Riverlink Triathlon
June 6, 2003
The run was hot, the paddle was fast... 6000 cubic feet per min
currents compared to the normal 1000 cfpm, and the bike had a
beastly head wind. This was my first time paddling down a
river. I was nervous trying to remember weather to go into or
around an open or closed V... as was advised by the race
director in the pre-race meeting. I also wasn't all that
comfortable about the few times water came in the boat from
waves. But I managed to stay upright. Phew! One female
competitor, who was entering the water just before myself,
flipped over immediately. I was secretly envious because she
got a chance to cool off from the hot run. The funny thing, is
the citizen times captured, in color, this big picture of her
and her yellow boat in the process of flipping over. If the
picture was expanded, you would have seen me with this sort of
goofy grin of fear, hoping I wasn't the next flipping victim.
(The citizen times also got a great shot of the run start, with
Gary and Jay, front and center, digging deep to get out front on
the run).
Once I got out on the water, the uneasiness started to subside
and I began to realize how darn fun this part of the race was.
I was sitting down, practically resting, for one. Two, I got to
splash some water on my beat red face. Three, the currents were
so fast, I hardly had to paddle... except for when I over
compensated and started heading towards shore. I had visions of
myself going completely sideways to the current, then going
backwards, hitting waves and toppling over. Or, better yet,
b-lining for shore and getting tangled up in the hanging tree
limbs. So you can imagine how furiously I paddled to get my
boat straightened out. This easily happened more than once.
The few times I've paddled in the past, I had a rudder to pick
up the slack for my lack of paddling skills.
Ok, so now I
arrive to the exit point of the paddle, half regretfully, half
thankfully. I get out and my legs are complete silly-putty.
I'm astounded. I'm barley able to drag my boat to where the
race organizers want. You would think after sitting for 5 miles
of river that you would be refreshed, ready to go. Well, boy I
thought wrong. And now I'm on the bike course, battling this
hard-core headwind. It was one of those rides when you feel
like a billboard sign. I didn't think the finish line would
ever come. When the river was in sight to my right, I longfully
looked at it... wishing my boat had flipped and I was
lallygagging downstream... with a margarita in hand, waving at
all the paddlers cruising by. And it seemed... EVERY time, I
would be jarred out of my daydream from a pot hole or rock or
something.
As far as I know, no one thankfully got hurt in the race. The
fast currents were a bit of a concern. And fortunately, the
thundering clouds we all heard just before the race started went
a different direction. So, to sum it up... a really great, fun,
yet challenging race!!
- Allison Hardy