most of the rapids feel similar to boogie water or the smaller named rapids on the Green. Our original plan was to make a lap then possibly make another, depending how the first one went. However, the creek was pretty low and gave up some good hits in several spots, and we spent a good chunk of time helping a fellow boater recover his badly pinned boat, so at the takeout we decided to load up and head down to Alabama to paddle the Suicide Section of the Little River.

Once in Alabama, we wasted no time in re-checking the level and getting ready to put on. Clay and I decided to drop in early and run Little River Falls instead of hiking down to the river. I don't know about Clay, but my excuse is that I'm lazy! ;-) Though Terry is an awesome boater who has run the falls many times before, he decided to sit out this day and take photos of our lines.

Eying the clapper in the landing - turned out to be nice and soft!

Drysuits are a must for winter boating!

The Little ended up being 9.5" at the bridge. I had never run the Suicide Section before and apparently this is kind of a high level, so I wasn't very sure of what to expect. I was thinking I needed to expect making tough moves in pushy water with boils, curlers, and some big holes, but I wasn't positive. The falls looked good, at least. Clay and I looked hard at the center 30' line, but a shelf lurks in the landing, and neither of us could really tell if the curtain was making it far enough past the shelf to be a safe bet. The thought of a femur-snapping hit made me shift my focus to scouting the far left line off a 10'er landing on a clapper, immediately into a rolling 20'er. The landing of the 10'er looked nice and soft with this much water, as did the landing of the second drop. As Clay and I scouted a crowd grew. The looks on kids faces when they realized what we were intending to do was priceless. Clay and I both found soft landings off the clapper rock and a sweet tuck into a short freefall off the second drop. Good stuff!

Photos by Terry Smith, courtesy of Clay Wright

Heading down into the gorge, I was met with everything I expected and more. Coming from the bump-and-grind run we had earlier in the day on Suck Creek, the power of the Little made me stand up and take notice. This day was like my first run on the Gauley - I was in a big gorge, on a big river, with house-sized rocks creating great rapids, only it was better because the drops were bigger. With each rapid, I felt more and more like I was being flushed downstream by the power of the river but it was great. Terry, Clay, and I ran the meat of every rapid and found big waves, seams, some chunky holes, and some ferries with consequences for blown moves but we reached the takeout all too soon.

Though short, the ¼ mile hike up the hill to the parking lot is painful because of the steep grade but it was well worth it. As I hiked I couldn’t help but grin to think about checking off two more awesome runs in the same day. I love paddling rivers I’ve never done before and to get on two different runs that are as good as these were is great. Thanks to Terry and Clay for showing me down both rivers and for taking photos! Until next time, pray for rain!

Christmas-time Creeking

2007-12-26T10:23:00.000-08:00

Cullasaja River at 5.5'+
Photo by Chan Jones

A dry year like 2007 has been to this point will give you an appreciation for rain. I have spent most of this year paddling the Green Narrows and low-water playgrounds like the Cullasaja River. This year has not been a very good year for exploring new runs for me as a result of the low water we have had. Regrettably, I think I have only checked off four or five new runs this year..no good! When clouds darkened the skies a couple of days before Christmas I wasn’t expecting much of a response from our parched watersheds but to my surprise, the little rain we received turned into an early Christmas gift in the form of two good paddling days. I have been wanting to get back to the Jocassee Gorges for a year now and as the rain fell, my friends and I decided to try to bag the Horsepasture River.

Driving over the mountain to Cashiers after a storm drops enough rain to go boating always stuns me with the beauty of the mountains. I can’t think of but one or two places I have been that are prettier than Transylvania County and its rivers and each time I pass through that area I am reminded of the sheer beauty of the place. The plan was to get on the river early enough that we wouldn’t be rushed getting down the river and out of the gorge by dark. We started hiking a little after 11am and were at the river shortly. Instead of putting on and heading downstream, we found the Horsepasture at a very high level. We decided as a group to watch the water level for a little while before putting on and the river only rose. Unfortunately we didn’t have time to lose, so after about a half an hour of watching the level, we shouldered our boats, hiked back up the mountain, and rallied over to Overflow Creek for an afternoon on a classic. Though I was bummed about missing the Horsepasture once more, I was excited to paddle the ‘flow, as this is a creek I have wanted to run since shortly after I began boating.

We put on Overflow Creek around 3:00 and blazed through the scrapy entrance to the creek and first few portages around downed trees. As we continued down the creek we maintained the pace and rhythm we had built up, so consequently, we didn’t take many photos except for at the biggest rapids. It was nice to check off this creek and I hope to be back. It’s a relaxing run chocked full of good rapids with several fun drops thrown in for good measure. Definitely a must for boaters comfortable on Watauga and the Green.

