photos from the world series distance race on monday

I'm just going to throw up a big batch of photos today... Thanks Kim for shooting so many great shots!

Tizzy came by pre-race to wish me luck and check out the scene...

She was pretty stoked...

... especially when she got to meet Connor Baxter!

My buddy Christoph was the first racer to register... think he was excited?

Pre-race skipper's meeting.

And they're off...

This shot illustrates the difference between the world's top SUP racers and me.  See, I'm the guy there on the left, still getting up on my board while the pros to my right are already up and hammering.  Well, at least I know what I need to work on...

And see in this photo and the next how that quick start translates into an early lead.  If you SUP race, even recreationally, work on your starts.  A lot of races are won or lost at the start line.

Connor, Kai and the pros are gonna do nothing but get smaller from where I'm paddling for the next 45 minutes.

Ian from GLBC and I had a little scrap around the buoy and he edged out in front of me.  He didn't stay there for long... 

These are the pros...

... And these are of me.  These skyline shots are just kick ass!  How could any paddler not want to get into the water under this skyline?

And I made it... first local paddler off the water!

The pros were already cooling off when I came in...

Tizzy got her photo-op with Kai...

... And local paddler Basil Tydings and I discussed just exactly at which point the pros dropped us like yesterday's newspaper... ha ha ha.  I'll try to post another video before the weekend.  If I don't get to it, I hope to see many of you at the Lake Geneva race next Saturday.  Enjoy the 4th everybody!

world series racer interviews

     We had an amazing weekend with the Chicago World Paddle Challenge going off at North Avenue Beach.  Big thanks to the racers, the organizers, Ian and his crew at the Great Lake Board Company and everyone else who helped make this happen.  I had a fantastic time meeting all the pros and of course getting out on the race course with them.  In between heats I managed to film a few interviews.  This is kind of a long video, so grab a beer, sit back and enjoy getting to know some of the top pros in standup.  

     I've got plenty more footage of the racing, the crazy storm that came through and some of the goofball antics that went on, so stay tuned for that later in the week.  Enjoy the holiday tomorrow I'll see you on the water. 

some fun waves, artsy pics and preparing for the World Series

We had a super fun wave day last Monday.  I SUP surfed for over 5 hours... couldn't get enough of it.  Kim was great and took a bunch of photos.  She doesn't have a very long lens so I had to zoom in to really see the action and they ended up a bit grainy.  I used the magic 'enhance' button in iPhoto and it made them look kind of artsy and cool, so I decided to go ahead and post them.
 

I was able to do a little cross-stepping, making it almost to the nose on a few rides.  The Indo Board trainer is so key to learning this longboard skill and I'm on that thing every few days.  Glad I love it so much!

Look at these surreal colors... that was the iPhoto effect working.

Ed and Al came out on their longboards for a bit...

... and they managed to share a wave, even though there were only three of us in the lineup.

Paddling back out through the break is one of the best things you can do to improve your balance and agility on the board.  Even when the waves are really small, I always take advantage of them to train agility.  Besides, even riding a little calf-high mushball is really fun.

This afternoon I'm doing my last paddle training session before the Standup World Series race coming up this weekend.  I'll be paddling a borrowed Bark Competitor like the one in the photo above.  Much thanks to Matt Sommer for agreeing to board-swap with me so I could do this race.  All my race boards are 14's and I needed to be on a stock 12'6" to qualify.  It's going to be a super fun weekend.  Hope to see some of you down at North Avenue Beach Sunday and Monday.  Wish me luck!

good work

My friend Christoph has a really cool project slated for this summer called 'Paddle Board for the Cure'.  He'll be paddling over 500 miles over the course of the season all dedicated to Bear Necessities, an amazing charity that benefits pediatric cancer.  Among other events, Christoph will be joining me on my Lake Michigan crossing, slated for this August.  Keep an eye on this blog for details, coming soon.

Christoph is a marketing guru, so he's put up a pretty slick website where you can learn all about what he's up to.  To find out more about Bear Necessities, just watch the short video below.  It's shocking to learn that only 3% of all the money going to cancer research is focused on pediatric cancer.  These kids need more help than they're getting right now, so please give something if you can.

In local news, I've been crazy busy at work this week so I'm suffering a lack of training, rest, proper nutrition, hydration and anything else a smart athlete does to prepare for a big event.  The thought that I'll be paddling in the Stand Up World Series race coming up next weekend has me feeling pretty anxious.   Hopefully I'll be getting back on track once we get through this week.  

