Friday, July 29, 2011

training continues... and a few waves

Training for my upcoming Lake Michigan crossing continues on schedule. I have one more big paddle to do this week. I'll be pushing for something around 25 miles. I had intended to do that distance last Monday, but a 15 knot wind slowed my progress and I fell short. In between the longer sessions, I'm doing 5-8 mile paddles every other day throughout the week. Overall I feel really good about where I'm at. I'll be ready in two weeks for sure.

At this point, it looks like there will be three of us paddling, with a possible fourth 'surprise paddler' crashing the party. I'll post some paddler profiles soon so you all can meet the athletes. It'll be fun to have some other guys (& gals?) out there with me.

Like I mentioned, Monday was pretty windy, which made the training session tough. I paddled an hour and a half upwind, then did a fun down-winder back to the launch. When I came in Al had showed up with his Naish Nalu, so we grabbed a few little waves that were breaking on the beach. The waves could have been bigger, but it was pretty close to Chicago summer perfection. Here's a peek...

Sunday, July 24, 2011

training update and maui to molokai video

Tonight I am resting and hydrating before tomorrow's 25 mile training paddle... I'll let you know how it goes. In the meantime, here's a video of Connor Baxter winning the Maui to Molokai race... enjoy.

Wednesday, July 20, 2011

interview with soul surf media

Last weekend at the Madison race I was interviewed by Chris Aguilar of Soul Surf Media. Chris is a super-talented videographer who shot and edited the film 'Destination 3 Degrees'. After you watch the interview, check out some of Chris's other stuff on his vimeo page...

Monday, July 18, 2011

the clearwater midwest masters on lake geneva

Get ready...
This Saturday I competed in my second and final race for the season before I start focusing 100% of my training attention on my upcoming Lake Michigan crossing.  Clearwater Outdoors in Lake Geneva, Wisconsin hosted the race, held on (you guessed it) beautiful Lake Geneva.

... get set...
Lining up at the start I was feeling good... well rested, fully hydrated, fueled with a great breakfast and ready to give it my best.  The little bit of pre-race anxiety I was feeling was completely stripped away by the camaraderie of the paddlers.  Everybody on the start line was chatting, pointing out the markers we had to paddle for and exchanging tips .  It felt more like the beginning of a group fun paddle than the beginning of the race.  Once again, I am blown away by the spirit of this fantastic group of people.

... GO!!!
That is, until the horn sounded... then everyone burst into action.  I knew I had an edge on my 14' Naish Javelin since most guys were on 12'6" boards, so I really hammered out of the start and it payed off. I managed to find my own line (that's me on the left) and took advantage of the quiet water to take an early lead.  

In most cases, SUP is not the most spectator-friendly sport.  The course on Lake Geneva was a 6.3 mile loop around the bay, and after the first few minutes the paddlers are out of sight from the beach until they come in for the finish.  The girls found a nice shady spot to hang out and enjoy the view.  The park around Riviera Beach where the race was held is super nice.  This was a great spot for a paddle event.

This photo is kind of blurry but I had to post it... my first ever SUP race win... What a great feeling!  But it didn't come easy... here's the race recap: Like I said, I took an early lead out of the gate, taking full advantage of my longer, straighter-tracking, faster board to get away from the pack.  I kept up my sprint pace as long as I felt I could without over-fatiguing myself, then settled into my normal race-pace rhythm.  I managed to stay in the lead until about mile 5, when my FIN GOT TOTALLY MIRED IN WEEDS!  This was my big learning experience for the day... BE PREPARED AND KNOW THE CONDITIONS YOU'LL BE PADDLING IN.  I hadn't checked to see if weeds were a problem on Lake Geneva, and I didn't have a weed fin.  The upright fin on the Javelin makes it track really well, but in weedy conditions it's a nightmare.  By mile 4 or so it felt like I was paddling through molasses, and when I looked back to see Westy, a paddler from the Yolo team, right on my tail, I knew I had to get my fin cleared.  I jumped off the board and reached under the tail, pulling about 10 pounds of weeds off my fin.  Westy passed me while I was in the water, and I was so frantic to get back on board that I fell off in the process of getting up.  When I finally got back up and paddling, Westy was around the next mark and paddling strong.  I put my head down, focused on my breathing and paddle rhythm, and took after him.  It took me a mile or so to catch him, but once I did I was feeling good again, ready to finish strong.  Westy and I paddled together for a bit, then I pulled away to come in first. 

