Like A Lady

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For many of us kayaking is a way of life, an art form, a passion, it represents determination, empowerment, and the very best of everything we are. This summer I set out to Idaho and Colorado to chase my passion for white water and new experiences, to explore what I’m capable of and what makes me most happy! It doesn’t matter what river I’m on, who I’m with, or how difficult it is; I love it! It’s where I’ve met my best friends and continue to have the best of adventures directing me towards the very best of everything life has to offer. Go after what creates meaning in your life and trust yourself, you’d be surprised at the places it will take you; I sure was. Here’s a peak of what I was up to this summer!

-Alicia Lycan

Tags: Alicia Lycan, Burn, Burn III, immersion research, jed, kayaking, paddling, pnw, Pyranha, shegoes, summer, werner, white water, women

20
Oct

Ok, so Team Pyranha love the 9R, but what about everyone else?

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by Pyranha

We recently received this review from a local SE boater, so happy to hear everyone is as stoked on this boat as we are!

Aggressive, Nimble and Stable… these are the 3 words that come to mind when I am asked what I think about Pyranha’s new boat the 9R. I have paddled a lot of boats in a lot of styles of water from big water waves, steep fast slides, and low water creeks. The 9R is my new choice of boat for any of these conditions.

I am a southeast class 4/5 boater, a weekend warrior and not sponsored. For reference I weigh 160lbs, I am 5’6” and have a size 9.5 shoe and the 9R fits me like a glove. I have owned the 9R for about 2 months now and have over 20 runs in it. This boat was my pick for my trip to Colorado In June and has also been my go to boat for local runs. From Upper East (CO), Daisy Creek (CO), Big Creek (NC), Green River (NC) to the Little River (TN) and Piney Creek (TN) this boat has seen it all.

Aggressive – The 9R is a fast narrow boat that wants to be driven. The more you put into this boat the more it gives back. At 8’ 11” this boat is long for a “short” boat and you can tell this in the speed of the boat. It drives over waves and through holes with ease. A few strokes and you are up to speed even in boiling water and funky eddy lines. Coming down slides the 9r is lighting fast, but very in control. You are able to pick your lines and stay on them.

Nimble – From catching eddies to must make moves or even holding a line for a killer boof the 9R can do it all. The sharper edges on the stern of the boat are great for driving into small eddies with ease. Using the speed of the boat and the stern edges you can make quick, tight moves through boulder gardens with little effort. Great for those go fast days down your local creek. The continuous rocker along with the speed of the 9R make it a boofing machine.

Stable – The 9R keeps the key figures of a displacement hull with soft edges up front to keep the boat very stable. The bow of this boat looks similar to Shiva and just as forgiving, but the stern flattens out with the sharper edges to give you the speed you need. In big water the 9R rides over boils and holes with no issues due to the new wave deflectors on the bow. These deflectors help push the water away from the bow and keep you riding high and dry.

A few last remarks on the boat’s outfitting, the C4S. Having the ability to change the rake of the seat is key to being locked in and having full control of your boat. The knee hooks and the narrower knee position make this boat very comfortable. Along with the standard foot rest and the ample foam that’s provided, outfitting this boat is a breeze.

Here are a few videos of the 9R in action:

Royal Gorge (CO)

Daisy Creek (CO)

Cheoah River (NC)

Upper East (CO)

Tags: 9R, Local Boater, Love, review, Unsponsored

20
Oct

Balkan Rivers Days – 72 Hours for Rivers

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by Rok Rozman

Shortest way to explain what was going on from September 24^th – 27^th in Serbia is to describe it as Unconventional gathering of River lovers.

Imagine 120 River conservationists from 18 countries hanging out in the most amazing place just next to the mighty Sava River in the most vibrant city and the former capital of Yugoslavia – Belgrade. We were the ones representing kayaking community…

It was as fun as it looks or reads. When you have good and quality ingredients it is not hard to make a good dish with them. In our case the dish were ideas on how to fight the insatiable appetite for damming rivers in the Balkan Peninsula.

It is somehow hard to imagine that there are more than 2,700 hydropower plants projected in the region; even National Parks and other protected areas are at risk! They want to put a dam to every river that was left untouched till today as they think they have a right to do it and that they are doing us a favor. Or just said simpler – they like the easy money.

