"Yeowch!" is what I wanted to scream, after plowing my leg into the corner of my bed Saturday morning in the 5:30 AM darkness. I managed to keep relatively quiet and not wake the household, though later on my wife said she vaguely recalled a disturbance. This was not a good way to start the day of a race.
I returned to bed, but was unable to get back to sleep. There is something about a deep throbbing pain in one's lower thigh that somehow reduces the ability to sleep.
Crawling out of bed I prepared to head to the race.
Today's Sound Rowers race was actually within sight from my house - if you used a high powered telescope. It starts at the boat launch at Lake Sammamish State Park by Issaquah, WA, and heads in a triangular course around the southern end of the lake for two laps. The total distance covered is about 5.5 miles.
Since the race was so close to my house I had no excuse to arrive late. In fact, by my 8:30 AM arrival time the parking lot was over half filled, though not by Sound Rowers racers. It turned out there was a bass fishing contest being held at the same time, so many of the vehicles in the lot were big SUV's with trailers. The only places left were in the muddy, grassy and goose-doo strewn overflow section. Oh, well.
Registration was set up near the launch and parking permit machine at the south end of the area. This made it convenient for people to get their launch and parking permit, register for the race and go back to their vehicle to get their boat for the race. As usual, the cost to Sound Rowers members was $7, and $10 for nonmembers. The parking fee was $5.
With the help of Paul, another racer, I took the Cadence from the roof of my car and placed it on the dolly. That made it a lot easier to cart it over to the water's edge.
I gave Paul Rollinger my camcorder so he could take videos of the race. This time he also had a tripod, so perhaps the zoomed video would be steadier, too.
For once I actually had some time to help others get their boats ready and talk without feeling overly rushed. What a difference an extra half hour makes!
After registering and dropping off a couple of complimentary copies of the 2004 Rowers Almanac and a stack of Cadence brochures for people to snag, the pre-race meeting was held. The course was the same as in previous years. From a broad starting line parallel to the boat launch everyone heads west towards a pink buoy. Near the buoy were a pair of light colored willow trees, so that made the buoy easier to target. After reaching the buoy you were to head south along the shore to the next pink buoy. Turn back toward the start and, keeping the pink buoys to your left, repeat the process. The total distance was somewhere around 6 miles.
Someone in the bass contest had their boat tied up to the dock for quite a long time with its engine idling. That darned engine smoked so badly it made a polluted hell for everything downwind. Of course, since it was tied upwind of almost the entire boat launch area, that meant nearly the entire launch area was full of choking exhaust. I got out of there as soon as I could!
There were quite a few flat water boats in this race. There were quite a few younger racers, including a 10 year old boy in a bright yellow (really lime green) canoe. This was his first race! His mother asked that I try to take his picture, so I did.
After a little bit of a warm up everyone began settling into position at the starting line. I chose a point about the middle, near a guy in an HPK and a double kayak. At the last minute a couple of other people joined us, including a rower who barely managed to get his boat turned around before the starting signal was given.
It was a fast start. The HPK's and faster shells were off the line in a flash, and it seemed like everyone else was right behind them - all except me, that is!
Taking pictures with this new setup definitely slows me down. Now that I can actually see what the camera is framing I don't have the excuse of shooting blindly. Also, the vinyl bag is rather cumbersome to use compared to the thin plastic bags that barely protected the old camera. Still, the new camera was ready to take shots almost as fast as I could identify opportunities - between pedaling and breathing, that is!
Using the zoom to its fullest, I was able to capture one of the fast double shells before they disappeared. It was time to do more pedaling!
For some reason my boat had a distinct pull to the left. Uh, oh...did my rudder somehow get bent? This did not forebode well. Perhaps the light wind from the northwest was the culprit. It was hard to say. Also, it seemed that my boat was quite a bit lower in the water than it was at La Conner a few weeks before. Not only that, but it seemed like I was pedaling through thin molasses rather than water! What was going on? Could it be the difference in density between fresh and salt water?
Slowly, but surely, other boats were catching up and passing. My legs were approaching their anaerobic limits, but the GPS was reporting a speed of only 6.5 to 6.8 mph. It was time to start drafting someone in order to be able recover.
As luck would have it, a rowing shell with a kayak drafting him were passing nearby. Quickly I got in behind the kayak. Though the kayak did not have a rudder he still created enough of a wake that the effort to keep up was diminished by quite a bit. I could even take a few photos, though with my rudder pushing towards the left I had to be quick about it or get dropped!
