144spokes

So while I spend a month being a bum driving and kayaking around the western united states, Izzy, my little sister decided to take the more ecological approach and bike across the country with her boyfriend Frazer. I know. They are insane. 

check out Izzy and Frazers exploits and updates on her blog- www.144spokes.blogspot.com

sounds like she is working harder then i am at the moment! 

In Glenwood springs, CO until monday or tuesday for US team trials, couch surfing, kayak surfing and living in my car. 

Bomber Gear

I thing that I neglected to mention in my post last week was that while in Reno, I picked up a new skirt (Deck, as the british put it) for my kayak. For those that don't know, the skirt or deck is generally made of neoprene, and is designed to seal the kayaker into the boat, attaching around the rim of the cockpit. The skirt is also responsible for keeping a large amount of water out of the boat- helping the kayaker stay dry and afloat. 

Having a good skirt is important in a lot of ways. One- it keeps you dry, thus keeping you warmer and afloat. Two- it keeps you in the boat, which is always important. I have had a quite a few friends have their skirts implode, or pop off on them unexpectedly, and it can be very frightening. It is also helpful if a kayaker can put their skirts on their kayaks by themselves. It sounds silly- but as all skirts and kayak cockpits are slightly different in shape and size, getting one that fits easily, without letting too much water in can be hard. 

At any rate- I picked up a new skirt in Reno made by Bomber Gear. They are a company that i have been a fan of for a while- looking through my gear I discovered that my drypants, one of my favorite thermals, and a drytop i own are also made by Bomber Gear. They went out of business for a few years, but are back in action with a whole new line of products. Check out their website www.bombergear.com

I got their womens specific Floral Bomb skirt, with an extra small tunnel that fits my waist, and a larger keyhole shaped deck to go on a creek boat. I have to say that I love it, and it has held up amazingly well after putting it through its paces in California.  Though it was a little difficult to get on at first, the skirt quickly molded to the shape of the cockpit rim after leaving it on their damp one night. Since then i have not had any problems putting it on, and I still stay amazingly dry. I was pleasantly suprised to see how well it held up on the South Branch, especially on the 50 footer at the end of the run. Most Creek Specific skirts have implosion bars to help the skirt distribute pressure (either from impact or going deep underwater). 

Photo from Jeremy Lauks

Here I am on one of the smaller drops on the South Branch. Note how well my blue bomb flower skirt stands out in the pictures! 

We did a nice easy play run on the edwards-purdance section of the S. Branch of the Yuba river, and my skirt worked just as well with my playboat. I was pleasantly surprised yet again yesterday- We just pulled in to Buena Vista for PaddleFest and the BVpro rodeo- so i decided to hop back in my playboat and take a few quick surfs in the playpark here. My skirt held up great, and i was able to watch the preliminaries of the rodeo in my gear, almost completely dry! 

We are out in Buena Vista for the weekend, and then off to steamboat for another Demshitz movie premier, and then to Glenwood springs for team trials... The tour continues! 

Chilling in Cali

The past two weeks have been pretty much nonstop out here. After cheat fest I drove back to PA, then left that monday to head across the country. I stopped in Ohio and Kansas before making to Gunnison, where i met up with Demshitz  Jared Seiler, Dave Fusili, Jeremy Lauks and Nicole Mansfield to hop in the Pyranha van and head to the Reno River Festival. 

Reno was tons of fun- got to meet a load of new friends and catch up with some old ones. I ended up "competing" in the open freestyle- didn't make it to finals but had fun anyways. Jared wasn't competing due to injuring his ribs on the Big Sandy the week prior. Dave and Jeremy put in valient efforts in both the freestyle and the boater cross- with Jeremy getting an unfortunate disqualification in the semi finals. 

After Reno it was off to Cali to start creeking- another nonstop mission! The boys ran Kimchu Creek our first day in Cali, then we met up with Shannon Carroll, Chris Korbulick and Team Hobo (Fred Norquist and Jake Sakson) among others to run the South Branch of the Feather. It was an amazing day- lots of waterfalls and lots of fun ending with a sweet 50 footer and a mank hike out of the gorge. The next day I chilled out and ran shuttle with half our team went and ran the lower section of the south branch- proclaiming the hour long portage worth it for sure. 

From there, Team Demshitz and i put on the middle fork of the feather for a three day "moderate class 5" overnighter. The river and the gorge were beautiful, and the trip was tons of fun, even if i did get my ass whooped. Even though the river reminded me a lot of Nepal, Paddling out in Cali is different for sure- as creeking is different from playboating even in the type of gear that you need.  

I've been borrowing a Diesel 70 from a friend for the past week, and while the boat handles well, i would definitely appreciate a smaller boat- especially when loaded up with overnight gear. Proper outfitting and, as i've learned = a longer paddle would also be helpful. Even so, i've been learning loads and hope to keep on creeking, maybe come back here next year and kill it. 

Paddling out here has been eye opening, and loads of fun- while, as Jared put it "taking an AP class in creek boating".  I'll try and get photos up soon, but check out the team Pyranha blog and Jeremy's website www.chasingrain.com for more updates and photos. 

Cheat fest to Denver

I left Vermont last week, stopping along the way to pick up a new playboat, a project 45 in Cherry red. Clearly- in my week at home, I needed to try it out, and see if it was as good as i remembered. 

I spent two days up at Scudders falls, a playspot on the Delaware river just over the New Jersey border from PA. The boat preformed well, and i had some good sessions, leaving me with plenty to work on and think about for the coming season.  Scudders is kind of a mecca for local paddlers- and everytime i am there, i manage to run into old friends and boating acquaintances.  It was great to catch up with people- and even better because i was talked into going to Cheat fest down in West Virginia. 

My dad and i drove down on friday- stopping for a warm up on the Loop section of the Lower youghigheny river- before heading to run the Cheat on Saturday. It has been raining non stop here- so the levels were high... The loop was running at 3 feet, and the Cheat was at 5 feet- making my Dad a little nervous, but he did great.  The most nerve racking part of the day was taking Glens shuttle back to the put-in. Jared, Dave Fusili, Big Dave Fusili, Nicole Mansfield and I held on for dear life, along with about 40 other people- as the truck raced around corners- trying to fling us out. 

We paddled with a ton (36) PCC members- including old friends Dave Smith and Nancy Pietroski, John Harvey and the Seilers. After a great weekend, i'm off to Denver- at least to start, with some loose plans to meet up with Demshitz and the Pyranha van for a tour to Reno, or off to Missoula to visit Tara and Karl.  Should be good- it will be my first time out west and i am excited!