So who is the one against all this absurd dam craze, who is the one going to battle with big corporations and corrupted governments that don’t give a damn about the treasures their countries, in difference to other European countries, still possess? We are! Kayakers, fishermen, little local NGOs and other passionate people in the campaign. There is only us, no one else will do it!

I can fit myself in all listed above, but to be honest I am most proud of the fact that I am a kayaker. This has to do with the fact that kayakers were the ones that made the difference in the field in many past battles for the rivers. We don’t think and discuss too much; we simply go to action without big hesitations. Or like a respected activist Edward Abbey, who was totally against dams that devastated USA, once said: “Sentiment without action is the ruin of the soul.”

Among all I believe we kayakers feel the strongest connection to Rivers and their free flow. One can’t be a sailor without an ocean and we can’t be kayakers without wild and free Rivers and we feel this in our guts. You all know the smell of the river in the morning when mists are still rising above the rapids, the haze around a waterfall that never cease and a feeling when you see a wild trout or salmon under your boat. All that is gone when there is a wall between upper and lower stretch of river…

It feels good to know that there are more enthusiastic people like us around and that we are not alone in this. Joining forces is and will be crucial and having fishermen and conservationists for friends is not that bad at all, believe me. So lets prove that we are still the ones that River lovers can rely on when battles for Rivers start.

There is a choice; we make it every day… Leeway collective’s choice is organizing a Tour across the Balkans in 2016, all the way from our home Slovenia to the Albania and gather broad kayaking community to paddle these amazing rivers together, spend time with friendly locals and spread the word about this important issue across the region and in world wide media. Come join us, you know it will be fun!

More info on the tour and dates will follow but April/May will be time for that. Follow us on social media or contact me directly via rok@leeway-collective.com.

See you on wild and free Rivers!

Rok

Tags: action, Campaign, Dams, Free, rivers

15
Oct

Huck-tober in Virginia

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by gdalton

Heavy sustained rains in early October brought some of the most treasured creeks in Virginia up to perfect levels. We were lucky enough to spend several days chasing rain from Roanoke through the Shenandoah Valley and into the fabled Nelson County region of the Blue Ridge Mountains. Here are some images from “Hucktober” in Virginia.

With rain starting to fall we headed to Bent Mountain to catch Bottom Creek at a primo level. Melissa Vaughan became one of only a handful of women to paddle this scenic class V stout. Here she is finishing up “Two Blind Mice” at the end of the Waterfall Section.

“You only get one chance to run a drop blind.” Melissa V. gets her first glimpse of “Two Blind Mice” the traditional way…totally blind. Bottom Creek, VA. © Gordon Dalton

Josh P. enters the righteously infamous “Gorilla North,” Bottom Creek, VA © Gordon Dalton

Next morning started off with some portage-free laps on the North Fork Tye River just 15-minutes from my house. Backyard boofing!

Gordon on the last of three consecutive boofs in “Cushion” Rapid, North Fork Tye, VA. Photo by Art Barket

Gordon Dalton, “Packsaw” Rapid, North Fork Tye River, VA. Photo by Art Barket

It is usually a bad idea to drive away from good water, but after a great session on the NFT, the crew pushed on to an exploratory run just over the mountain near Lexington, VA. When we got there it was clear that levels had dropped to less-than-optimal for this unknown run. There was much debate about whether to hike in or not. In the end I stuck with my own motto: “It doesn’t have to be running to be runnable.” It wasn’t hard to convince Josh or Andrew – in fact they were the most eager to see what this promising waterfall run had to offer. Especially Andrew since this run had been calling his name for some time. Thanks for sharing Andrew! This creek has a clean, vertical 20′ falls (actually twin side-by-side falls), several defined ledges, and a mini-gorge narrow enough to jump over. The travertine formations are like something out of Mexico. This will be an awesome option for those days when everything else is blown out.

