Touring Through Delta

This mornings paddle was basically touring. Myself and my new foreign exchange student went for a leisurely paddle out of Deas Island and into one of the channels that go all through the area.

This was Shota's very first paddle in a kayak. Straight from Japan, and straight into a kayak. Sounds good to me. I had him in my Current Designs Extreme, and I was in my EVO surf ski. All I had to do was show him how the rudder peddles worked, hand him my SET wing blade, and off he went.

He had a smile on his face the whole time. I think he was having fun. We ended up seeing seals and blue herons, and heard, but did not see, one of the local bald eagles. At the end of our 12 kilometer journey, (boy is he going to sleep tonight) Shota practised paddling near the dock, while I did some full out starts to 100 meters. I managed to do about 5 starts, before things began to go south. So that's when I ended it.

A good paddle on a nice day.

Readership Expanding

When I started this blog on January 2nd, 2008, I thought this was a good way of keeping a training log for my lead up to the World Masters Games in 2009, and to promote kayak racing in general.

Since then it has been read in 73 countries and over 2,000 unique visitors as per google. This is cool, and I hope some of my training will help others in their goals as well. As well as my failures. (learn from my mistakes)

Thanks for reading.

Darrell

Dark and Dreary K1 Practise

I got off to a late start tonight, so by the time I got to Deas, it was 6pm, raining, and dark. The rowers were already out on the water. (the ones that actually braved it) Good thing I had my neon yellow shirt with me for visibility out on the water.

So I decided to try going out without stretching. Turn out to be not so good of an idea. Big surprise. I started to seize up by the time I got to the bridge on the first lap. So I had to stretch in the boat on the next length, by over rotating in the boat. This worked out ok. When I got back to the dock, I hopped out and stretched properly. Mental note, ALWAYS STRETCH, even if it is pouring rain.

Back for another lap of the slough. This time I was concentrating on pulling my blade out of the water fast and at the hip. I have a visual clue, as to when my on side blade is at my hip. My off side hand is just before the center of the boat, at that time I snap the blade out of the water, and continue to rotate past center a little to set up for the next stroke.

If you sit in a chair, you can go through your stroke to see where your visual clue is. It will be different for different paddle lengths, arm lengths, etc. As you rotate look at your on side blade, and stop it at or just before it reaches your hip. Now look at your off side hand to see its location. That is your visual clue, as to when to pull the blade out of the water. It sure is easier to do this in a chair versus an ICF flat water boat.

So I made sure that I had my weight on the blade all the way through the stroke, and then snap it out of the water. It is important to keep the power on, all the way through the stroke, not just at the beginning.
This was working ok, but I would lose it, and get it back again. Still not an automatic thing, needs work. Reminds me of a saying I heard “Amateurs practise till they get it right, Pros practise until they can't get it wrong”

After working on this, I decided or the rain did for me, to cap it at two laps, but that was not the end of paddling. Now I started to work on an area that I am weak on, and that is starts. My starts are very poor.
So the first thing was to break down the function of the start and work on it step by step.

The first thing is paddling to the start line, and get ready for the start. So I had an imaginary line, and use it to line up. I did a couple of things here, at first I would ease up to the line and just sit there. Then I would go past the line and paddle backwards slowly to the line. This is because as part of tactics, you should go past the line by a little amount and have the starter call you back. Be forewarned though, some starters can get a little annoyed with this tactic, and can start bagging on you.

Then I practise some of the stuff that might come up as you sitting at the line. Scratching my head, looking at my watch, that sort of thing. I can't tell you how many times myself or someone else has gone in by just adjusting their hat, or fiddling with something at the line. So I did this for about 5 to 10 minutes.

Next up was raising the paddle for the start. It is one thing to sit there with your paddle in a “neutral” position, it is another to hold it in a off balance position, as in the start for any amount of time without practise. So I did this one for about 15 minutes. I would raise the paddle just like the start, with the blade in the water, and hold it for as long as I could.

Now came actually starting. The first four strokes are the power ones, to get the boat up and moving. So in my mind, I would be saying “racers start within tens seconds”, raise the paddle to the set position, hold it for a couple of seconds, and then hammer the first four strokes, and then glide. I would try to get a explosive start, like a 100 meter sprinter on a track. I did this about ten times, each one with different success. Not consistent at all. Needs more work. I managed to only swim twice during this section of the workout, and one was because I was braking really hard, so I wouldn't hit the beach.

