fitness paddling: exercise, train, race by kayak & canoe

The following year I didn't go to Evans, but launched just after sunrise at Mitani-Tokuyasu SWA (the Poudre River confluence, and paddled Spencer X-treme canoe 6.5 miles upstream to join other paddlers to float down the river. Since then, I paddling upstream every year to join the club trip unless I am paddling with WaterTribe in Florida.

A few year ago, the Mitani-Tokuyasu SWA started to close by March 1st, so I had to launch at Kersey and my upstream paddling got extended to 9 miles. In 2006 I reached Evans in 4:30 hours paddling Sisson Nucleus in a fast training pace. Last year, Eric Nyre joined me and called it "Rotten Egg" race (a trophy for the last finisher?). I finished in in 3:37 in Thunderbolt-X kayak, while Eric in Rapier-20 came in 3:54.

So, let's do this again this year on March 16. Eric and Rob Bean did some training runs on the race course. Rob paddled single bladed his new Spencer X-treme in 4:47. I paddled only a half of the race course from Kersey to the Plumb Ditch Dam (~2 hours).

Start time. Last year (03/18/2007), we started with Eric at 6:24 am, i.e. 15 minutes before beginning of civil twilight. We needed lights to launch kayaks, but I didn't use lights on the river. The sky was clear. At Evans we waited almost an hour for the club trip to start.

Astronomy data for March 16, 2008: beginning of civil twilight: 6:41, sunrise: 7:08.

I would suggest to start at 7:00 am or earlier if we are ready. Slower paddlers may want to start 15 or 30 minutes earlier (just record your times). We will start under the highway 37 bridge north of Kersey. See South Platte River map and guide if you are not familiar with that location.

A few suggestions for the race:

• This is unofficial and unorganized race, so your are totally responsible for what are you doing on the river.
• Keep in mind that you need to paddle back from Evans to Kersey, so take extra drinks and food.
• You may get pretty cold at Evans after paddling 9 miles upstream - a change of cloths or a jacket are really welcome there.
• A cell phone may be useful for emergency. You can expect many boats running downriver, but they take a longer lunch stop at the Plumb Ditch Dam which may be good meeting point if you cannot reach Evans for any reasons.
• We will be asking the winner to establish the finish line and record time of arriving racers, but be prepared to record your starting and finishing time. I am going to post all race times here, hopefully, with some pictures.

Related posts:

• South Platte River - GPS/photo map and guide
• Winter Paddling, Training and Racing on the South Platte River in Northern Colorado
• Thunderbolt-X and Rapier 20 in the Upstream Race on the South Platte River