Metronome was great!
When I did the 70 miler with Grumpypaddler her stroke rate would get slower and slower as she talked. We put in a metronome and GPS and We survived the race! One year on the Lumber Challenge RedCrossRandy and I used the Metronome. We had our bset time ever. I suspect that when you are getting tired you start to slow down, imperceptably. the metronome kept the cadence up at 60 for the whole 40 miles.
Herring Run
6 miles up 6 miles back on the Mystic River. Somerville to Winchester (Massachusetts) and back. I learned that this used to be tidal but the locks below our start make it pretty much a pond now with no current. The north west wind was in our faces on the way up, at our backs on the return.
Well the serious racers and maybe some less serious pretty much left me in the dust. Some paddle boarders got a late start. One passed me pretty quickly followed by a border with no paddle! I’m thinking I must be pretty slow when a hand paddler fly’s by. Then a guy in a big tandem rec kayak, another late start I think, passed me. At least I was able to draft him for quite a way. That had to help my overall time. But he finally pulled away and a third border came along. He seemed to think the hand paddler was some sort of hot stuff which made me feel a little better. I dogged him until we came out on the lower lake where the wind seemed to slow me more than him. My time was just 1 hour at the portage which is also the turn around for the 9 mile race. I had no traffic to contend with carrying over the dam but the pack was coming in as I paddled out onto the upper lake I would have like to have seen how a bunch of competitive racers handled that bottleneck but I didn’t have time to watch. The wind was in my face again across the upper lake and I lost a little time at the turn around since the “orange” buoy was pretty well weathered to white and there was no one watching it to ask. I went right over to the mouth of the Aberjona both to be certain that was the bouy and because I am a tourist first and formost.
On the way back I was happy to find that I was not dead last, passing a solitary border and some hardy souls in pumpkin seed rec yaks as well as a tandem canoe I’d passed early on. The wind was not as much help as I’d hoped, coming from my right rear quarter and forcing me to sweep on my right side to hold my course. That did make me glad that I was in the Magic rather than the Voyager though.
Again I had no traffic at the portage. Once past the lower lake the wind stayed mostly at my back which was nice because I was getting tired. As the river opened up near the finish I had a strong tail wind that really helped!
By my watch I finished at 2.5 hours even. I’ll check for an official time and update this later.
So I’m not even close to competitive but I reasonably happy and thinking I’ll try a few more this summer. See if I can get faster!
It was good to finally paddle a river I’ve driven past for 51 years. Another benefit to this racing thing I’ve discovered.
ekilson and Tommy
sound like you are doing pretty darn good to me.
I worked a river clean up crew this weekend in big WW rubber rafts. We filled a huge raft with river garbage and escorted it down the river. Even when we were not towing the junk barge I can tell you this. Four strong horsemen do not make a rubber river raft go fast. Those things are PIGS!! But running the Cattaragus Creek gorge was a hoot. I did miss the speed effect however.
I worked the same cleanup
But on Sunday. We paddled – if you can call it that – the upper Cattaraugus up to the Scoby Hill Dam. It took us about 5 hours to go maybe 4 miles. Anyone would want to go faster than that!
Paddling Upstream
I figure going upstream you add in the speed of the current you are paddling against. I’ve done some where I kept think I was not going to get any further only to find an eddy or slower current.
Not much for mileage but very satisfying for me at least.
Cut to the chase here!
I think Tom is trying to get us all to pitch in on a Honda. Once acquired he’ll square stern that Magic and always be goin’ fast!
I’m average
They posted the results for the race I did last Saturday. My time was 2:33. The average for all boats was 2:33. Here’s how it breaks down:
11 Short Kayaks (< 13 ft) - Average 2:36, Fastest 2:11
11 Long Kayaks (>13 ft) - Average 2:23, Fastest 1:54
22 Tandem Canoes (all classes) - Average 2:35, Fasted 1:52
I’m kind of surprised - I thought that two paddlers in a tandem canoe would have been a lot faster than a single paddler in a kayak (or canoe). The averages didn’t work out that way.