Andrew Epperly on the first 20-footer. © Gordon Dalton

Andrew Epperly explores “little mexico.” © Gordon Dalton

The creek culminates in this multi-stage travertine cascade at the take-out. We gave Andrew the first-descent honors, then Josh and I dropped in:

Josh P. gets a geology lesson in one of several fine travertine waterfalls. Exploratory Mission, Shenandoah Valley, VA. © Gordon Dalton

The next day was Sunday, so we all went to Church!:

CHURCH! The North Fork Tye takeout. © Gordon Dalton

It was good to make a couple laps with an old friend of the Pyranha family; Trafford McRae.
Here we are routing through “Cushion” in an Everest and a Burn III:
“Cushion” on Vimeo

All in all it was a stout start to creeking season in the mid-Atlantic. THINK RAIN!

Pyranha Creeking Quiver: Shiva, Burn III, 9R! © Gordon Dalton

Tags: 9R, Burn, creeking, Everest, Gordon Dalton, Pyranha, shiva, virginia

13
Oct

Below and Beyond – Anacondas and Condors 2015

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by Spike Green

It’s been a while since we got back from the trip. It’s always great to have time to reflect. Can be quite a significant opportunity – a good chance to ask why did I go?

There’s lots of reasons why we do these things. As far as the collective goal goes we were hoping to do explore the possibilities offered by a couple of rivers. And in doing so raise the paddling profile of Peru a little. Personally speaking, expedition paddling is about the combination of wanting to visit places where no-one/hardly anyone has been AND can I then cope?

It was great to welcome James to the Below and Beyond family. The team is so important – pretty much the reason we paddle together.

The trip started as it went on – busy! We landed in Cusco, heads spinning with the altitude. Next thing we know we’re on a section of the Urabamba paddling alongside Pauls kids in a raft! Followed by the second(?) descent of the Rio Pomacanchis, second (?) descent of the Mapacho, a high water Tono, a high water (lower) Kosnipata, the Black canyon of the Apurimac and a very high water run on the Granite canyon of the Apurimac.

But none of the above were why we were really there! The Rio Queros has been on my mind for 13 years now… Tales of remote Jungle, uncontacted tribes, Indian tribes that still life as the Incans did (or at least a close approximation!), epic walk-in (from 4500m) and paddle out (at 800m) and the possibility that I did the first (?) descent of the lower section of the river all those years ago! Unfortunately Paddington Bear ruined this trip for us – that and some serious mis-information! The Queros Indians – a mountain tribe, who have the closest genetic make-up to the Incans, live at 4500m. We agreed with them that they would porter for us the two days they said it would take to get to the limit of their tribal area – also the ideal put-in for the river. The first days trek was remarkable, utterly beautiful. We arrive at one of their villages where we rest at 3300m, to ready ourselves for the next day down to the put-in.

It is there that they inform us that it will take a further (up to) 4 days to reach the river – and they had no food for that journey! Aaaaargh! We’ve only got 4 days food for 4 of us! That’s that then, we plan for the trek out. Bugger. It transpires that 4 years ago it was possible to get to the put-in in a two day trek, as they used to grow Maize in the area…. But – in recent years the Spectacled Bears would come out of the cloud forest and eat their crops! So they no-longer farm in that area, the paths have returned to Cloud forest, the bridges fallen and landslides destroyed the paths.

So, put the Rio Queros on the list for next time! On to the Rio Santa Tomas. The main reason for paddling the Black canyon of the Apurimac is that the St Tomas is a tributary. From the Apurimac we could get an idea of the flow in the St Tomas. Bit high but ok…

BIG drive to get to the put-in, we wanted to inspect as much as possible prior to committing – box canyon country! The river seemed pretty low at the put-in. Pretty quickly however things changed! A day and a half of some of the best boating I’ve ever done. Pretty committing, full-on (for me, I was at my limit). Paul, Dan and James were totally on it, cruising! At the last road bridge all the evidence was suggesting that I should get off – already at my limit, the river got steeper and went into longer, deeper box canyons. The others still had another gear to go. They commit. By the time I get back to Cusco and have a cold one in my hand, the boys are up to their necks in a quality sufferfest. More great boating, swiftly followed by inspection/portage/desert(very uphill) trekking with boats, etc. But the right call to go for it – it could have been amazing!

All in all a fantastic trip. Not exactly successful, unless success is; not getting hurt, laughing a lot, meeting some amazing people, going to incredible places, doing plenty of great boating and even better friends than before!