By now it was dark, and almost 8 pm. I hustled to get the boat bagged and on the car, and then changed. I was the last person to leave the park. It sure is creepy in the rain and pitch black. Other than that it was a good practise.

Nicomekl River K1 Practise

As a bit of a change I kept driving down the freeway to the Nicomekl River Rowing Club for today's K1 practise. Also because the ski boats had the slough this afternoon, not that the Nicomekl would be any better for boat traffic. The Nicomekl has no set times for paddle sports and boating, it is every man for himself.

After getting my boat to the dock, and finished my stretching routine, it was off to paddle up stream first. Within the first 100 meters of leaving the dock the first boat appeared from behind me. They slowed down for the marina where I launched, but as soon as they got past the marker they gunned it. This was going to be a concern, but I turned into the coming waves and paddled through them. I watch the waves come right up to the combing, just short of coming into the cockpit.

Then I turned back toward the shore, riding the waves in that direction. It was fun, and the speed cranked right up fast. I am starting get the hang of paddling the Thunder in some pretty bouncy conditions. From here it was a easy paddle to the first turn in the river. There was current going the opposite direction as I was, and when I got to the turn, the bow wanted to swing around on me. I managed to keep it straight, and headed around the dock the golf course made, and straight to the shore on the other side.

I wanted to stay fairly close to the shore because I was paddling by myself, and if need be, I could just swim / paddle to shore and get out. That's one of the reasons why I wear my Vital ID band. Usually I am paddling on my own, and if I get into trouble there is emergency information on me.

I continued all the up to the Elgin bridge and then turned around a headed down river. Once I got back to the dock, I pulled over and stretch again before heading to the ocean. I stayed on the west side shore of the river, just in case I need a easy exit from the water, and the boats seem to hug the opposite side.

Nothing exciting happened all the way down the river, no boats, no sudden waves, just a nice easy paddle. When I got to the train bridge, I pulled over for a bit of a rest, and watch the boats leaving the Crescent Beach marina, heading out to Mud bay. After about 5 minutes, I decided to head back to the dock.

Cruising along, a cabin cruiser came by, so I turned to catch the wave at the right angle, so I would not dump. Let the waves roll past, and then paddled to catch them. Riding these waves was interesting because they were trying to throw me in the wrong direction than what I wanted. So I was continuously adjusting my steering and my paddle to compensate.

I came to the last 90 degree bend in the river, just before the dock. This is the spot where the water gets quite fun. It is where the river flow meets the in coming tide, or it seems. The water ends up going straight up and down, as in washing machine. Great in a ski, not so much in a K1. I must be getting better in this boat, because I had no problem paddling through it. In fact I went back for a second shot at it.

Then I did a sprint the length of the dock. I jumped out of the boat and stretched a little bit, and then paddle again up to the Elgin bridge and back. The total distance was only about 12.5 kilometers.

Good & Wet K1 Practise

The K1 practise today was at Deas in the Thunder. It was raining non-stop the whole time, but the good thing about it was it was warm.(Not like winter, when it is raining all the time and cold.) I liked it, because you can regulate your temperature better, then in the heat. If you get too hot you can strip off a shirt or two. In the heat there really isn't much of an option than to get wet.

After getting my gear ready and my boat down to the water, I went to the rowing club's porch to do my stretches. I wanted to stay dry for a little longer, before going out and being soaked for the next hour and a half. My coach is really on me about stretching before paddling, and the more I do it the more it becomes a habit. I can really notice the difference if I have not stretched before hand. My rotation is not very good, and my legs really cramp up.

So now before I start paddling, I make sure that I have done my stretching routine. This workout was going to be a steady technique paddle, and after each lap get out of the boat and stretch. The water on the first few laps was flat from one end of the slough to the other. During all the rest of the laps it was a different story, the wind had kicked up and made some nice waves to practise on.

It was not the same from one end to the other though. At the club house side, because of the trees around the slough, the wind was low, but at the marina side, the wind was blowing. This was great. I like paddling in bouncy, wavy water to get used to it. Especially in the Thunder. With these conditions I would practise powering up in the flats and then in the wavy section focus on getting my blade in vertically and power all the way through the stroke.

