fitness paddling

My 2011 Paddling, Training and Racing

boats & gear, cross training, packrafting, racing / By Marek

Here is a summary of my paddling, training, racing and lifestyle changing activities in 2011: Paddling I paddled and trained on the South Platte River in winter and then on my local lakes in northern Colorado: Horsetooth Reservoir, Boyd Lake, Lonetree, Boedecker and Beaver Pond. Racing No ultra marathon races in 2011. I couldn’t participate …

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JKK Supernova Sea Kayak Added to My Paddling Fleet

3 Comments / boats & gear, gallery / By Marek

Soldier Cove of the Horsetooth Reservoir (Pentax Optio W30 camera) After a couple of weeks of test paddling on Beaver Pond and Horsetooth Reservoir including some windy winter condition JKK Supernova kayak was added to my paddling fleet. First thing I had to do was to customize a cockpit. A narrow hanging seat was removed …

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Eat Less, Move More – A Healthy Lifestyle Mantra

1 Comment / training / By Marek

These words of wisdom are popular on web, but I’ve found them in a little book: Four-Word Self-Help: Simple Wisdom for Complex Lives by Patti Digh, the author and several more books and 37days.com blog. A lovely Christmas gift!

It may be somewhat oversimplified recommendation from the perspective of training for ultramarathon paddle races. I would perhaps replace “less” and “more” by “smart”. Nevertheless, it’s an essence of a healthy lifestyle and a good mantra to repeat to yourself during the incoming holiday season.

Keep paddling as long as you can find a liquid water!

I added these words to my stock photography portfolio.

Words, phrases, slogans, questions, alphabet sets, abstracts … I have more than 1000 pictures in the portfolio created with vintage letterpress printing blocks, a variety of fonts, both wood and metal. Wood printing blocks have nice ink patina. These pictures are available for licensing as royalty free digital downloads starting with $2 or/and as prints. I am also happy to create custom images. Please contact me for more information.

3 Kayaks: JKK Supernova, WSBS Thunderbolt-X and Sisson Nucleus 100

2 Comments / boats & gear, gallery / By Marek

I am still testing Jeremy’s JKK Supernova, a racing sea kayak from New Zealand. I did a couple of 5-7 mile runs on the Horsetooth Reservoir in a winter scenery including pretty windy conditions. Paddling was much drier than it would in my Thunderbolt kayak. The Supernova feels much more comfortable with my bumfortable foam seat. However, for a better comfort, I would have to trim the seat hangers as I did in my Thunderbolt.

I shot a few pictures of the Supernova together with Thundebolt-X kayak designed by Doug Bushnell from West Side Boat Shop. Supernova appears to be a few inches shorter than Thunderbolt, but much wider, and has much higher volume. Thunderbolt cockpit is placed more forward than in Supernova. I am going to measure these kayaks by myself. Data listed by manufactures are not very accurate.

Next, I added Sisson Nucleus 100, a multisport kayak from New Zealand, to the picture for a reference. I like that Grahame Sisson is specifying the sizes of cockpit opening for his kayaks.

These three kayaks have very different cockpits:
– Sisson Nucleus: a very roomy cockpit with a small opening (shorter than Supernova), but quite wide, tiller bar steering
– Thunderbolt: a long open cockpit, tiller bar steering,
– JKK Supernova: a roomy cockpit, but a very narrow opening, sea kayak fit, pedal steering

First Snow Paddling with JKK Multisport Supernova Kayak

6 Comments / boats & gear, gallery / By Marek

I had a chance to do some test paddling with Jeremy Rodger’s JKK Supernova kayak. It happen just after first snow storm in Fort Collins, so I had a pretty scenic paddling on Beaver Pond in the Arapaho Bend Natural Area. I am trying to compare this kayak to my Thunderbolt-X from West Side Boat Shop from a perspective of a long distance self supported paddling and racing.

JKK Supernova is a multisport kayak from New Zealand – the same length as my WSBS Thunderbolt (21′), 1″ wider beam (19″), but a much bigger volume and a lot of cargo space with bulkheads and hatches. It is a racing sea kayak. Jeremy wrote a review of the Supernova for my blog a few years ago.

First impressions of the Supernova: fast, stable, quite responsive, much more maneuverable than Thunderbolt.

The Supernova cockpit is pretty small and tight. It is really narrow!. The cockpit opening is only about 14.75″ wide while I have 16″ in my Thunderbolt kayak, and a generous 17″ in Sisson Nucleus 100 which has the same beam as the Supernova. So, the owners of wide hips beware.

6th Annual Missouri River Race – MR340 2011

gallery, MR340 / By Marek

160 paddlers in 118 boats started yesterday the 6th Annual Missouri River Race 340. The race was postponed this due to flooding from the original date in July to October.

The MR340 is an endurance paddling race across the state of Missouri – 340 miles nonstop from Kansas City to St Charles with 88 hours time limit. I paddled in the first five races using 4 different boats, but always solo. Unfortunately, I couldn’t travel to Missouri this year in October. Last year, the race was also delayed because of flooding, but only by 1 month.

Well, I am paddling my local lakes in northern Colorado and I already started my countdown to the 2012 MR340.