Now for some photos from our trip. I hope everyone had a Merry Christmas!

Jacob Black at Gravity
Photo by Chan Jones

Jacob Black at Singley's Falls
Photo by Chan Jones

Chan Jones at Singley's Falls
Photo by Andy Jordan

Chan Jones at Marginal Monster
Photo by Andy Jordan

Justin Morris at Marginal Monster
Photo by Andy Jordan

Mac McGee finishing Marginal Monster
Photo by Chan Jones

Review: Pyranha Everest

2007-12-15T10:42:00.001-08:00

Specs:

Length – 8’6”

Width – 26 ½”

Volume – 82.4 gallons

Cockpit Length/Width – 37 ½”/19 ½”

Weight – 46.5 lbs

Weight Range – 165lbs – 301lbs

For many, the new Everest is a much- needed addition to Pyranha’s creek boat line-up. Essentially a “Burn XL”, the Everest is designed for multiday expedition and to allow bigger paddlers to haul gear. With that said, let me emphasize that this review is intended to tell how the boat performs for a person of my weight in comparison to the Burn series. Adam Goshorn has also reviewed the Everest on his blog. Adam is a big boy who runs the goods so if you’re interested in the Everest, cruise on over and read his excellent review at http://granolapaddler.blogspot.com/2007/12/pyranha-everest-review.html.

I am at the very bottom of the weight range for the Everest but I wanted an 8’6” kayak to race in the Green Race this year, and Dinver at Pyranha made it happen for me. In my Burn M, the best time I recorded this fall before the race was 5:30 but I felt like I could be much faster in a longer boat. The race results proved this – my short boat time in the Everest was 5:05, despite losing a contact lens in Gorilla in my long boat run. I feel that breaking the five-minute mark next year is easily within reach in this boat. Point in taking – the boat is FAST and easy to paddle!

I picked up my Everest on November 1^st and outfitted it that evening at Chris Harjes’ house in Asheville. Surprisingly the boat didn’t swallow me as I expected it would. I simply shimmed out the hip pads, added a quarter inch of foam to the seat, adjusted the thighbraces, and adjusted the bulkhead, and I was ready to go. The next morning Chris and I made a couple of training laps on the Green. As I slid into the river, I noticed the extra bow rocker and peak on the bow deck this boat has over the Burn. By Bride of Frankenstein, I was already used to the boat. Things only got better as I raced downstream from Frankenstein. This was only a practice lap so I paid attention to how the boat reacted to features differently than my Burn. The biggest things I noticed are characteristic of a bigger boat – it sits higher in the water (making it faster, easier to turn, not as easily affected by funny water) but it stays on top of things better due to the improved shape of the bow deck and the rocker template. Additionally, the hull is more forgiving than the Burn’s hull because of the more beveled edges.

The result of these traits is a big, fast, forgiving kayak that you can jump in and paddle. Just look at the Green Race results – I posted the sixth fastest short boat time the second time I paddled this boat. This will be my new high-water boat and my go-to boat for when I need to haul more gear than my Burn likes to haul. Need more proof? Demo an Everest for yourself. Nantahala Outdoor Center has a demo that you can try on the Nantahala, and my brother and I each have one that is available to demo for those who are interested.

In addition to these size comparison shots with my Burn M, there are some photos of the Everest in action down the page.

Photo Dump

2007-11-23T20:49:00.000-08:00

Time for more eye-candy. Here are some shots from mine and Casey's Thanksgiving Day trip to our backyard creek - the Cullasaja with our new Everests. Both of us have been paddling the Burn M for a while and though it creeks very well, my first impression of the Everest is how easy it is to paddle right off the bat. After spending more time in this boat since the Green Race, I'm really stoked about how well it paddles and I can't wait to get down into some of the Jocassee runs armed with this kayak.

Suislide, at a little higher than the optimal level. Note the grin...

Casey nailing a perfect line as usual

Typical Cullasaja-type rapid

Gear Review: Double D Drysuit by Immersion Research

2007-11-18T16:05:00.000-08:00

IR's take:
"We are very proud to announce the release of this product- it is the culmination of everything we have learned about making kayaking gear over the past 10 years. Every aspect of this garment was meticulously planned: The shell fabric- waterproof, breathable Entrant™- was custom made for us to withstand the unique rigors of paddling garments. The zippers are hand-glued in to ensure the best possible seal. The pattern is designed to have zero 4-way cross seams- a classic leaky spot on dry tops. Every seam on the entire suit was hand-trimmed to 1/8th of an inch to ensure maximum seam tape contact. The jacket is articulated for a paddling position. The list goes on and on."

