Lake Whatcom Classic 2007

The Lake Whatcom Classic was held on a fairly chilly morning. The sky was mostly cloudy and there was a light breeze from the southeast. At least it wasn't raining, which was certainly a possibility given the forecast.

The race was held at nearly the same location and at the same time as the start of the Whatcom Association of Kayak Enthusiasts (W.A.K.E.) Demo Day. With both popular events occurring simultaneously the parking lot was nearly full of cars, boats of various types and sizes and trailers.



For this race I was using a light new Cadence that was mostly lime green in color with blue accents. With the race being about 13 miles in length and my nonexistent endurance training I figured it would be best to be as efficient as possible in the use of my meager muscle reserves. Besides, the outrigger boat would be busy at the demo day for people to try out.

With the club's camera undergoing repairs I made do with an ancient Casio 3 megapixel camera for taking shots on land. Another racer was lending me an Olympus ultra-zoom camera in a diving case for use on the water. It included a lead weight intended to make it have neutral buoyancy in the water, but out of the water it served to help steady the camera for those higher magnification shots.





This was pretty much the maiden voyage for this boat. I also had to reacquaint myself slightly with handling a Cadence without outriggers; e.g., don't shove the rudder all the way over unless you are ready to balance against the torque. Still, this boat was light and nimble and handled well as I scooted between the other racers warming up on the water.



The starting signal found me near the northern end of the starting line. Hmm, there were not really any opportunities for drafting over here - just a couple of rowing shells. Regardless, I started pedaling moderately hard, snapping picture after picture of the others.

As the field was pulling away I decided it might be a good idea to pedal harder. This increased my heart rate to around 156 beats per minute and my speed to somewhere in the 7 mph range according to the GPS. The gearbox and chain were generating a whirr-whirr sound, indicating that I needed to pedal better circles.

So I did.





The boat speed seemed to increase slightly and instead of keeping even I was beginning to pass some double canoes and OC-2's. Yay!



Pausing slightly in order to take their photos enabled them to regain the lead. Resumption of circular pedaling soon put an end to that.

Far ahead I could see a cluster of surf skis, with a couple of rowing shells off to either side. In addition, a couple of club regulars in an OC-2 could be seen roughly midway between the cluster and my boat. Perhaps I could catch them!

I sucked down the contents of a juice pack. The sugar would help later in this two hour race.



Slowly, slowly, the distance between me and the OC-2 grew shorter. Meanwhile, a couple of the boats I had passed earlier had caught my wake and were drafting. After taking a couple of photos I then took off, leaving them far behind.

My pulse had not dropped below 152 this entire time. With hope I'll have enough energy to carry me through the race to the end! At least the light head wind was helping to keep me cool.

Just past a little marina on the south shore I finally passed the OC-2. Steve and Rocky, the paddlers in the OC-2, appeared a little perturbed at this, but I smiled and took their photos.



Shortly afterwards I came upon another OC-2 that had dumped its paddlers into the drink. They refused assistance and were able to board and continue on their way. Steve and Rocky also slowed down, but were also refused. Onward!

Far ahead I could see the first of the rowing shells on its return from Reveille Island, the turning point in the race. Abandoning the southern shore I headed over to take his photo, as well as those of the other racers following him on the return leg.



The Olympus camera and its waterproof case were getting pretty heavy and slick from sweat by this time. I did my best in framing shots and planning which ones to take, as the camera was pretty slow to focus and store the images. Still, there were a few missed shots that would have been wonderful if they had turned out. Oh, well.



I did my best also to try to not cause problems getting in the way of the other racers as I headed to and around the island. There were a couple of times when my boat got a bit closer than I wanted when I inadvertently played "chicken" with a couple of them. Sorry about that!

On the return from the island the light headwind turned into a light tailwind. Things were definitely a bit warmer and I ended up cooling my hands in the water a few times. Ahhh!

My strength was starting to ebb. The heart rate monitor was indicating a pulse of around 146 bpm. Hmmm, perhaps more energy was needed. The second juice pack was consumed in the hopes of staving off muscle failure as there was nearly half the race left to go.

I was pleasantly surprised to find that my slowing down for photos around the island didn't put me very far behind Steve and Rocky's OC-2. They became the goal for my pedaling efforts.

The GPS indicated I was going just over 6 mph. That was strange. With the pedaling effort and the tail wind the boat should have been going closer to 7. I stopped momentarily and pedaled backward a bit to see if any vegetable matter might have been wrapped around the propeller. Sure enough, a leaf or two were visible in the forward moving prop wash.

I resumed my chase.



The OC-2 seemed to be trying to avoid me as they zigged and then zagged about 100 yards ahead. As far as I could tell this tactic only served to slow them down while I headed in a nearly straight line towards the finish.

With about a mile to go I noticed a guy in a surf ski had caught up and was following in my wake. My legs were pretty well spent by now. All I could do was try to maintain my cadence and heart rate and, perhaps, snap a photo or two.



With less than a quarter mile to go the surf ski began to make his move. I decided that I should, too. There was no need to conserve anything now!

Putting the pedals to the metal the speed of my boat increased, reaching 7 mph and higher. The surf ski was quickly dropped as the Cadence surged through the water towards the finish line. Go, go, go!

At last the horn was sounded as I crossed the line with a time of 2:01:41 for a GPS distance of 12.5 miles. Wahoo!

Several muscles began to cramp and it took a few moments for them to loosen enough to pedal strongly again. I headed over towards the timing officials on the shore.



Joost told me that he was rather impressed with my finishing sprint. He had to change the order of the finish because he felt certain that the surf ski was going to be ahead. I told him that I had merely slowed down to snap that guy's photo (which I did) and then headed on to my rightful place. Ha!



I met Rusty at the dock and gave him the camera to take my photo. Afterwards, I headed over to the WAKE demo area, dropped off the boat, and walked back to my car for a change of clothes. It felt good to be out of those sweaty garments.



At the awards ceremony ribbons were handed out to the finishers in each class. The first boat across the finish was Robert Meenk in a single rowing shell with a time of 1:30:12. That was an average of 8.3 mph! The next single boat was paddled by Brandon Nelson, with an average speed of 7.7 mph. Those guys were truly cooking.



My speed averaged 6.16 mph, which was fairly comparable with previous years. Two big differences, however, are that 1) this year I didn't draft anyone for the entire race and 2) I was pedaling a brand new boat with very stiff seals on the gearbox. So, as far as I'm concerned, it was a pretty good improvement overall. The average heart rate for the 2 hours was 151 beats per minute. Whew!

Thank you, Joost, for directing this great race in such a beautiful venue.

Additional photos can be found on the Sound Rowers web site.