18 grueling miles of paddling, an 11 hour road trip later and I'm finally back home in Bigfork.
Ski to Sea in Bellingham was one of the most fun events I've ever competed in. The thousands of competitiors and spectators really hyped up the energy and made things exciting.
Out of 380 teams, our team came in 47th - that's in the top 12 percentile! Not bad. The other two competing teams from the Flathead did even better with the open men's team placing 13th over-all, and the women placing and amazing 3rd place in their division.
Seeing the enormity of the race and how it was organized has generated a lot of ideas of what we can do to spice up the Flathead Monster Canoe and Kayak Challenge. Check back to the website often, as a lot of these details will be worked out in the next couple of weeks!
After a 10 hour drive we're in Bellingham, Washington for Ski-To-Sea a 7 event race that begins with skiing and finishes with sea kayaking. Though there are no outriggers involved, my event is an 18 mile canoeing leg which should prove a little challenging as I've only had about 3 weeks to train.
This year, there is a contingency of 3 teams (24 competitors) from the Flathead. I'll spend my day meeating everyone, training on the course, and relaxing a bit before my big day tomorrow. I'll let you all know how the race goes. With me luck!
Aloha Everyone! Just a reminder that regular practices have begun, starting today. Tuesdays 6pm Thursdays 6pm Saturdays 10am
Please be on-time and ready to paddle. We'll start the season off concentrating on paddling technique, slowly working our way into strength and endurance as the season (and your skill) progresses.
Don't forget to bring drinking water, and a change of warm clothes.
Work and life issues weighing heavy on you? Don't let that keep you from paddling - those issues are guaranteed to leave your head as soon as you hit the lake!
Ok, see you all soon!
PS: Check the website often for up-to-date information regarding practices, events and races. If we cancel or change the location of practice it will be on the website!
Wow, the new website is living up to expectation - we've already had people successfully sign up through PayPal as well as purchase BOCC merchandise. We're also starting to receive email signups for newsletters. How cool is that!
Whew, I'm on my way to Hawaii on Wednesday to be the best man at my best friends wedding. Somehow found the time to finish up the club website, and am working feverishly to try and get my business squared away so I don't need to stress in paradise.
I'm also in the process of nailing down a date and starting/finishing point for our big race - The Flathead Monster. Not to mention hunting around for corporate sponsorship and fundraising. Any ideas?
I'm super excited about our first day of practice and am expecting a lot of people. It is this aspect of the club that makes everything worth the effort. The club attracts such wonderful people who normally would not come together.
Ok, I'll be back on the May 17th which is just enough time to get boats together for the start of the season. Thanks to everyone for their efforts with the club - this is a really great thing we've got going.