Post-race I was interviewed by James, a journalist from SUP magazine.  Wow, I was feeling like a real celebrity... I'll let you know when the article is up.

And finally, here I am at the trophy ceremony.  I was fully prepared for the photo op in my Windy City Waterman t-shirt, hot off the press.  If you'd like to support our two great charities, you can order one of these stylish, organic cotton t-shirts for yourself... but not just yet.  I'll have them up on the web shortly...

Thanks to David and Sarah from Clearwater Outdoors in Lake Geneva for putting on a fantastic event.  Now I'm off to train... still have my big paddle ahead, so enough back slapping... time to get back to work.

Tuesday, July 12, 2011

midwest SUP festival recap

The Midwest SUP Festival went off in Madison, Wisconsin this past weekend and Windy City Waterman was right in the middle of the action.  A great job was done by Gary Stone and everybody at Paddleboard Specialists to put on an amazing event.
After our Windy City Waterman event in Chicago on Thursday evening, I drove Karen Wrenn, Chuck Patterson and Charlie Burwell from Naish up to Madison for the festival.  The first order of business was a race clinic on Friday evening.  I paddled out with the group and learned a few things myself from these two seasoned pros.  It was amazing to hang out with them all weekend and glean a ton of knowledge... what a great opportunity.
Saturday morning we were at it bright and early, setting up the Naish booth and prepping all our equipment then getting ready for the race.
The course was a simple triangle with just two buoy turns.  The challenge came in when the wind picked up to 15 knots or so out of the south/southeast.  That meant that on the way out you had to paddle about three miles just on your right side, and on the way back almost completely on the left.  Not ideal... even the pros said it was tough.  It was my first race, so I was watching all the top guys to see what strategies they used to get ahead and stay there.  In the end I was happy with my performance and finished about in the middle of the pack, behind most of the pros but ahead of most of the recreational paddlers.  Not bad for a first go...
Chuck Patterson, Jim Terrell, Karen Wrenn, me (somebody pinch me, just to be sure) Kevin Vangritis (an awesome paddler from North Carolina who's going to join me on the Lake Michigan crossing) and Joe Bark. 
Post race everybody was chill and ready for fun and a few beers.  This whole community is so awesome - inclusive, easy going and eager to share their knowledge & help others learn.  Great people!
The education continued all day with clinics like this one conducted by Jim Terrell from Quick Blade.  Jim was a 4 time Olympic canoe paddler who has made the jump to SUP.  He's been making his own paddles since he was like 13 years old... a super geek (in the really, really good way).
Of course there was plenty of time for goofing around too... Here's cowboy Charlie, Karen and I pre-trophy ceremony...
And finally, we saddled up for the drive back to Chicago to send them on their way.  I can't tell you how cool it was to spend the weekend with these amazing athletes.  I learned a ton and was super inspired watching them kill it on the race course, then return to land to share tons of stoke and passion with everyone present.  Class acts all the way around.  Thanks guys.  See you on the water again soon, I hope.

And the rest of you, I hope I'll see you in Lake Geneva this Saturday for the Clearwater Classic... should be another epic event! 

Thursday, July 7, 2011

and so it begins...

My packing list for the weekend up in Madison
Well, here we are... The big weekend has finally arrived!  I'm getting ready to leave for the airport to pick up Chuck, Karen and Charlie for our Party with the Pros event at Windward Boardshop tonight, then it's off to Madison bright and early tomorrow morning for the Midwest SUP Festival. 
I hope many of you will be joining us tonight at Windward Boardshop for a great night of food, music, drinks and SUP discussion, tips and advice from two of the sport's top athletes.  Big thanks to GOOSE ISLAND for jumping on board with WCW to sponsor us with beer for tonight's event!  Come on by and enjoy a frosty one...

I will try to post from Madison if I can pry myself off the water long enough, but if not, check back for the full report next week.  See you on the water!