Thanks to Pyranha for the boats – brilliant. Especially impressed with the way the (relatively small in comparison with the Burn XL and Everests) Large Burn coped with the exped loading.

Tags: Burn, Dan Butler, Everest, expedition, James Bruton, Peru, Pyranha, Spike Green

27
Sep

Wet West Paddle Fest – 2015

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by Jonny Hawkins

As the summer boating season in Scotland draws to an end, paddlers from across the UK descend upon the quaint Scottish glens of the Moriston and Garry for a weekend of awesomeness.

Wet West Paddle Fest was started as a memorial to the amazing Andy Jackson and now, 11 years on, has expanded into a huge paddling festival. Organised by an amazing bunch of SCA volunteers, it is a highlight of the year for many Scottish paddlers and now draws crowds from as far afield as New Zealand.

Louise Fingleton putting the 9R through its paces before she heads out to Sickline

The awesome grade 4 Moriston is the river of choice for Saturday. Squeezing 400 paddlers onto the steep 500m section of whitewater made for a hilarious spectacle and a fantastic opportunity to catch up with boating friends from across the UK

Joe Fender loving the new 9R L, fresh out of the mold for WWPF

The party on the Saturday night spread across Fort William, with paddlers staggering out of every pub well into the early hours.

“This was my first time up to Wet West, I was so inspired by the turn out from boaters from across the UK. It just goes to show how important Scotland is to the whitewater scene and how so many paddlers hold it in such high regard. The event was filled with smiles, energy, passion and the feeling on the water was fantastic. There was so much support and it was great to see everyone looking out for each other on these challenging rivers, I’ll be back, that’s for sure!” – Chris Brain, Team Pyranha

There was a lot of excitement for the new 9R L demos, that were out on the rivers all weekend

The keen beans were on the Garry early Sunday morning, enjoying empty eddies in yet more sun. As the hoards arrived, the psych increased, with whops and cheers echoing down the river encouraging; shudder rudders to space godzilas.

Team Pyranha were on hand with demo boats including the awesome new 9r L which was in constant use. The feedback and excitement about the new addition to the range was amazing and it is great to see everyone still loving the Burn III and 9r.

One of the many great playwaves on the River Garry

Thanks everyone for an amazing weekend and to the SCA volunteers for their time and dedication. Thanks also to SCA photographer Fiona Ainslie for the great shots.

See you all next year for another fantastic WWPF

Tags: 9R, 9R L, Burn III, River Garry, River Morriston, WWPF 2015

16
Sep

2015 Freestyle kayaking World Championships

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Paddler Lifestyle Articles

by Bren Orton

The 2015 ICF Freestyle Kayaking World Championships are Freestyle kayaking’s single most prestigious event. Occurring once every two years, out of every single competition in the world this event is the main focus of almost all freestyle kayakers. The past two world championships have been held in small holes but this year we saw the event return to a wave. Some athletes are able to switch seamlessly between the two different features but most specialise in either a hole or a wave and it was both awesome to watch the true wave riders like Pat Camblin come out of the woodwork and amazing to see dedicated hole kayakers such as Tomasz Czaplicki improve so rapidly on a wave.

The competition was to be hosted by Wilderness tours and held on the Garburator wave on the Ottawa river. The Ottawa has been one of the most influential rivers in the world in regards to developing Freestyle kayaking and as such we have seen two previous world championships held on this river. Wilderness tours did an incredible job building grandstands, Judges tents, Media platforms and even putting in a dedicated wifi network for the event all in a location that whilst not quite being in the middle of nowhere, is pretty damn close.

I arrived almost 60 days in advance to the event for various reasons; To train and surf some great waves in warm water, but mostly to hang out in the Canadian sunshine and session one of the most famous rivers in the world every day. My summer was a blur of endless days spent on Garb and Corner wave and before I knew it we where coming into the final countdown before the 2015 worlds. I felt the familiar pangs of nervous anticipation before a big event as we marched through the opening ceremony.