Turning at the marina end was fun as well. Practised cranking the tiller bar over, and turning slowly around, to maximize the effect of the beam waves on the boat. I wanted to practise technique with the boat really rocking from side to side.

After about an hour and twenty minutes, I decided that was enough. My technique was going south rapidly, and I was getting tired. The one good thing about it, was that even though I was tired my balanced stayed the same. Usually at this point I am bracing like mad, but it was only my technique that was suffering.

Back On The Ocean - Big Chop #9

Tonight was the Big Chop #9, the next to last race of the season for the series. I wanted to go to this race because I haven't been on the ski for over a month and I missed it, and I needed to buy my “winning” ticket for the year end party.

Not being on a ski for so long, had me a little worried. I hoped I would remember how to paddle out on the ocean again. I started next to Shane, who has won so many of these races, I have lost count. So if I could stay with him for a little while, I know I would have a good start. Brian got to two on the count down to the start, and everyone was going. He actually blew the horn twice as a false start but no one stopped. It was pretty funny.

Shane was off to a blazing start as usual, and I managed to stay close to him, as we headed to the front of the pack, or should I say, he was headed to the front of the pack. I settle in next to Matt and his daughter Olivia in the Double XT. I was getting used to wash riding again, but kept coming very close to the double. Good thing I practise have a vertical catch. Even then, Matt and I hit blades more than a couple of times.

As we approached the first turn at the red buoy, I could see I as going to be squished between Matt and the marker. So I asked if he could please move over a little, which he promptly did. Coming around the marker I swear the side of my ski scraped the buoy. I stopped paddling and glided past the buoy and after passing I immediately turned to the left and gave Matt some room. Then it was off to catch Gary in his EVO, and the double outrigger he was wash riding.

I powered up and jumped the gap between myself and the double OC. From there I rode the left wash, and Gary the right wash to just about the next turn at the sand barge. Just before the turn the OC started to pull away from us, and I had to really pull hard just to stay on, but they were too much and a gap started to form. Coming around the sand barge I could see Mike and Denise in their new Huki double ski, having a little difficultly.

I think this was their second race or even their first race in it. From here to the next turn I was behind them and the double OC, which just kept making the gap bigger. As we approached the next turn I could see that Mike and Denise were going to make a tight turn, so I knew this was my chance to pass. I lined myself up for a wide turn, that way I could carry my speed through the corner. Sure enough they went too tight, and ended up slowing down and going real wide in the exit. I came in underneath them and exited close to the buoy, with go speed and managed to pass them.

From what I could hear, Denise was not happy about me passing them in the corner. So now going with the waves, its was time to concentrate on technique and to put the power down. Off a scooted toward False Creek and the next turn. During this time I was by myself, or so I thought. Coming up to the next turn someone had bumped the back of my boat. I though it was Gary who had caught up to me, and I said “hi Gary” but there was no answer. Hummm. Again I set myself up for the corner, and as I went around it was Caroline who came underneath and passed me.

I though good move Caroline. She must have saw me do the exact thing to the Billys in their Huki. Off she powered and had a little gap in no time. I powered up just to keep the gap from getting bigger. Caroline really has gotten a lot faster since a saw her a month ago. Well Done. In the distance I could see the front guys making the turn at the sand barge for the last time, but it looked a little strange, they all seemed to be taking a funny line around the bouy. As I got closer I noticed that Paki Nui took a really hard left, and then a hard right to go around the buoy.

Something was not right. When I close enough to see, there was a big rope, the one that ties up freighters floating in the water. I though there is no way I am going to try to go over that, and off to the left I went to avoid it. Caroline did like wise. As I cleared the rope and headed to the buoy, I saw in the corner of my eye, an OC1 heading straight for me. He was going for it. I hammered to get out of his way.

I don't know if he had actually made it over the rope, because I was off like a scared rabbit. After the race I found out that a few people tried to jump the rope and got caught, and had to swim to get untangled. Good practise remounting the ski.

The last leg, I was just trying to get my technique down and try to catch Caroline, who now had a good 25 meter gap between us. It was all I could do to bring the gap down to about 8 meters at the finish line.

It was a good hard race for me, I really enjoyed myself. As usual the food at the end of the race was great. Thanks very much to all the volunteers who help Ryan and Brian put on the race for us.

