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Almost done for this turn out west |
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| August 2nd, 2009 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Sorry it's been so long since the last update, just so busy visiting with people and all that fun jazz! I'm in Kelowna right now. Today I did a 46km change race in Vernon, BC. A change race is when you have 9 people on a team with 6 in the OC6 and 3 in a motor boat and you change in an out of the canoe so you actually get a bit of a rest. I had the privilege of paddling with a great group of ladies from Comox today. We had a strong race and traded the lead back and forth with a strong crew from False Creek (lots of the girls I raced with in the Gorge a few weeks back). It was a fantastic race but in the end False Creek came out on top (this time). Our time was 4:11:something for the 46km. Yesterday I raced the OC1 race, it was only 10km (in reality I think it was a little shorter).. There was no wind whatsoever so it was a hard slug. I tried to catch as many boat wakes as I could but they were few and far between. I managed to stay ahead of the surf skis, OC2s and rest of the OC1s to come in first for the fourth race in a row. It's been a pretty darn successful little road trip out here in the west. It was kinda creepy last night watching one of the forest fires burning though after the sun went down. No worries, it's no where near where I'm staying but we got to paddle by it today. Last night the wind came up and it started burning out of control, they had it 80% contained until the wind came up and this morning it said that it had grown and was only 30% contained now. I've been learning a little about the fire situation out here in the Okanagan and how they fight them ... wow! It's definitely a sight to be seen! Can't wait to see people when I'm back in Ontario for a few days. Get in the morning of August 5th I think and will be in Toronto for that day. Anyone want to go for a paddle? :) Tomorrow is climbing in Skaha with my buddy from Calgary then heading to the beach afterwards at Sun Oka. Then I actually have to unpack my car and reorganize to figure out what I need to bring with me back to Ontario to leave with mom and dad and what I need to take to Europe. You should see my car, it's a mad house right now! Oh yeah, guess I didn't post my results from last weekend in Squamish yet either! Great venue, had a blast sleeping in the Walmart parking lot in Squamish for two nights jacking wireless from the Starbucks. Also having the power go out in the movie theatre while watching Harry Potter just as they are about to shoot Dumbledore off the balcony!!!! Wicked thunderstorm ... video to come soon. As for the race, down wind run with some crazy water where there was no contrast so you couldn't see the waves. Also, glacier water so darn cold to boot near the end. I had a great start and was feeling alright until about 10km into the 17km race when something just starting knocking in my boat and I lost all glide, then getting nauseous due to a new type of drink didn't help either (grocery store wasn't open early enough when I realized I didn't have any gatorade left and had to make due with stuff I could find in my car). Finally when I got around a corner into a big cross wind the knocking stopped, I got my glide back and had a great run into the finish but couldn't catch the 3 boys that I let pass me during my "crappy" time. Oh well, race and learn. Still was the first woman in and got a sweet big wooden carved hook made by one of the guys from False Creek (I'll take a pic of all the hardware from out here, it's pretty nice). Any who ... it's way past bedtime but huge thanks to Kelly and Shawn for letting me stay with them in Victoria last week, to the False Creek boys for letting me paddle with them in Vancouver last weekend, to Colleen and the Jericho girls for a fantastic bbq and helping me learn how to do changes and Colleen especially for giving me a place to stay! Thanks to Sandra, Wes and Isaac for welcoming me once again into their home here in Kelowna and to the rest of the Kelowna paddlers for letting me practice with you! Great job to the Vernon Club for the races this weekend! I know I'm forgetting people but you are all fantastic! Also, I still have some 18 month calendars left. Cost is $20 and the proceeds go towards Breast Cancer, National Women's Dragon Boat team and our quest for gold in Prague! Let me know if you're interested.
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Old Posts ... July:
June:
May: April: Older: |
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Last update on: August 2nd, 2009 |
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Copyright 2009 Leanne Stanley. All rights reserved. |