Those feelings of nervousness carried with me right up until I caught the wave for the first time during the competition and then I don’t know what happened, The familiar feeling of dropping in, catching the wave put me at ease and weeks of preparation came to pass as muscle memory took over and I laid down an almost perfect competition ride. I could have made it into the next round just from one ride but instead I put down another almost flawless ride just to be sure and to ease any of my doubts that I had somehow had a lucky ride. I got to spend my next two rides fooling around and trying tricks that I would normally never pull in an event of this calibre for the likelihood of not landing them. Even the first cut was brutal from over 90 very talented kayakers down to just 20, I finished the day in third place and felt great heading into the next round.

I was so stoked on the previous days rides I went into the quarter finals happy and relaxed about making the cut and advancing to the next round. I threw down my highest scoring ride of the competition and advanced in second place just behind one of my heroes Nick Troutman. I couldn’t have been happier at this point of the competition but I was equally nervous about making the cut into finals with so many ridiculous kayakers sitting just below me in the standings.

Going into the next round was Brutal. A number of kayakers had stepped their game up in order to advance into the finals, Most notably Quim Fontané Masó from Catalonia had somehow found a way to tack on an extra 200 points to his ride and was sitting pretty in third place by the time it came for me to take my ride. With just two chances to make it into the finals I was pretty stressed. I had an okay first ride but knew I could better it. We waited for what seemed like an eternity for the results and I grew more and more concerned while waiting. I didn’t want to take my last ride until I knew whether I was safe or not. The results didn’t come in in time and I took my final ride not knowing whether I would move onto the next round. The announcers told me to treat it like I hadn’t made it on my first ride and I went for it. Sadly I threw too hard on my first trick and over rotated my airscrew all the way into a crash off the wave. I rolled up desperately looking for answers when my friend Nick paddled up told me he had done the math and that I was through to the finals in 5th place. I was so unbelievably happy, relieved and stoked!

Finals day came and I couldn’t wait to get on the water. After a disappointing two rides in the previous rounds I was fired up to improve on my score and hopefully lay down my dream ride. I was in fact too fired up and on all three of my rides I threw tricks too hard, over rotated and crashed off the wave. If ever there was a defining moment for me to pick out why I compete it was during the finals when I was having bad rides and the boys I was competing against where cheering me on, willing me to have a good ride and genuinely wanting me to do well. I don’t know many other sports with this level of camaraderie and it was both a pleasure and a privilege to be on the water with such awesome people.

My only goal for this event was to make it to the finals and have the opportunity to show the world what I am capable of. I got really close to my goal and whilst I feel disappointed in my performance in finals I am happy with how I surfed in the earlier rounds and understand that there are many phenomenal kayakers that did not even make it this far. The biggest example of this being Stephen Wright who unfortunately lucked out during his team trials but would undoubtedly have been one of the top contenders at this event. I have learnt a lot of skills from Stevo over the years; Pistol flips, The best lines on the Gauley, Mystery moves etc, but by far his biggest lesson has been how to be a good sportsman. You can read his blog on worlds and staying classy here – http://jacksonkayak.com/blog/2015/09/15/failure-success-victory-take-worlds-2015/

I would also like to take this moment to thank everyone that helped the Ugandan Freestyle kayak team make it to this World Championships. From cash donations, emails to the Canadian embassy, to Canadians lobbying their MP’s. It was amazing to people come together to support this cause and even better to be able to watch Team Uganda throw down in Canada.

With my competition year officially over it is time for me to do some soul boating and work on some new tricks I dreamed up earlier this summer.
Sorry to all of the awesome people that cheered me on and where looking forward to seeing me shred in the finals… Hopefully, Next time!
See you on the water,
Bren

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15
Sep

Colorado 2015: Media Dump

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by Adam Goshorn

Colorado is one of the most fun and picturesque places for paddlers to visit. Enough said… lets get to the media!