Now for what's up. As a year-round paddler, a nice drysuit is something that I always wanted since the first time I dipped a blade into an icy winter river, but could never afford due to the prohibitively high cost of GoreTex. There have been other options for drysuits in the past but none had many features and the construction of low-end models wasn't great either. Thanks to Immersion Research, spending less on a drysuit and winding up with a nice product is easy. Enter the Double D drysuit.

Just as a wave of cold weather hit NC this week, my new drysuit arrived. I had made plans to show a friend down the Green River for her first time and I couldn't think of a better way to try out my new suit for the first time. We would be hopping in and out to scout rapids or portage and hanging out to take pictures. In 30* weather, armed with a drytop and paddling pants, this might be a chilly prospect. Not for me anymore!

Frankenstein - Photo by Bill Clipper

The first thing I noticed as I got dressed in the parking lot was how comfortable the IR drysuit is. Second I noticed a wide neoprene waistband inside the suit to prevent it from slipping around your waist. Very handy and it helps keep the garment in place. Don't get me wrong, the pee zipper and fabric socks are great features that you should definitely have on any drysuit, but my favorite feature is the entry zipper located behind the shoulders of the garment. It requires you to have a buddy help you get dressed but the location of the zipper makes you forget that its there while you're paddling. No bulk like a traditional 'over-the-shoulder' zipper - sweet!

Pincushion - Photo by Bill Clipper

Drysuits are great! Without being baggy and unlike a drytop/paddle pant combo, this suit allows for lots of winter layers and unobstructed movement - without leakage around the waist. Your feet stay nice and toasty thanks to the fabric socks as well! If you are a winter or cold water boater who has been holding off on picking up a drysuit, take a look at the IR Double D! It's a full-featured drysuit at a reasonable price. Backed by IR's industry-leading customer service, you can't go wrong!

Gorilla - Photos by Bill Clipper

I can't wait to paddle on more cold days in the future! I owe a big thanks to my new sponsor, Immersion Research for making the best gear available and to Roger and all the folks at IR for being so good to me over the years.

Green Race Report

2007-11-05T20:26:00.002-08:00

Once again the Green Race has come and gone. It's hard to believe, actually. Last year I attended my first Green Race, but paddled in and set safety at Gorilla then raced in the head-to-head race after the racers had finished coming through. I had finally run the Green less than a month before the race last year, and though I was already running the Big Three, I didn't feel good about paddling class V alone. I have to admit I was on the fence about racing last year. Now a year has passed and though I still am not completely at ease about running hard whitewater unassisted, I spent more than enough time paddling and learning the Green to know it well enough to how to run it fast and clean.

My training for the race didn't really begin until around the beginning of August, when I had just finished racing in the Wildwater Junior World Championships. I hunted down a Prijon Tornado and immediately started running the Green with some speed.

Now for the race..

As always, there was a lot of speculation from members of the paddling community preceding the Green Race about the current low water levels and who the favorite picks to win were. A change I noticed from past years, though, is how quiet it was from most people who were definitely racing as well as from boat companies. With Dagger's introduction of Pat Keller's Green Boat and Wavesport's Momentum by Robert Peerson last year, I think most people kind of expected Liquidlogic to follow suit with their own race boat. The way Shane Benedict responded is a little surprising - instead of introducing a completely new design for the race, Shane modeled his boat, the Remix 100, aka the "Hungee" after one of his newly released river-running designs, the Remix 79. There is a lot of material on Shane's website about the development of the boat - check it out there. Dagger and Wavesport were also busy in October, as their designers slaved away after hours to refine and perfect their race boats. Not only would there be three boats designed specifically for this race, but there would be a larger volume of this new breed of race boats. All told, there were eight "Hungee's", three Green Boats, and three Momentums in the race this year in addition to the multitude of Tornados, Corsicas, and Crossfires of yesteryear.

The week of the race, LVM was the bearer of good news. Jason Hale managed to secure some extra water for the race - as well as two practice days in advance. The Green has run 6", as low as a 100% release can be for most of the year, but what we ended up racing on was a 60% release from each tube at the dam, equating to 120% in the river, or a beautiful 10" day. Not only would racing be safer for each competitor, but with more water, the times would be slightly faster as well. Very exciting for sure!