Raining Buckets K1 Masters Practise

This weeks Masters Practise was very, very wet. As I was driving to Burnaby Lake to pick up a Super Lancer to use, the skies opened up and started to just dump. I got soaked just going from my car to the water, which was only about 10 meters away.

I managed to get in two laps before the rest of the crew got to the lake. The first lap was ok, but the steering in the boat was off. I had to crank over the tiller bar to the right to go straight. So after the first lap, I pulled over at the beach and tried to fix it. It did not seem to work, no matter what I did. So for the rest of the night, I would fiddle with it, and still have the bar cranked over.

I managed to over come this by just leaving it where it was and placing my feet below the tiller bar on the foot board. It was the most comfortable solution, but it worked. I will have to check the steering this weekend to make sure there isn't a problem at the rudder end of the system.

The next lap I caught up with Katja and paddle beside her. My goal was to stay with her, but with a slower stroke rate. That way I had to use power to keep the boat at the same speed. Then it was off to the beach to talk to Lynn my coach. I was getting good rotation, but I was still not pausing long enough at the catch before rotating. As well my hands were too low, so I wasn't getting the blade in vertical.

My next lap was to concentrate on those aspects of the stroke. Some times I would get it, other time I would lose it. When you get the proper stroke you can really feel the boat rocket forward. This is why my practises usually end up longer than scheduled. Once I get in the groove, I don't want to stop because I will lose it. So an hour usually ends up being an hour and a half or two hours.

It was overall a good practise because I was really trying to use power with technique. I was really tired after this one.

Round Alice Lake Swim

Today was the annual get together with our friends at Alice Lake near Squammish, B.C. The weather at home was thunder and lightning and plenty of rain, but we decided to go anyways. Once we had picked up friends in Ladner, the weather looked like it was improving.

The closer we got to Squammish the better the weather was getting. Driving up the Sea to Sky highway, I noticed that they have a long way to go before they are finished, if ever, on this road. It seems to be in worse shape than it was one year ago. Of course we had to look at the slide that happened a couple of weeks ago near Porteau Cove. It was all cleaned up, with new railroad tracks and pavement.

By the time we had arrived, the sun was out and it was nice and toasty. It did not take long for everyone to hit the water. Once the kids were in, it seemed that they did not come out. I had to drag them in to have lunch.

As I was looking across the lake, I thought, now that would make a nice swim, to go across to the other side of the lake. Then I thought that it would not be too much of a stretch for me to swim all the way around the lake. So when a couple of kids decided to go to the playground on the other side of the lake, I had my opportunity to actually do it. So the kids and Amber started walking over to the playground, and I waited for a little bit before heading out.

I told some people what I was going to do, and off I went. If you stayed in the sunny area of the water the temperature was not bad, but if you went into the shadows, burrrrrrr. So I skirted the border between the warm and the cold water. This distance was good as it was not too far from the shore. The only thing you had to watch for was the snags in the water. You definitely did not want to get caught in those, or you were going to get in trouble real fast.

As I approached the shore at the first corner, I saw a couple of guys diving off a log. I swam up to them and asked what direction was the playground. They pointed to my left and said it I was just over about 100 meters. I saw an area where I could get out of the water with ease, so I swam over to it, and got out. From there I walked the 75 meters down the trail to the playground, and met up with Amber and the kids.

Chatted for a little bit, and then it was off to finish my swim. Along the shore to the main beach, and then along the west side of the lake, back to where I started. When I managed to find a map, it turned out that my swim was 1.45 kilometers long. Not bad for a old guy.

K1 + Ski Boats = Swimming

Today was a short (one hour) paddle at the slough. When I got there, a water ski boat was attempting to get his kids to water ski. Good to start them young. As I was doing my stretches, I noticed that he was getting a large inner tube setup to pull behind the boat. I though, humm this is going to be good. I need some practise in some larger waves, and it was hot out, it might serve two proposes. You can see where I am going with this.

Just as I was getting in my K1, the boat took off with two kids in the tube, and heading off for the far end of the slough. I waiting a second or two to let the water settle down before going. Once I was moving I saw that the boat was hanging around the middle of the slough. One of the kids had gone airborne, and was regrouping. Just as I was getting even with them, they took off, but this time spinning donuts, making some rather large and confused waves in all directions.

