USCA National Championships

This past weekend I raced at the USCA National Championships. It was my first USCA sectioned event and, while I wasn’t exactly sure what to expect in terms of competition or courses, I figured it would be a good opportunity to see how I stacked up to other paddlers. Sprint events took place earlier in the week and since I was low on vacation, I opted to only go up for the marathon events which were Friday – Sunday.

Warren, PA is about a 7 hour drive from DC, so Dave and I left at the crack of dawn on Friday to allow time to find our campsite before heading to registration which opened at 4 pm. I had made reservations at Dew Drop campground which is located right on the Allegheny Reservoir in Allegheny National Forest. It was a beautiful spot with big sites. Ours was steps from the lake which has 91 miles of shoreline. It also has 5 established paddle-in/hike-in backcountry sites and that, along with a dispersed camping policy, would make it a great place for a fall kayak camping trip.

After setting up camp we headed down to Betts Park. All the marathon events end there and that was where awards and registration were as well. We knew we had found the right park by the parking lot jammed with pro-boat canoes. The Nationals include events for canoes, sprint boats, outriggers, unlimited boats and sea kayaks but the emphasis definitely seems to be on canoes. The random kayak or surf ski perched atop a roof looked out of place.

They were announcing the results of the Friday races as we arrived and I took note that for the almost 14 mile course times ranged from 1.5 hours to over 3. The race follows a portion of the Allegheny river running from just below Kinzu dam to Betts Park. There are three sections where you have to turn and paddle up-river against the current. In addition, it has very shallow areas and a minor rapid that produces a rather fun wave train. In short, while a fun course, it really isn’t what I think of when I think of a sea kayak race – there is no open water and the water never got over waist deep! There was some talk about this not being the most appropriate venue for a "sea kayak national championship" so we'll see what comes of that.

Not wanting to crunch my Nemo, I needed to paddle the course at least once before the race to see if I even wanted to attempt it the new boat. Fortunately Rich Libby suggested we paddle a sprint K2 together in Saturday’s race. He raced unlimited on Friday and knew the line down the river. I could scout it as we raced. We got ourselves registered; since there was no mixed K2 class we entered the “men’s” category. Then Dave and I headed back to camp to take a quick paddle on the lake before dinner.

Our original plan for Satruday was to just cruise, but Rich and I don’t seem to capable of that when you put us in the boat together – especially once we saw there were four other mixed boats who were racing in the men’s class also. Now we had competition and we hoped to hang with Holm and Melissa! Yeah right! Anyway, we all lined up and, when the start gun sounded, took off. The lead K2 must have been paddled by two Olympic team members. They shot off the line and disappeared so quickly. Holm and Melissa also proceeded to paddle away in perfect sync. So Rich put us in a pack with three other K2s and off we went.

The river definitely had current and there were times that I would see the GPS hit 10+ MPH. Unfortunately I knew that all too soon we’d be paddling UP that river. Rich picked a good line but even with that I occasionally smacked my paddle into the surrounding rocks and we dragged the rudder a couple of times.

Rich was a little worried about the wave train since this was only our third time paddling a K2 together. I had been hearing all kinds of stories about this “rapid” so I had visions of class 3-4 whitewater! But it turned out to be much tamer – just a jumble of bouncy waves. I laughed at the “rescuers” who were standing in the waist deep water to help put you back in the boat in case you came out. Rich picked a great line and we shot through, avoided the eddy and kept in the fastest part of the river.

Two more slow upriver sections later and nearing the finish line, we made our way to river left for the last of the shallows – and boy were they shallow! We dragged the rudder hard and ended up edging the boat first far left and then far right to avoid any more direct hits. At the bottom, Dave was out on the river in his Outer Island shouting encouragement and snapping pictures – he was definitely the only one around using a Greenland paddle that day! We headed for the finish line and crossed it in a time of 1:43:46 good enough for fifth place in men’s K2 and we would have been second if there was a mixed K2 class.

We hung around until awards were over and then returned to camp to cook dinner and relax. I had another day of racing ahead and needed carbs! Bill W. joined us as we cooked up tortellini and polenta with veggies and sauce. Complemented by wine it was a great dinner. I hit the sleeping bag early but Sunday morning still came around all too quickly. I emerged from the tent stretching my slightly sore back and shoulders. Perhaps racing the two days back to back wasn't the smartest idea.

Coffee and breakfast in hand, we made our way to the start area. I saw more kayaks in the parking lot this morning. Dan M. and his friend Alex were both there already with their prototype Nemos. I put my boat over by theirs – three Nemos in a sea of Epics! Collecting my race number, I saw that there were probably 11 boats in my class. A great treat since this season I’ve mostly been racing alone. From what I had heard this wasn’t going to be a gimme as there were several very fast women in the race.

Once the course review was over I hopped in the boat to warm up. Our start time was 9:10 am and I was feeling a little rushed. As I was fiddling with the GPS the announcer called us to the start line, I paddled up and the next thing I knew the gun sounded. I hadn’t reset the GPS or the heart rate monitor but people were off the line. So I dug in. There would be no electronic feedback for me on this race.

It looked a lot like a typical race. The super speedy guys took off and then a middle pack formed of me, two other women, Bill W and one other guy. I stayed with them until we hit the first shallows and I felt the Nemo bog down. I wasn’t going to sacrifice the boat for the race so I let up some and considered the best line. Once through I hammered again but couldn’t catch the pack. It was me, paddling, alone in the race. Boy isn’t that the story of my racing life!

And so it continued for a couple of miles. When I got to really shallow spots, I’d ease off and then pick it up again once in deeper water. At the first buoy turn I experienced problem number two for the day – my rudder wasn’t tight enough and wasn’t turning me efficiently. I had been fiddling with the foot rest the week before and evidently didn't tighten the rudder cables enough. Fortunately I wore my sprayskirt so I jacked the Nemo up on edge and swept for all I was worth. Not fast, but at least I turned. On the upstream turn I did the same thing but still wound up in the trees!

Next, came the waves, I picked my line and headed through. With the stability of the Nemo that proved no problem. Just below the waves there is a large eddy on river left, I cranked the rudder to try to stay in the deeper, faster water but ended up in that eddy anyway. A little hard edging and sweeps got be back to where I wanted to be but cost me valuable time.

At the second upstream portion I noticed that two guys were gaining on me and drafting entered my mind. I didn’t slow down but just waited. I passed another park and saw Dave there with the camera for some pictures. His first words were “what is wrong” so I guess I didn’t look like a happy camper. I paddled past him toward the next turn buoys when the guys caught up. I jumped on their wakes and stayed there. It made that last upstream so much more doable! Unfortunately they dropped me on the last turn. No matter though, we are almost home.

As I passed under the last bridge I saw Dave again, he had been leap-frogging me the whole race. I asked if there was anyway I could catch the woman in front and he said probably not. I already knew that the next woman was at least five minutes back so I got ready to walk. This last section is the shallowest and was where Rich and I had to really lean the boat to not break the rudder. I took it easy going into the shallows but was happy to find that instead of four inches of water we had on Saturday, we must have had six – and those two inches made all the difference. The Nemo floated through without hitting bottom. With one final sprint I crossed the finish line with a time of 2:06:08 – a bronze medal finish at the US Nationals and an intact boat! In the end I was less than two minutes behind the second woman and four minutes out of first. Something to shoot for next year ...