As I headed to Chris Harjes' house in Asheville on Thursday night after school, I was filled with anticipation of my first Green Race. What I had worked and trained for since last year was coming up. Was I really ready? How would the extra water effect me after growing accustomed to bouncing off wet rocks the whole way down the river? Would the crowd of spectators at Gorilla get in my head and cause me to lose focus? Luckily I had a secret weapon for the race. In addition to the Tornado I borrowed from my Wildwater coach, Chris Hipgrave, Jim Hager and Dinver McClure from Pyranha Kayaks sent me the new 8'6", 83 gallon Everest to race. Judging from the looks of the boat, it looked like a fantastic extreme racing kayak but I was a little nervous about switching from my medium Burn to a much bigger boat the day before a huge race. I outfitted the boat Thursday night and trained in it at the Green the next morning. What an awesome creeker!!! It's very fast, it rides high in the water and stays on top of things well but isn't too big to move around, the hull is slick like no other which lets you move around wherever you want and coupled with the soft edges, exploit any of the river's features. Any questions I had about racing were answered Friday before the race. I think I adjusted well to a new boat and having water in the river for a change allowing me to head into Saturday morning excited but focused.

The morning of the race I was informed by many people that I was the winner of the Calcutta the night before. I had no idea what the Calcutta was until someone explained to me that it is basically a betting party where people put down money on who they think has a good chance in the race. New racers get a handicap of some sort, which is deducted from their race time. As it turned out, someone bet a lot of money on me because of the significant handicap I had as a first time Green Racer. Nothing like a little pressure, huh? No matter, Jason Hale fired up all the racers to tangle with the Monkey with one of his famous pre-race speeches in the parking lot. It was when we lined our boats up for the racers' parking lot photo that I found out that the most Green racers in the history of the race were present (140 or so). Soon after I shouldered a boat and began dragging my other one down the hill to the put-in.

Gorilla before and after the generous 120% release courtesy of Duke Power
Photos by Casey Jones

"My heart is racing. My breathing is rapid. I can see the Notch. I hear the crowd. I feel my pulse in my throat. I know I am going fast but the race is not over. You win by hammering all the way. I feel sweat all over my body... I wake up. This is my nightly dream."
-Wildman

Go Left and Die - Photo by Judy Ranelli

12:23 was my long boat start time. Like I had done many times in the months preceding the race, I started off smooth and deliberately, picking off each move carefully. I was driving the Tornado fast until I made a mistake that caused me to accidentally eddy out on the left at the bottom of Zwick's. I lost a lot of time getting the boat turned around but got back up to speed and made up some time before Gorilla. The first thing I noticed as I exited Chief was how many people were there watching the race. Over the sounds of "Saferwaters" by Chevelle on my H2o Audio headphones, I heard the crowd roar as I flew the big boat off the flake in the center of Pencil Sharpener and stomp it down hard. This was it. The single toughest, scariest move on the whole Green. I lined up and stuck it but as I rounded the corner to the main drop of Gorilla, I noticed to my dismay that I had just lost a contact lens and would have to run several more class V rapids without it. Before I knew it, I was boofing off the pad. Over the roar of water around me, I heard the crowd cheer again. I slammed through the Speed Trap and continued sprinting toward the finish. By 12:28, the Tornado was stashed and I was hiking upriver to make my short boat run.

Finding the perfect line in Gorilla. My missing contact is in there somewhere.
Photo by Jim Wei

Looking a little addled in Nies's Pieces - Photo by Brad Roberts

I was a little nervous about racing again with only one contact but I had a word with myself as I hiked upriver and remembered that this was only the short boat race and that it didn't count like the long boat race does. Even more so than on my first run, I focused on being smooth and hitting my lines. I managed to loosen up quite a bit and have a lot of fun on this run. I believe I ran Go Left without touching the rock on this run, I hit the Flying Squirrel boof in Pencil Sharpener just right, I managed to get another big cheer out of the crowd by stomping down at the Gorilla, and I stuck my lines on the slides perfectly.

Scream Machine - Photo by Casey Jones

Hiking back up to Gorilla for the second time I was all smiles. When I got there, both of my parents, my brother, and my good friend Erinn, were there to greet me, which made my first Green Race that much more special. I decided against racing head-to-head this year as a result of my lost contact lens but I got to watch the rest of the race with my family and friends. After the race, Harjes and I decided against stashing our long boats in the gorge and getting them later, so I headed downstream, did a Southern Cross at Sunshine with Jared Seiler, then boogied to the takeout with Harjes. We turned around and headed back upstream into the gorge via the Green Cove Trail. There was a little bushwhacking in there as well to cut off a couple of miles on the Pulliam Creek Trail, but before long we were back at the pool below Rapid Transit getting in our long boats and headed to awards at Woody's house.