One thing's for certain, if this forecast holds I'll be catching a few waves on Monday... Thanks for reading and I'll see you at the beach.  

the chicago shoreline marathon

Last year I made it my goal to do whatever I could to help bring WPA racing to Chicago and I couldn't be any more excited to say, 'It's happening!'

Working with my friends at Windward Boardshop, I've teamed up with the crew from The Chicago Shoreline Marathon to bring WPA racing to our amazing city on August 11th.  The CSM has been running for the past 6 years and is a world-renowned surfski, kayak and outrigger canoe race, drawing participants from around the world.  This year, we're adding WPA-sanctioned SUP racing to the 8-mile, 2 beach race.  There will also be a 3-mile recreational race, board demos and lots of other fun activities.

Head over to the CSM website to learn more and to register, and of course keep your eye on this blog for updates and current info as the summer progresses.  You can also like The Chicago Shoreline Marathon on facebook here.  See you at the race!

an old-school hero and some AWT action

Do you remember this guy???

No?  Well, that's Ian Boyd.  He was a pretty awesome windsurfer back when I got into the sport (uh, we're talking 'going-to-see-the-new-film-back-to-the-future' days).  He was a solid performer on the PWA tour and an inspiration to weekend warriors like myself.  These days, Ian runs a digital media studio in California called Cosmic Planet.

Being an amateur videographer myself, I've enjoyed watching Ian's videos.  He's pretty creative and manages to pull off a lot of interesting points-of-view working mostly with a GoPro camera, as I do.  The following video is a highlights film he shot of the recent AWT event at Waddell Creek.  By the way, if you don't know about it, the American Windsurfing Tour was resurrected in 2010 after like a 15- or 20-year hiatus, and is the only professional windsurfing comp held on the American mainland.  Pretty awesome.

As Ian mentions on his Vimeo page, the crew at this event "ripped the top off Waddell with a level of wave sailing performance never seen before at that beach."  When I watch this video I'm struck and humbled by the speed, commitment and power that these sailors bring to some pretty sloppy conditions.   It's amazing how far the sport has progressed... Enjoy.

BTW... This vid was not shot on a GoPro... check out Ian's other videos to see some of his GP work.

the mullet, the wpa and hooking a new paddler

Recently, in a conversation with another Great Lakes SUPer, I mentioned a post I'd seen on The Mullet and the guy was like, "The what?"

"The Mullet."  I replied.  "Distressed Mullet.  You haven't heard about it?"  He said he hadn't.  So here it is, Great Lakes Paddlers... One of the best online resources to keep you current with everything SUP... www.distressedmullet.com.

The Mullet is run by John Beausang, who started it back in the day when he fell in love with SUP.  The site has grown over the years and now keeps us up to date with everything happening in SUP from around the world.  In addition to all the latest news, there's also a classified section where you can buy and sell used gear, lots of instructional articles and even a SUP-dedicated radio station!

I don't know John personally, but I do know that he named his dog Bauer...  That's right, Jack Bauer... So you know he's got to be a stand up guy (pun intended, but still pretty awful).  Anyway, if you haven't been there yet, get over to Distressed Mullet and check it out.

The other thing you need to do today is go join the WPA, or at least hit their website and learn about The World Paddle Association and all that they do. As I've been in the process of planning our Chicago race, I've seen many peoples' faces glaze over when I've enthusiastically told them, "We're going to have a WPA race in Chicago!"  I guess we still have some educating to do on the subject.

The World Paddle Association was founded in 2010 with the mission to, "provide a comprehensive voice, fair and equal access and organizational structure to the sport of Stand Up Paddling (SUP) and its participants in a manner that benefits the collective paddling community."  Less formally stated, the WPA keeps all our sh@t organized and keeps the sport moving in the right direction.  SUP racing would not be exploding all over the country like it is without these guys and all their efforts.  If you're at all interested in racing, or anything SUP for that matter, check out The WPA.


Finally, in local news, I had the pleasure of hooking a new paddler on the sport this weekend... 

... Meet our friend Janna.  She's a personal trainer at Holm Studio and a super-cool chick (she sings in a Soundgarden cover band... awesome!)

We started with some basic instruction on the sand...

 ... Then we headed out for her first paddle.

Janna was a natural, looking at ease on the board from the get-go.  We went out for a long paddle and she was doing so well that I was able to jump right in to advanced paddle techniques, getting her to reach, stack her shoulders and feather the paddle on the return.  Janna was super stoked and I know we'll be seeing a lot more of her at the beach this year.  Plus, with her training background and competitive spirit, I bet we'll be seeing her on a race course before long too.  


I love getting new people into the sport, so if you want to give SUP a try let me know and we'll get something set up.  That's it for today... See you on the water.