Surprisingly not the race it self, but my performance was the surprise. All day I was just bagged. Really, Really tired, to the point that I skipped my usual pre-race run, and was just going to have a little shut eye before the race.
The start just like Tuesday night had its own twist. The line which is normally at the first dock, was intentionally moved, (by the racers)ahead of the second dock. Everyone just kept creeping forward. What seemed to be a long time, Brian finally said go. I powered up pass the OC1 that was beside me, and was going after the big boys already making a gap in the front. Just then I heard a bunch of people yelling, and I looked to my left to see Calvin had huli'd and was getting back onto his OC1.
I turned my attention back to the group of skis and the lone sea kayak power by Brian in front of me. All the time going to the red marker, and then the sand barge, I was trying to catch up to Chris and Brian. I would gain on them, and then lost it.
It was very frustrating. After passing the sand barge, now the sail boats had to be taken into account. We were warned that there might be a sailboat race going on, and that the sail boats had the right away. I guess they remember the last race, or maybe had a couple of complaints.
Between the sand barge and the yacht club, It was the same thing, gain ground, and then lose it, but this time I had another issue to deal with. I could hear Sean, Gary and Marshall talking about keeping the pace and catching me. Since these guys have been kicking my butt lately, I did not want this to happen. It just made me dig in a harder. So it was head down, power up and really concentrate on technique to maximize every stroke.
As I came around the marker at the yacht club, I glanced over, and confirmed that it was Sean, Gary and Marshall in a double, and Calvin, who had caught up to them, and was now looking to catch me. The leg from the yacht club to the marker off the beach by Heritage Harbour was a downwind one, but it seemed to be against the current, or I was really getting tired. (it had to be a current)I could see Brain and Chris in front of me, so I tried again to catch them, and try to increase the gap between me and the guys behind me.
About half way down this leg three sail boats were starting to come over to where I was paddling. I thought oh great, now I have to dodge these guys as well as hold off the guys behind me. But these sails boats actually made some really good waves to ride, and my speed jumped up by 2 kph in a blink. This was great. During this time, I white nose of a OC1 came into view in the corner of my left eye. I said "Hi Calvin", I guess this shocked him a little. He said hi and started to pass. Well I was going to have none of that, and I immediately jumped on his wash.
This was good for me, because Calvin is a strong paddler, and he makes a good size wash to ride, so I was able to rest for a little bit. Not very long because Calvin was trying to shake me off. He kept looking over his left shoulder to see where I was. He would then pump up the pace, it was very hard, but I managed to stay with him. We came around the marker at Heritage Harbour, and Calvin shot ahead around the turn. I had to really pull hard for about 30 seconds to get back on his stern wake. He can really accelerate fast on his OC1.
We played this cat and mouse game all the way to the sand barge. Coming around the barge Calvin tried to take off yet again, but I was able to get back on his wake again. (My turning is not very good, so people usually can drop me at this point) I was really starting to get tired with all this catching up I had top do to stay with Calvin, and he slowly started to make a gap. He kept looking over his shoulder to see if I was there. So as we got closer to the finish, I decided to mess with him. because he was always looking over his left shoulder, I moved way over to the right, so he would not know how close I was. This had its problem as well. The finish dock is on that side. If we went for a sprint finish, he could easily close the door on me, and just head straight for the dock.
So once we got to within about 200 meters of the finish, I went back over to the left and clear water, and started to crank up the rate. Of course seeing this so did Calvin. I could not pass him, and he got me by about 7 seconds. It was a excellent race.
At the post race barbecue, I managed to win a very nice Stohlquist PFD. Thank Mel, Brian, and Ryan. I can't wait for the next race in two weeks.
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