Since I knew this was coming, I thought I was ready for it, boy was I wrong. The first set came complete beam side and they were big rollers, which I managed to stay up in.But I forgot being so close to shore, the reflective waves nailed me on the other side. In I went. I did not mind in the least. I needed cooling down from the heat, and it made for a nice short swim.

After emptying my boat, it was off for a couple of laps, with the odd power up, and some steady state paddling. Then about 10 to 15 minutes of balance training. It was a good short paddle / swim.

K1 Practice – Look Ma No Paddle

Today was another K1 technique practice with balance drills at the end. It was the usual loops around Deas with some power ups just to make things interesting. My back is sore from the weekend so i wasn't into really pushing my limits. I did manage 6 loops in the time that I had.

Coming in after the last loop, I decided to do some balance drills at the beach. So I positioned myself about 3 meters from the shore and started to do some side braces, and leaning the boat over as far as I could. then I started to do the closed eyes drills. Side braces, forward strokes, and backward strokes, all with my eyes closed. Then I tried to sit in one spot and lift my arms up to shoulder height with my eyes closed. This did not work out too well, as I decided to wash my shirt since it was sweaty, lol.

After draining my boat, I decided to do some no paddle drills as suggested by Lynn my coach. So I tossed my paddle on shore and started to paddle down the slough. Before I knew it i was 150 meters from shore. what can I say no guts, no glory. It is one thing to go this in shallow water, it is another to do it where you will need to swim a fair distance to get back in.

I continued to paddle around with just my hands for the next 15 minutes. I was having fun, this was a blast. I paddled back to the beach area, and parked about 5 meters from the shore. Then I was trying to sit there and bring my arms up in a “T” at shoulder height. Then I would bring them slowly down and forward, to makes things interesting. Then I tried to bounce the boat at the same time. I could only do this for a short time, as it was getting a little too tippy without a paddle.

I ended up going in again because as I wasn't paying attention, and was drifting backwards towards the shore, and digging the stern into the shore. Oops.

I have come a long ways since starting to paddle ICF K1s. When I first started I could barely paddle a Laser trainer, and now I am closing my eyes and staying dry. I remember trying a boat with this level of stability and being scared to let go of the dock. I would stay up for about 5 seconds max, before going swimming. Just goes to show you that if you keep at it you will succeed.

K1 Technique Practice

oday was a technique practice in Deas slough with the Thunder. Each time out now I am getting better with both balance and technique. Mind you there are set backs some times.

I have been paddling for almost a week now with my new one piece paddle. It is a Think carbon mid wing blade, and has a different feel to it than either my Epic or my Set. This is going to be my main paddle from now on. It has a bigger bite at the catch and has a smooth exit. I would like to thank Daryl of Think Kayaks for setting me up with the new paddle.

This practice was all about technique and distance. I worked on what Lynn was telling me the day before about pausing at the catch or setup and then powering through the “entire” stroke, not just at the beginning. By moving my seat up really helps in this regard, as I can really push hard off the foot board.

I concentrated on slowing my stroke rate down, and make each one count. Trying to setup each stroke properly with lots of rotation, and putting as much weight on the blade as I could without getting tippy. With each time out I am improving this aspect of my paddling. Also keeping my on side arm straight through the stroke is working out. Doing this helps keeping the power on the blade through out the stroke.

You can really feel the boat jump forward. After a couple of laps, it was time to practice some balance. Did the usual, eyes closed, side draws, forward, backward strokes, as well as I started to try bouncing the boat. Having your eye closed gives a whole new meaning to being able to feel the boat.

Then it was off for three more laps of the slough. This made the distance by the time I was done, to 11 kilometers. I am looking forward to the next practice. Whenever that maybe, with work being so busy right now.

The thunder is definitely my hardest boat to paddle, but it is still my favorite. It gives you a sense of accomplishment being able to paddle it.

Masters' Technique Session – Deer Lake

Today was a Burnaby Lake masters technique class at Deer Lake. I was looking forward to it, because a had missed the past four sessions. I got there early so I could stretch and do a bit of a warm up paddle in the Thunder.

There were not very many people at today's session. So it was pretty much one on one for coaching. Lynn (my coach) was saying that I was dropping my hands too much and bending my on side arm as I was coming through the back of the stroke. As well as, pausing at the catch. So that was my focus for today's session. Slow my stroke down and pause, then rotate keeping my hand up, and pulling the blade straight out of the water at the exit.

