photo by Michele Baskin
This past weekend was the Glacier Breaker race on the Nantahala, traditionally the first race of the year. It was not as cold as the name had me thinking -- sun and temps in the 50's cut the shock of the famously chilly water.
The top slalom paddlers from the east coast were there. Ben Fraker, Tad Dennis, and Jeff Larmier -- the top three US canoes -- were all racing. I have never been on the same course as such high-level paddlers before. While their times were much much faster than mine, watching their runs on the same course was incredibly educational. Even though I never made all of the gates (tight offsets!) I was happy with my runs over all. The second one even had two combat rolls, one in gate 8 above nanty falls, and one in gate 12 below the falls. Colleen Hickey was the only other C1W there, and she beat me by a large margin. Colleen's paddling is looking great and I hear she will be making an appearance at the MWA championships!
Sunday I drove into Charlotte to train. The day was productive, and showed me that I have improved since my time there over the christmas holidays. I did loose the skin off of 4 knuckles, hanging onto a deep low brace below the M-wave. I was proud I hung onto it and recovered! I made all my rolls and I am starting to build the confidence I need to paddle on that water. It still scares the pants off me.
The next race on the Nantahala is the US Open, March 22-23: http://www.nrcrhinos.com/
Team Trails will be held at the Charlotte course, April 25-27: http://web.mac.com/slalom2008/Slalom/Welcome.html
Thanks again to everyone for their support.
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