racing

3rd South Platte River Upstream “Rotten Egg” Race – March 22, 2009

Every year, in the middle of March, paddling clubs in northern Colorado organize a joint trip on the South Platte River from Evans to Kersey or further to Kuner as an opening of paddling season. During recent years I use to launch my boat around sunrise at Kersey and paddle upstream to Evans to meet downriver paddlers. In last two years I was joined by other paddlers and an informal race was created. Eric Nyre name it “Rotten Egg” race (a trophy for the last finisher?).

I needed about 4:30 hours to cover 9 miles upstream in a fast cruising mode in Sisson Nucleus 100 kayak or Spencer X-treme canoe. I paddled Thunderbolt-X kayak in the first two years of the race reaching Evans in 3:37 (2007) and 3:25 (2008 at ~850cfs). This year we expect much lower water: 400cfs at Kersey or even less. See river pictures from the March 15 paddling.

The race starts at 7am, March 22, 2009 at Kersey (highway 37 bridge – map). This is exactly sunrise time this year. Slower paddlers may start earlier.

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