Monday, November 5, 2007

Green Race Report

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!


1 comment:

Jason Aytes said...

Nice write up and good job in the race!