The fastest time was a tandem canoe at 1:52, but that team was only a couple of minutes faster than the fastest kayak at 1:54.
http://www.thebrwa.org/Canoe_Race/2010/Race_results_2010.pdf
Well you should fine that encouraging.
That is fantastic. Half of your work is done already! Placing mid pack as beginner in this hobby is quite impressive. You will find your initial gains will come quickly as you progress to the upper third of the field. Then you are running with some seriously dedicated folks beyond that. But you can choose your venues and classes carefully to bring home some trophies still. For me, I think I lack true drive. I get out there with 50 to 200 other boats and I am just as happy as can be to be paddling with them. If I pass or stay in front of some of them that is fine. I try not to be dead last but I do push myself to do well. I don’t push myself to be all that I can be and that will never take me too far up the field. I find participating being the best reward. And just by participating, you will gain speed from the effort and folks you share the day with. I have raced something or other most of my life. I have found the paddling community to be most supportive to development of competitors. They share information and encourage each other just as though they were all on the same team. At least that has been my experience.
Your last sentence
You need to add: until the gun goes off!
Jack L
HA HA… yeah
That is when you find out if you got snookered and they were just giving you something to do while they were blasting off.
Like I said previously, the common thinking and all published material says we should be using high stroke rates and shorter strokes. Everyone who I can see, and that is just about everyone from my race position, is paddling MUCH slower than me. Is there a conspiracy there?
Anyway, I am going to keep preaching it to newbees until I can slow down enough to start placing. ;))
MMmmmmmm—bratwurst…
two different ways of doing it
long, slower, stronger strokes, and shorter, lighter, faster strokes. I actually will use the longer slower stroke to sprint at higher speed but it is extremely hard on me. Heart rate spikes massively, gasp for air, etc. But it makes me MOVE. If I take the quick shorter strokes I have found my heart rate and breathing are much better, I can maintain it forever, and still have a decent pace. The long stroke involves reaching the paddle forward about to my ankles and exiting by my hip, pushing off the footrest during the power phase. I will usually lean forward, plant the paddle, and then “sit up” while I rotate slightly. I typically don’t push off nearly as hard on the short stroke, or lean forward, and enter at the knee, and exit at the hip. The long stroke still runs about 55 per minute. Fast stroke is just over 60. On the slow stroke my application of force during the power phase is as quick as I can without sucking air in behind the paddle. Fast stroke its more gradual. I don’t even know if that is accepted racing stuff, it is just something I made up that seems to work. Still learning this canoe paddle stuff after two years…
I am still learning after 40
You think maybe I am a slow learner? ;))
Herring Run Time, Voyager training run
My official time for the 12 mile race was 2:30:21.
I came in 30th out of 41 I beat all the rec kayaks but 1, 2 SUPs and a Coleman Tandem.
The fastest C1 came in at 1:46:4 the slowest C1 besides me came in at 2:05:40 which is 25 minutes faster than my time.
Man I got some work to do!
I took the Voyager out last night and did the same 9 mile training run I’ve been doing in the Magic. There wasn’t much wind which is good in the Voyager.
It sure felt faster. The glide is pretty sweet.
I did the run in 2 hrs 10 minutes. Right in between the two times I did in the Magic.
Maybe it ain’t the boat?
kayak paddle…
2 blades…must be twice as fast.
Tommy, I think your up and down
stream practice runs would roughly equate to 12 miles downriver. You seem to be making some good gains. The river changes everday and so does the wind. You are obviously picking up speed already. Great job.
2 blades - Half Fast
I’m faster with my Zav that I ever was with my Werner Camano or Little Dipper.
Maybe it’s not fair to compare a nice light carbon canoe stick to heavier glass butt boat sticks. But I ain’t spending the dough for a carbon double so for me the case is closed.
nah
just open minded enough to accept that you can always be better.