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Whitewater Kayaking (part 1)
Aug. 23rd, 2004 11:13 pmYou all are used to seeing race reports from me. Well, this is not one of those. There are no splits, no smart remarks about going fast, and no goals set or achieved. I did have a good time, though, and whitewater kayaking had the three qualities that officially made it an adventure: It involved human effort, I'd never tried it before, and it seems like a slightly insane way to spend the day.
Part I
Fast forward to Friday: I met up with Steve in Ocoee, TN at a local outfitter. (For those of you who recall my move across country, which involved racing with a friend in Oklahoma City and mountain biking with another friend in Tennessee, Steve is the mountain biking one.) The plan today was to do a midnight run down one of the local rivers. Steve had borrowed an inflatable kayak for me, and had his own.
It was dark. It was raining. There was occasional lightning. I couldn't see very far. (Rain is not a showstopper. Like swimming, once you are wet, rain does not get you any more wet, so there's no reason to stay out of it.) We set up the inflatable kayak by flashlight, and put on wetsuits, life vests, and crash helmets.
It was still very dark, and raining. I still could not see. Hmm.... pitch dark.... raining... never done this before....crash helmets and life jackets are required equipment. I began to suspect that maybe this wasn't the best idea. Steve was still setting up. Hmm. I know Steve well enough to go to lunch with, but don't know how he does with sports or potentially dangerous stuff.
"Steve, are you _absolutely sure_ this is a reasonably safe thing to do, given that I've never kayaked?"
After some discussion and a trip to the water's edge, we decided not to get in the water.
Steve: Aww, and all that work for nothing.
Me: Actually, we could consider it a dry run.
(Hmm, that comment was much funnier when I was dripping wet.)
Part I
Fast forward to Friday: I met up with Steve in Ocoee, TN at a local outfitter. (For those of you who recall my move across country, which involved racing with a friend in Oklahoma City and mountain biking with another friend in Tennessee, Steve is the mountain biking one.) The plan today was to do a midnight run down one of the local rivers. Steve had borrowed an inflatable kayak for me, and had his own.
It was dark. It was raining. There was occasional lightning. I couldn't see very far. (Rain is not a showstopper. Like swimming, once you are wet, rain does not get you any more wet, so there's no reason to stay out of it.) We set up the inflatable kayak by flashlight, and put on wetsuits, life vests, and crash helmets.
It was still very dark, and raining. I still could not see. Hmm.... pitch dark.... raining... never done this before....crash helmets and life jackets are required equipment. I began to suspect that maybe this wasn't the best idea. Steve was still setting up. Hmm. I know Steve well enough to go to lunch with, but don't know how he does with sports or potentially dangerous stuff.
"Steve, are you _absolutely sure_ this is a reasonably safe thing to do, given that I've never kayaked?"
After some discussion and a trip to the water's edge, we decided not to get in the water.
Steve: Aww, and all that work for nothing.
Me: Actually, we could consider it a dry run.
(Hmm, that comment was much funnier when I was dripping wet.)