Easier said than done, especially in the Thunder. I did a short loop so Lynn could watch what I was doing, and correct my mistakes. At some point close to shore I went for a unintentional dip. It sure felt good because of the heat. After about ½ hour of that, I decided to do some balance exercises just off the beach. So I would sit in the boat in about three feet of water, and close my eyes and sit there. At first I was just sitting without moving the boat, but after a while I started doing side draws and paddling forward and backwards with my eyes closed.

I even got real brave and tried a start with my eyes closed. I got exactly four strokes before face planting into the lake. Then Lynn said to paddle around with no paddle just my hands. So off I went along the shore with just my hands. I could paddle forwards and backwards, but side draws with my hands just wasn't working and in I went. It was pretty funny. Good thing it was a warm summer day, and not a cold winter day.

I stayed an extra 30 minutes after everyone had left, just to keep practising. It is my goal now to stay in the thunder until the end of September.

K1 / Surf Ski Practice at Deas

Today we were in singles, Amber in the EVO, and myself in the Thunder K1. It is hard to tell someone how to paddle when you can't really see them. Being in the front of the K2, it is not very good to keep looking back to see how Amber is paddling.

So we spent about an hour and a half, just working on technique. The one good thing is that Amber has good balance from rowing, so she can just hop into the EVO and go. It makes it a lot easier to just have to worry about technique than it is to add balance into the equation.

We did some drills were you touch the opposite side of the boat after each stroke to hep with rotation. As well as, taking one stroke and rotating two more time in the air, and then taking a stroke on the opposite side, and so on.

We were at the slough at the same time as the rowers from Deas were out, and they were giving Amber the gears about paddling instead of rowing. All in good fun.

K2 Practice at Deer Lake

Today we decided to do a K2 practise at Deer Lake, since Burnaby is full of weeds and lily pads this time of year. We arrived at the club house at around 11:30 and packed up the K2 on top of my car. Since we were only going to drive about 4 kilometers, it would be ok on top of the Focus wagon. It sure is a lot longer than my surf ski when you get it up there.

The parking at Deer Lake was nuts, even with the added stalls which basically doubled the parking. Parked in a no parking zone to unload the boat, and gear. Just as we were finishing unloading, a car pulled out, and we quickly scooped up the spot.

We adjusted the boat to our liking, and pushed off the beach. There were quite a few people curious about the K2, having probably never seeing one before. Today's workout was just getting used to paddling together and working on a couple of things.

The first lap was good, with no shakes or wobbles. We just had to pull over top do a little seat adjustments. The timing is getting better with each outing, so we were trying to work on rotation. Once around the lake, we went to the beach to go over some of the basics.

Then it was out for another couple of laps in the blazing hot sun. Once back to the beach for the last time, we tried some balance drills. Basics like side draws in both direction at the same time, as well as one person at a time. Holding the paddles up in the air, and bouncing the boat. We managed not to go swimming, which is a good thing.

Grouse Grind

Today we decided to do the Grouse Grind, as something different. The grind goes from the bottom of Grouse mountain to the main chalet. The grind is approximately 2.9 kilometers long with an elevation gain of 800 meters. The average incline is 15 degrees, but in some sections it is at 40 degrees. It is listed as a hike in the books, but it is no where near a hike, it is a climb.

It started out ok, as it always does, by the ¼ way up sign, I was dieing. It seems I was not the only one who over estimating their abilities to climb this trail at a faster speed. There were many people stopped on the side of the trail. Some were doing better than others, but all were amazed how hard this trail actually is.

The whole time I was struggling with each section. There were spots where I was feeling better, and again started to increase my speed, only to be drained by a steep section. It was good to get in behind a slow group, that way they dictated the pace. That worked real well, until they pulled over and let us pass.

At the top, the “trail” was really wet and slippery, from all the rain from the previous week. When we got to the top time marker, I said lets keep going to the real top, as in the top of Grouse mountain it self. So off we went toward the peak. Since the last time I had been up there, they had actually built a access road to the top. At the top the view is just spectacular, you can see all of Vancouver and all the way to the states and Vancouver Island.

So we did it, from the bottom (where we parked the car) up to the start of the “trail”, and to the actual top of Grouse mountain. It was hard, but I am glad that I did it.