Long Boats:

Andrew Holcombe	Dagger Green	Long K1	04:27	1
Pat Keller	Dagger Green	Long K1	04:28	2
Geoff Calhoun	Dagger Green	Long K1	04:31	3
Chris Gragtmans	Dagger Green	Long K1	04:34	4
Toby MacDermott	Liquidlogic Remix 100	Long K1	04:34	4
Tommy Hilleke	Liquidlogic Remix 100	Long K1	04:37	6
Bo Wallace	Prijon Tornado	Long K1	04:41	7
John Grace	Liquidlogic Remix 100	Long K1	04:44	8
Jules Campbell	Liquidlogic Remix 100	Long K1	04:44	8
Adam Herzog	Liquidlogic Remix 100	Long K1	04:48	10
Billy Murphy	Liquidlogic Remix 100	Long K1	04:48	10
Nathan Silsbee	Wave Sport Momentum	Long K1	04:55	12
Chris Harjes	Wave Sport Momentum	Long K1	04:55	12
Shane Benedict	Liquidlogic Remix 100	Long K1	04:55	12
Jason Hale	Wave Sport Momentum	Long K1	04:57	15
Fergus Coffey	Perception Corsica Matrix	Long K1	04:57	15
Billy Jones	Prijon Tornado	Long K1	04:58	17
Drew Duval	Dagger Green	Long K1	04:59	18
Riley Cathcart	Prijon Tornado	Long K1	04:59	18
Rob Tompkins	Prijon T-Canyon	Long K1	05:00	20
Dave Hepp	Dagger Cascade	Long C1	05:03	21
Chan Jones	Prijon Tornado	Long K1	05:04	22
Eric Chance	Prijon Tornado	Long K1	05:04	22
Caleb Coaplen	Prijon Tornado	Long K1	05:06	24
Will Lyons	Dagger Cascade	Long C1	05:08	25
Paul Stamilio	Prijon Tornado	Long K1	05:18	26
Amos Shuman	Prijon Tornado	Long K1	05:19	27
Mefford Williams	Perception Pirouette	Long K1	05:20	28
Adam Bixby	Prijon Tornado	Long K1	05:21	29
Andy Dodson	Perception Corsica S	Long K1	05:22	30
Robin Betz	Liquidlogic Remix 100	Long K1W	05:23	31
Dustin Marquart	Prijon Tornado	Long K1	05:23	31
Lizzy English	Dagger Green	Long K1W	05:25	33
Keith Sprinkle	Prijon Tornado	Long K1HP	05:27	34
Robert Peerson	Wave Sport Momentum	Long K1	05:28	35
Ben Stookesberry	Perception Corsica	Long K1	05:33	36
Dylan Bruce	Wave Sport Momentum	Long K1	05:33	36
Daniel Windham	Prijon Tornado	Long K1	05:34	38
Chris Roberts	Wave Sport Momentum	Long K1	05:36	39
Taft Sibley	Perception Corsica S	Long K1	05:36	39
Brent Meadows	Perception Overflow	Long K1	05:38	41
Robert Bone	Perception Overflow	Long K1	05:39	42
Will Selle	Perception Overflow	Long K1	05:39	42
Adriene Levknecht	Liquidlogic Remix 100	Long K1W	05:44	44
Jesse Wilensky	Prijon T-Canyon	Long K1	05:45	45
Jay Moffat	Prijon Tornado	Long K1	05:46	46
Adam Secrest	Perception Corsica Matrix	Long K1HP	05:48	47
Elijah Smith	Perception Corsica	Long K1	05:52	48
Jeff West	Prijon Tornado	Long K1	05:54	49
Jeb Hall	Prijon Tornado	Long K1	06:00	50
Wilson Bell	Perception Pirouette	Long K1	06:07	51
Kirk Williams	Prijon Tornado	Long K1HP	06:12	52
Bill Clipper	Prijon Tornado	Long K1HP	06:24	53
Shannon Carrol	Pyranha Mountain 300	Long K1W	06:28	54
Sam Smiley	Perception Corsica S	Long K1	06:33	55
Jason Beakes	Wave Sport Momentum	Long K1	06:45	56
Katie Hilleke	Prijon T-Canyon	Long K1W	18:57	57
Austin Rathman	Dagger Green	Long K1	DNF	58

Short Boats:

Pat Keller	Dagger Nomad 8.5	Short K1	04:40	1
Andrew Holcombe	Dagger Nomad 8.5	Short K1	04:52	2
Geoff Calhoun	Dagger Nomad 8.5	Short K1	04:56	3
Jared Seiler	Pyranha Burn M	Short K1	04:59	4
Drew Duval	Dagger Nomad 8.5	Short K1	04:59	4
Jakobus Stenglein	Riot Magnum	Short K1	05:01	6
Clay Wright	Jackson Super Hero	Short K1	05:05	7
Chan Jones	Pyranha Everest	Short K1	05:05	7
Nick Urquhart	Pyranha Everest	Short K1	05:07	9
Fabian Doerfler	Wave Sport Habitat 80	Short K1	05:07	9
Bryan Kirk	Wave Sport Habitat 80	Short K1	05:08	11
David Fusilli	Pyranha Burn L	Short K1	05:08	11
Billy Jones	Pyranha Everest	Short K1	05:10	13
Brian Knight	Liquidlogic Gus	Short K1	05:10	13
Brian Douglass	Pyranha Burn L	Short K1	05:11	15
Paul Stamilio	Liquidlogic Gus	Short K1HP	05:12	16
Graham Seiler	Pyranha Everest	Short K1	05:14	17
Spencer Cooke	Riot Magnum	Short K1	05:16	18
Yonton Mehler	Liquidlogic Remix 59	Short K1	05:17	19
Adam Bixby	Drago Rossi Critical Mass	Short K1	05:17	19
Jared Leon	Liquidlogic Remix 59	Short K1	05:18	21
Paul Stamilio	Liquidlogic Gus	Short K1	05:18	21
Shane Benedict	Liquidlogic Remix 79	Short K1	05:18	21
Matt Fithian	Bliss-Stick Mystic	Short K1	05:20	24
Nathan Silsbee	Riot Magnum	Short K1	05:20	24
Nate Bahlenger	Pyranha Burn L	Short K1	05:21	26
Jonathan Shannon	Wave Sport Habitat 80	Short K1	05:21	26
Andy Maser	Dagger Nomad 8.5	Short K1	05:22	28
Sam Drevo	Liquidlogic Jefe Grande	Short K1	05:25	29
James Kodaras	Dagger Nomad 8.5	Short K1	05:27	30
Ben Stookesberry	Jackson Mega Rocker	Short K1	05:27	30
Mefford Williams	Liquidlogic Jefe Grande	Short K1	05:29	32
Jeremy Laucks	Pyranha Burn M	Short K1	05:29	32
James Greenbaum	Dagger Nomad 8.5	Short K1	05:31	34
Corey Volt	Dagger Nomad 8.5	Short K1	05:31	34
Jeremy Pou	Liquidlogic Jefe	Short K1	05:32	36
Adam Craig	Liquidlogic Remix 69	Short K1	05:36	37
Dylan Bruce	Pyranha Burn L	Short K1	05:37	38
Kelsey Thompson	Wave Sport Habitat 80	Short K1	05:39	39
Chris Bucksey	Jackson Rocker 2007	Short K1	05:41	40
Mark Bowman	Prijon Hercules	Short K1	05:45	41
Josh Lerner	Liquidlogic Jefe	Short K1	05:47	42
Chris Gallaway	Dagger Nomad 8.5	Short K1	05:49	43
Adriene Levknecht	Liquidlogic Remix 59	Short K1W	05:50	44
Shannon Carrol	Pyranha Burn L	Short K1W	05:50	44
Mark Miller	Pyranha Burn M	Short K1	05:51	46
Matias Nunez	Wave Sport Habitat 80	Short K1	05:51	46
Gareth Tate	Liquidlogic Jefe	Short K1	05:53	48
Luke Holcombe	Liquidlogic Gus	Short K1	05:53	48
Kevin Vesely	Pyranha Burn M	Short K1	05:54	50
Robert Bone	Riot Magnum	Short K1	05:57	51
Robin Betz	Liquidlogic Remix 59	Short K1W	05:58	52
Kurt Lamberth	Dagger Nomad 8.5	Short K1	05:59	53
Clayton Gaar	Riot Magnum	Short K1	06:01	54
Chris Buckner	Liquidlogic Gus	Short K1	06:05	55
Ryan Snodgrass	Pyranha Burn L	Short K1	06:05	55
Lizzy English	Dagger Nomad 8.5	Short K1W	06:09	57
Shayne Day	Necky Blunt	Short K1	06:09	57
Saunders Southecorvo	Riot Magnum	Short K1	06:10	59
Mac McGee	Pyranha Micro 240	Short K1	06:14	60
Katie Hilleke	Pyranha Burn	Short K1W	06:29	61
Isaac Ludwig	Pyranha Burn M	Short K1	06:39	62
Jacob Black	Liquidlogic Jefe	Short K1	06:43	63
Polk Deters	Liquidlogic Remix 79	Short K1	08:14	64
Eli Helbert	Esquif Taureau	Short OC1	09:03	65
Zack Dean	Pyranha Spanish Fly	Short OC1	12:04	66

