Yayyy! I took 6th place in my division at a whitewater rodeo this weekend

[eyepaddle]

Wow, was it ever hot in Wausau WI this last week, but the comtetion was fun (and friendly!) So sleeping in a tent and getting pummeled by T-Storms all weekend was totally worth it. Plus, it was very nice to be a part of something cool and not just a spetator for a change.

I finished 6ht in Men's K1 Recreational class freestyle. The field was 13 or 14, so I was a tad better than middle of the pack, I missed the finals by one place and one point! I've gotta admit though, the guys who beat were better paddlers and deserved to advance. Since this was my first ever kayaking competition I felt glad to place where I did. Next year I plan to have a few more tricks to pull from my bag and making it to the finals is a goal. Ya gotta have goals!

I finished almost dead last in the boatercrossevent though ( a boatercross is sort of a Mad Max style no holds barredrace through the rapids where it is perfectly legal to sink your opponents and harass them in other ways. Good times! After two days of competition I was gassed and truthfully a little sloppy--I did provide the crowd some entertainment by receiving an Industrial strngth Billy Jack Brand beat down at "Big Drop." Yes I got pounded at the eddyline and coouldn't time my roll to avoid the other features and thus went over a good sized ledge "Little Drop" upside down and had to swim. I dumped out my boat andd finished the race--I even hit all the required slalom gates.

Ah yes, good times.

Check out some pics. I'm in bib #7 (not the paddler in the featured pic)



http://seaboopugs.blogspot.com/

[livetohike]

1. Way to go eyepaddle! That's a great finish for a "newbie"

:toast: :thumbsup: :hi:

Good to see you out on the water. Sounds like you had a good time providing entertainment on "Little Drop". Looks like you are doing great :-).

[eyepaddle]

2. Hi livetohike!

:hi:

I had a great time getting wrecked in the boatercross! I was lauging my ass off--once I fnally got my head back above water, that is. People want carnage (lots of boaters goin' for swims) in events like that, and If I had to step up and provde it, well so be it! The boat relay was hysterical, as was the egg roll race and the air mattress through the rapids was priceless! :rofl:

Good to hear from you again--getting out much? :hi:

[livetohike]

5. It's way too hot to hike now. Probably not going hiking

until late October :-(. Our house is on the market and we hoped to have it sold by the end of summer. When we get back home (Pittsburgh), I will be hitting those rivers and streams :-). I just bought a canoe/kayak book for New York State for my husband for his birthday, so we have PA, W.VA, Ohio and now New York covered. :-)

I am so looking forward to getting out on some fresh water.

[Patiod]

3. Not a bad way to spend a boiling weekend

You da man!

[wildhorses]

4. wo0t....

:applause:

[Joe Fields]

6. Very cool, man. A sport I wish I would have gotten into as a young man.

[eyepaddle]

7. Yeah, me too..

The kid who won my division was 13!

The guy who came in right behind has only been paddling for a year abd is 46 (and I only edged him on style points) and know boaters well into there 60s--so while I don't know how old you are I don't think it is too late for you.


PS I didn't start tell I was 32.

[NMDemDist2]

8. i love whitewater but never did get onto kayaking

just didn't have the strength for the snap to roll back up

but I rafted world class rivers all over the US

good on you!!

:applause: :yourock: :woohoo: :applause: :yourock: :woohoo: :applause: :yourock: :woohoo: :applause: :yourock: :woohoo: :applause: :yourock: :woohoo: :applause: :yourock: :woohoo:

[flvegan]

9. 1st event, 6th place out of 13 or 14?

That sounds awesome. Or, as I learned from a recent SNL dvd, scrumtrelescent.

I'm jealous.

[eyepaddle]

11. I was in the beginner/intermediate class

And I think the spread between 4th or 5th and last was pretty narrow. Even the expert guys were having trouble racking up big points. Hell, I even got wrecked and swam on my first ride. My second ride was pretty smooth (for pride's sake, I didn't understand the scoring and figured I was already out of contention) but at the end as I was sliding across the hole I twirled my paddle over my head and cracked up the crowd and scored big style points.

Gotta please that crowd y'know! B-)

:hi: flvegan

[Midlodemocrat]

10. Way to go!

Looks like you had a blast!