Below: Adam Goshorn slip-n-sliding on OBJ, photo by Alicia Lycan

Below: Eric Hoffman rocking the Shiva on OBJ, photo by Adam Goshorn

Below: Adam Goshorn on the first drop on OBJ, Photo by Jason Bordwine

Below: Alicia Lycan boofing on OBJ, photo by Adam Goshorn

Below: Adam Goshorn lining up the kicker on Avalanche rapid on OBJ, photo by Jason Bordwine

Below: A compalation of footage from our time in Colorado in June and July of 2015. Edited by Adam Goshorn

Until Next Time…

-Adam Goshorn

Below: The crew taking in the scenery at Cottonwood Pass, photo by Adam Goshorn

Below: Adam Goshorn living the good life at 12,000 feet, photo by John Kern

Tags: action, Adam Goshorn, boofing, Burn, Colorado, creeking, demshitz, expedition, kayak, kayaking, Pyranha, pyranha kayaks, Pyranha shiva, shiva, Video, waterfall, waterfalls, werner paddles, whitewater, whitewater kayaking

31
Aug

9R Review

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Tests and Reviews

by Ric Moxon

This boat is receiving a huge amount of attention for good reason! I live on the west coast on North America and there are only two boats that people are currently paddling or want to paddle. They are the 9R and the Tuna. Everything else has the same limitations.

Ok, now I understand that a review coming from a team paddler can easily be viewed as bias. However, I can hand on heart say that this is the best kayak I have ever paddled!

I have been paddling this boat for around 6 weeks now. It performs perfectly in all aspects of whitewater kayaking from tight & technical to big volume and pushy.

Its narrowness is the key to many of its pros. It allows for more control on edge making it super fun to get your lean on and believe it or not it makes it a lot more stable in big volume. Being narrow with a slender narrow tapering tail means of less surface area for compression features and boils to grab your edge and if a boil does get you the water has very little leverage to flip you. You have to try it!

The nose rocker allows you to get away with anything! Even when loaded the front is so clear of the water. When you have a last minute boof to perform or a huge surface hole to boost over this is a huge bonus! It has saved me countless times.

Its length means it tracks well, holds a line and is super fast and combined with its narrow waist means it is probably the fastest creek boat on the market!

One concern I have heard being mentioned is that people feel it may be to small for multiday trips. I can tell you that loaded with 5 days of food and a river that starts at 4cms and ends with 1000cms it handled great.

One word of warning, I went from a Burn 3 XL to a 9R. the boats are so different in design that initially the 9R will feel weird! It will feel like it has a lot less primary stability but trust me persevere and this kayak will take you to the next level of kayaking!

This is a revolution people, it is like when Shane McConkey designed the first powder ski! Narrow, slim tapering tail and a lot of front rocker, get on board it is the future.

A huge thank to all who were involved in designing this boat and for Pyranha for making it available! You hit the nail on the head!

Tags: 9R, creek, expedition, Fast, review, Ric Moxon, river running

26
Aug

Racing California’s Cherry Creek

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by Pete DeLosa

The Cherry Creek Race

Class V endurance racing. That’s what the Cherry Creek Race is. There are several class V kayak races that happen around the country each year. Each of them pose their own challenges to the racers. None of them require the competitors to paddle all out for 40 minutes through stacked class V rapids like the Cherry Creek Race does.

I first learned about the Cherry Creek Race in 2010 when I went to the creek for the first time. I just happened to show up on race day completely unaware that there was going to be a race. Since then it has been one of my favorite river parties to attend each year, and it has been a goal of mine to enter the race. This year it finally came together. I started making regular trips down there about a month ago to learn the course. Before last month I hadn’t been on that section of river in three years and I’d only done it a couple times, so I definitely had some work to do. After a half dozen practice runs I felt pretty confident. I drove down Friday night and felt really excited that I was finally going to race the creek. I wasn’t nervous at all which I thought was odd. I usually get pre-race jitters on even small races and this was definitely one of the hardest races I’ve done. I woke up early Saturday morning and still felt fired up. The whole drive up to put in I couldn’t wait to get on the water. When we arrived at put in, that’s when my jitters found me. I was suddenly feeling pretty glad I had eaten a light breakfast as it was threatening to come back up. I talked myself through checking all my gear for any last minute issues. It was all solid. I felt confident, and just a little nauseous. My goals for the race were pretty simple. First, make it to the finish line. Second, don’t get passed by the person behind me. Third, get there in under 45 minutes. Winning the race was not really a factor since my competition had way better knowledge of the course than I did. This really helped take some of the stress off too I think. Since it was my first time racing I just needed to create a base line. Next year I will be trying to beat my own time.