Ladies:

Robin Betz	Liquidlogic Remix 100	Long K1W	05:23	1
Lizzy English	Dagger Green	Long K1W	05:25	2
Adriene Levknecht	Liquidlogic Remix 100	Long K1W	05:44	3
Adriene Levknecht	Liquidlogic Remix 59	Short K1W	05:50	4
Shannon Carrol	Pyranha Burn L	Short K1W	05:50	4
Robin Betz	Liquidlogic Remix 59	Short K1W	05:58	6
Lizzy English	Dagger Nomad 8.5	Short K1W	06:09	7
Shannon Carrol	Pyranha Mountain 300	Long K1W	06:28	8
Katie Hilleke	Pyranha Burn	Short K1W	06:29	9
Katie Hilleke	Prijon T-Canyon	Long K1W	18:57	10

Ironman:

Pat Keller	Dagger Green Dagger Nomad 8.5	Long K1 Short K1	04:28	04:40	09:08	1
Andrew Holcombe	Dagger Green Dagger Nomad 8.5	Long K1 Short K1	04:27	04:52	09:19	2
Geoff Calhoun	Dagger Green Dagger Nomad 8.5	Long K1 Short K1	04:31	04:56	09:27	3
Drew Duval	Dagger Green Dagger Nomad 8.5	Long K1 Short K1	04:59	04:59	09:58	4
Billy Jones	Prijon Tornado Pyranha Everest	Long K1 Short K1	04:58	05:10	10:08	5
Chan Jones	Prijon Tornado Pyranha Everest	Long K1 Short K1	05:04	05:05	10:09	6
Shane Benedict	Liquidlogic Remix 100 Liquidlogic Remix 79	Long K1 Short K1	04:55	05:18	10:13	7
Nathan Silsbee	Wave Sport Momentum Riot Magnum	Long K1 Short K1	04:55	05:20	10:15	8
Paul Stamilio	Prijon Tornado Liquidlogic Gus	Long K1 Short K1HP	05:18	05:12	10:30	9
Paul Stamilio	Prijon Tornado Liquidlogic Gus	Long K1 Short K1	05:18	05:18	10:36	10
Adam Bixby	Prijon Tornado Drago Rossi Critical Mass	Long K1 Short K1	05:21	05:17	10:38	11
Mefford Williams	Perception Pirouette Liquidlogic Jefe Grande	Long K1 Short K1	05:20	05:29	10:49	12
Ben Stookesberry	Perception Corsica Jackson Mega Rocker	Long K1 Short K1	05:33	05:27	11:00	13
Dylan Bruce	Wave Sport Momentum Pyranha Burn L	Long K1 Short K1	05:33	05:37	11:10	14
Robin Betz	Liquidlogic Remix 100 Liquidlogic Remix 59	Long K1W Short K1W	05:23	05:58	11:21	15
Adriene Levknecht	Liquidlogic Remix 100 Liquidlogic Remix 59	Long K1W Short K1W	05:44	05:50	11:34	16
Lizzy English	Dagger Green Dagger Nomad 8.5	Long K1W Short K1W	05:25	06:09	11:34	16
Robert Bone	Perception Overflow Riot Magnum	Long K1 Short K1	05:39	05:57	11:36	18
Shannon Carrol	Pyranha Mountain 300 Pyranha Burn L	Long K1W Short K1W	06:28	05:50	12:18	19
Katie Hilleke	Prijon T-Canyon Pyranha Burn	Long K1W Short K1W	18:57	06:29	25:26	20

HP:

Paul Stamilio	Liquidlogic Gus	Short K1HP	05:12	1
Keith Sprinkle	Prijon Tornado	Long K1HP	05:27	2
Adam Secrest	Perception Corsica Matrix	Long K1HP	05:48	3
Kirk Williams	Prijon Tornado	Long K1HP	06:12	4
Bill Clipper	Prijon Tornado	Long K1HP	06:24	5

OC-1:

Eli Helbert	Esquif Taureau	Short OC1	09:03	1
Zack Dean	Pyranha Spanish Fly	Short OC1	12:04	2

C-1:

Dave Hepp	Dagger Cascade	Long C1	05:03	1
Will Lyons	Dagger Cascade	Long C1	05:08	2

I'd like to thank Chris Hipgrave for teaching me so much about training over the years and for having enough faith in me to loan his prized Tornado out for a summer of abuse on low-water Green. Jim and Dinver - you're awesome! Thank you so much for getting me an Everest for the race! I am stoked beyond belief to be paddling this boat as the winter creek season approaches! Mom and Dad for standing behind me in everything I try, even if it scares you to death. Casey for always being supportive and positive and for taking sick shots of me all the time!

