Paddling, Training and Racing on the South Platte River
Like in recent year, I am running two informal races: 9 miles upstream and a month later, the 31 mile South Platte River Marathon.
Like in recent year, I am running two informal races: 9 miles upstream and a month later, the 31 mile South Platte River Marathon.
The Missouri 340. Wow! When Di first told me she wanted to do this I was really doubtful. I’d been a downriver racer for 20 years- (a 20-35 minute sprint through rapids) and the idea of going long just didn’t appeal to me.
Sunday afternoon, February 22, 2009. 2×4.5 mile paddling workout on the South Platte River: upstream from Kuner and back down the river, about 2.5 hours at moderate pace. Flow at Kersey: ~550cfs.
Four solo kayakers: Jeremy in a wildwater racer, Rob in Spencer X-treme canoe (see his pictures on Facebook), Belen in Seda Glider, and me in Thunderbolt-X kayak.
The graph from my Garmin Forerunner GPS shows our speed during this workout. It was possible to maintain about 3 mph when going upstream, but the downstream speed on the shallow river was not so good as one would expect. The river near Kuner and Kersey is slower and deeper than above the confluence with the Poudre River. It is getting even more shallow above Evans.
I am trying to do paddling workout on the South Platte every weekend. If you would like to join please contact me. I am sending e-mail to interested paddlers around Thursday with time and location taking into account weather and flow conditions.
I am planning two informal races on the South Platte like in recent years:
(1) 9 miles upstream from Kersey to Evans to join the club down river paddling trip on Sunday, March 22,
(2) South Platte River Marathon from Wildcat on St Vrain Creek to Kuner, probably two weeks later.
If there is any interest we can run more races, e.g., 5 miles upstream from Kersey to the Plumb Ditch Dam as a warm-up..
South Platte River below Denver – GPS/photo river guide
I am trying to decide which of my boats to paddle this year in ultra marathon races like MR340 or South Dakota Challenge.
Thunderbolt-X kayak goes for upstream / downstream workouts on the South Platte River, but on my local pond I am trying some other boats. It is still more photography than training …
My last paddling photo session on the Beaver Pond was with Surfrigger, my outrigger canoe.
My single blade paddling … It is probably OK with Sea Wind canoe, but it definitely sucks in the case of Surfrigger. I need some inspiration! Let’s look at Danny Ching paddling OC-1 (video by Outpadlin from blib.tv).
I need to visit Rambo’s Locker more often.
How to Choose a Boat for an Ultra Marathon Race? The Case of Missouri River 340
I’m an adventuring river rat at heart. Put me on a floating piece of driftwood and I’m happy.
I’ve completed the MR 340 in a 14.5′ tandem rudderless rec kayak, a 14.5′ Carolina and a 4-man Kevlar TWS racing canoe.
The race is moving in the right direction and I can see it eventually having a thousand boats entered, resulting in full time jobs for the directors.