We kept together until reaching the first buoy. The shell had to take a wide turn, and both the kayak and I cut it quite closely. Afterwards the kayak headed off in pursuit of another shell, and both the shell and I were on parallel courses heading into the sun. It was getting quite warm, especially with the wind now at our backs. I took off my Sound Rowers cap and slid my leg warmers down to my ankles. Dipping my hands into the nice cold water of the lake helped immensely!
I had been taking a number of short sips from my water bottle, and started to wonder if there would be enough for the race. Perhaps, though it was already down to half capacity and the race was not half over!
Soon I turned around the second buoy and headed back towards the starting line.
Falling in behind a double kayak with a rudder - they have much more of a wake - my muscles were able to recover quite a bit from their earlier exertions. We rounded the mouth of Issaquah Creek, passing a few dead heads and sand bars, and headed straight to the first pink buoy at the south end of the launch area. Another guy in a boat was right on my tail. Apparently he found some useful wake in which to draft!
The race officials and volunteers were lined up on the dock, cheering us on. There was one more lap to go!
The boat was definitely not going as fast as I thought it should. Was it possible that there were some weeds wrapped around the prop shaft? If so, then it would be better to try to cut them off earlier than later.
I told the boat behind me that I was planning to stop. They thanked me for the notice and went on ahead. I pedaled in reverse until the Cadence stopped, and started going backwards. Pedaling forward again, backward and then forward I continued on with the race. Hmm...there did not seem to be any real difference. Maybe my early morning mishap had something to do with it.
By this time the other boats with whom I had been traveling were now far ahead. I tried to pedal a little harder, and even managed to gain a little. Those boats took the first turn rather wide, and by cutting it closer I was able to gain even more. Even with an air temperature in the low 60's it felt hot heading down wind!
Even though I had been drinking lots of water my legs started feeling as though they were about to start cramping. Drink more water! Get more lake water cooling!
After rounding the second buoy for the second time I headed back towards the finish line. There were a couple of boats closer to the shore that looked as though they might actually encounter the sand bar at Issaquah Creek. Sure enough, they did, though it did not slow them down excessively.
A guy in a rowing shell came up from behind and slowly passed on my left. I began pushing at a faster pace, and started pacing him and catching up to the guys in the boats just ahead. It looked like we might have a pretty close finish!
Everyone began going faster with the finish line in sight. We passed some race volunteer observers in their motor boat, who cheered us on and pushed hard to round the second last buoy on the course. The blast of the finish line horn could be heard as the boats ahead crossed the line. Faster--faster--FASTER! There was the blast for the boat ahead of me--where was the one for me?!?
It seemed like forever, but it was only one second before the horn went off again. Whew!
I circled around and headed back towards the remaining racers to take their pictures.
There was a long lull with no boats in sight. I lent the Cadence to one of the race officials for a demo. However, while he was enthusiastic about the boat, it appeared that he was very unsteady and unsure of himself while in it. We both agreed that it took about 10 or 20 minutes to get used to the boat.
The last racers finished shortly thereafter. They had actually started about 30 minutes late, having driven all the way from Vancouver, B.C. Delays in crossing the border apparently had something to do with their late arrival.
The final boat to complete the course was the one paddled by the youngest racer. He came across the finish line with look of determination and a big smile on his face, and was cheered by the crowd.
Loads of Costco muffins, M&M's, croissants, fruit juices, sodas, pretzels and cookies were available for consumption while the officials worked out the race standings. I nibbled on part of a chocolate muffin, guzzled some cranberry juice, chowed down a croissant and finished with a couple of cookies and pretzels before deciding that maybe it would be good to keep some room for a real lunch!
Since there were so many boat classes in the race awards were handed out to just about everyone present. The fastest boat across the line was a man in a single rowing shell, with a time of 41:20. The slowest out of the 58 boats was the boy at 1:33:08, though one of the late starters finished a single lap with a time of 1:00:18 before deciding to quit. My time was 53:58, putting me roughly in the middle of the pack. This was about 2 minutes slower than the previous year in this same boat.
Of course, the previous year I was not yet taking pictures. Then again, I was also not wearing cycling shoes in the then-new Cadence. Hmm...
After the awards ceremony I put my boat back on my car (with the help of another racer - thanks!), pack things away and headed home. There was a warm shower waiting for me that was certainly going to feel good!
Photos I took during the race can be found here.