Green Race Training

2007-10-17T19:54:00.000-07:00

The Green Race is coming up again already! Last year's race was especially exciting for several reasons. The three biggest differences of the 2006 Green Race and the ones before are that the race was won by Pat Keller in a boat that he specifically designed for the race, the elusive 5 minute barrier was finally broken by a short boat (Pat Keller, 4:54), and that the most racers in the history of the Green Race competed (126 total). Last year's race was the first Green Race I attended. Though I didn't start at Frankenstein like most other racers, I did race in the head-to-head race after the main races were finished. It didn't turn out like I hoped, but it was still a fun thing to do. I didn't prepare for it last year but this year is a new year and I'm so excited about racing that I sat down and wrote this.

I started training for the Green Race on the heels of the Wildwater Junior World Championships held in Charlotte, NC and Columbia, SC this summer. Because I started training for this race at a high level of fitness, I have been able to focus more on explosive sprint speed and driving the boat hard through flat pools that can wear other racers down. In fact, I live just far enough away from the Green, toward the very western-most part of NC, that my schedule does not allow me to make training runs on the Green during the week, forcing me to utilize flatwater near where I live for my workouts as the only reliable paddling option because of the severe drought in this area.

Flatwater Workout by Casey Jones

My simple training training plan consists of roughly:

4-6 flatwater sessions a week, consisting of 1/2 hour of intense interval training after adequate warm-ups/stretching
Weight training 2-3 times a week, focusing mostly on my core, shoulder, and arm muscles with moderate weights and resistance training
Usually two laps on the Green on Saturdays, with the course broken down into quarters that I sprint through, then catch an eddy to teach myself how to drive the boat HARD through every part of the course, or either a no-eddies run in race mode.
One several mile hike with my boat per week, on the AT or Bartram Trail, or a few miles of running, to get a good cardio workout while letting my paddling muscles rebuild.

Other things to think of in preparation for the race are what you put into your body (not only proper nutrition/hydration), the amount of sleep you get, and your equipment. Make sure you're using a long, light, powerful paddle. Strip any unnecessary things from your equipment within reason because weight adds up. Also make sure your boat doesn't leak - water weighs a lot and it slows you down when you're trying to go fast, not to mention that it's annoying to have it sloshing around. Train with the gear you plan to race with. That means decide what you're going to use NOW and use it until the race. DON'T change a thing! Training in the clothes you plan to race in is a good idea, especially if you're going to wear a drytop, as it teaches you how to breath effectively with all your equipment on. For raceday, wear just enough to get by for conditions. This is as important for me as physical preparation, because I simply cannot go hard when I am overheating. Being cold at the start isn't as much of an issue, because you'll heat up when you start exerting yourself. I digress..

You'd think that you'd want to sprint the whole time, right? I mean, it is a race. WRONG. The simple fact of the matter is that when you sprint, you're not always using your energy efficiently. Translation: if you start at a dead sprint and keep that pace, you'll probably bonk by Whale Tail, then you'll become lactic by the time you're looking at the Notch, and your chances of crashing in front of 500 people go up dramatically. In my background as a wildwater racer, where we often race for upwards of 20 minutes, efficiency is a big reward. In shorter races it doesn't hurt, for sure, but this isn't a wildwater race. This is the most extreme kayak race in the world - you want to go hard, but be smart about it and dial your lines because clean is fast (and safe).

Go Left by Milton Mann

Last, there are two secrets to any race. First, know the course. The Green is tricky to race and there are some things you'll learn only by doing them repetitively. Second, hammer the flats and easier water, which is where you make time anyway, then back off just a hair and nail your line in the biggest rapids. You won't make time if you charge the big rapids and the likelihood of making a mistake and losing time goes up quite a bit. Simply listen to your body and drive the boat effectively, efficiently, and cleanly. Add the result of the flatwater and cross-training you've done over the last few months, and you're ready to race.

Ride the Lighting