Glacier Breaker – February 26-27

Glacier Breaker – February 26-27

Wow, the Glacier Breaker weekend was better than ever. Of course Chris Hipgrave, the Nantahala Outdoor Center, and the Nantahala Racing Club always do a terrific job of hosting and running their races. A neat addition is the G.B. is permanently being changed to a two day format that includes Sprints, a Classic, and the opportunity to train with folks on Saturday afternoon.

I was thrilled to see several new racers at the GB (see the results). Bartosz did a great job of piggy backing on with me (and Bailey) to warm up and get in some practice runs.

It was great to see the team members (and prospective team members) that attended the advanced training camp on Thursday and Friday. Chris Norbury has been serving as our head coach and his efforts are really appreciated. His video review and his advanced coaching techniques are just downright awesome (although please be forewarned, should you have the opportunity to get his coaching, don’t let his direct and seemingly caustic style of pointing out your weaknesses scare you, he is really trying to help you improve)!

In K-1, Andrew McEwan looked really smooth and is still very fast. Chris Hipgrave is still quite a machine as he ran the races which made it difficult for him to warm up, and yet he still turned in solid results. I was also impressed by Tom Wier who continues to seem to develop even in this “off year” for him.

On a personal level, I’m just happy to be alive and kicking!!! And heck, my positive attitude and a solid love of sport seem to be helping my paddling. I barely even thought of my shoulder and felt solid most of the time in whitewater!!!! My focus on my stroke over the winter and my flatwater training really helped me in the flats.

And of course in the all important “beer cup” series, I lead my racing buddy Bern Collins by a hair.

See the complete results at:
http://www.usawildwater.com/news/2011/110227_Glacier_Breaker.html

Chute the Hooch Training Camp – January 15-16, 2011

Chute the Hooch Training Camp – January 15-16, 2011

Wow what a blast. The CTH Training Camp is always a special time because it’s a chance for advanced racers to get back into the swing of things for the year, and for new racers to try out the sport. I was so impressed by the amount of enthusiasm from everyone that attended the whole camp and time trial.
My shoulder felt solid and the video review showed my stroke has really improved. For video see: YouTube Video (by Bartosz Ilkowski) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G8lfwRN3Iew
For an article and complete results see: http://www.usawildwater.com/news/2011/110118_Chute-the-Hooch.html
Also see: Links:
• Race Results: http://www.usawildwater.com/news/2011/2011_Chute_the_Hooch_Race_Results.pdf
• Article on Worldkayak.com by Rick Thompson http://regions.worldkayak.com/atlanta/2011/01/18/chute-the-hooch-training-camp-weekend/
• Photos (by Rick Thompson) http://www.usawildwater.com/news/2011/2011_Chute-the-Hooch-Photos.html