I was near the end of the group to start. I left the start at a strong but moderate pace. It’s easy to get caught up in the people cheering and want to go full throttle out of the gate, but when you have to paddle 5 miles through several really big rapids it’s good to pace yourself. The first mile is continuous class IV+ boulder gardens. It’s easy to get lost in here because there are few standout features. It all kind of looks the same. I managed to find my way only taking one wrong line but I don’t think it cost me too much.

The first big rapid is called Jawbone. You boogie down through some bouldery lead in until you come to a horizon where you ride a small curler in between two big holes. For me it’s about 50/50 if I get through here right side up. Nailed it in the race. One down. Ten more to go.

The author punching the final hole in Mushroom

Mushroom had been giving me some sporty lines in practice so I wasn’t sure what to expect in the race. I stuck both entrance moves but still got a little jangled up in the weird water in the middle. I recovered it though and flew off the top of the mushroom. I got surfed by the lateral at the bottom but was happy to avoid the big hole. I might have lost a couple seconds there but at least I didn’t get beat down and swim.

I never actually ran mushroom straight into toadstool before the race. Usually we stop in between to regroup and wait for everyone to get through the first part. There was nobody to wait for on race day though. It was pretty much the same going straight in although I did think for a second how it would be nice to stop for a breather. I got spun out in the eddy at toadstool which cost me time and energy but other wise it went well.

Unknown, Blind Faith, and Sky King all went really well. I was feeling pretty good at this point. I caught pretty good air at Sky King and the cheers of the safety crew fed my stoke to paddle harder. Then I got to Eulogy. Usually you drive up a pillow and boof to the right. Starting to feel the effects of the race I got rejected by the pillow. Being too right too early ran me into some dry rocks which nearly flipped me. I was hanging on a brace when I fell into the hole which surfed me to the right. Luckily it spit me out. However, it spit me out into a lateral which typewritered me the the left where another lateral took me all the way back to the right. Not the fastest way to get there but I did want to be right at the bottom so I guess that worked out. I was pretty out of breath from my surf session though so I had to slow down for Coffin Rock. You make a right to left move here right in front of a bad place to hang out so it’s important not to blow it. I just focused on the exit and catching my breath through here which cost me a little more time but like I said before, my first goal was to make it to the finish.

The typical regroup and catch your breath eddy after Mushroom on a non-race run.

Feeling recuperated after Coffin I knew I had a really fun boogie section before Christmas hole, which was the last spot I was really worried about. I was feeling strong coming into Christmas hole and then I spotted the rafts. There are commercial raft trips on this section and race day is no different. I knew there was a trip out that day, but I was hoping not to see them. I had to slow down a bit to get through a tight section behind the raft before being able to power past them in the final lead in to Christmas hole. I wasn’t stoked to lose more time here but I was happy to know that at least if I got punished in Christmas hole a raft would be along to push me out.

With the raft trip now behind me and only two rapids to go I put everything I had left into each paddle stroke. I had no trouble at Richard’s hole and nailed the fast lines in the little slide things right after. Excited with the knowledge that I was going to make it to the finish I raced toward Lewis’ Leap the final rapid. At the top of the rapid you come around a blind corner into what’s known as the hallway. As I came around the rock I found one more raft. This one was wrapped and completely blocking the channel. My heart sank. This was not only going to kill my race, there was no where for me to go but right into it. For a split second I thought I was completely screwed. Then I hear, “you’re good, you’re good!” I look up and see someone on the rock above the raft pointing to tell me there was in fact a clear path around the raft. The race was back on. I rounded the raft, made the turn, nailed the entry boof and headed straight for the goal posts. As I flew off the leap I thought,”I made it. It’s done.”

I made it to the finish line. I didn’t get passed. I came in at just over 41 minutes. Pretty happy with my first Cherry Creek Race. I would have liked to have been faster, but that will be my goal for next year. I know where I made mistakes and I am looking forward to cleaning them up next time. I’m really lucky to have had a 9R for this race. Without it I would have been much slower. For me being new to this type of racing I found the fast hull on the 9R made it really easy to keep a good pace across what flats there were which allowed me a chance to slow my heart rate and catch my breath in between the big rapids.

Flying off the boof in the middle of Lumsden Falls in my 9R

Photos courtesy of Jen Musick and Phillip Schoenhoff

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