Last year, the folks behind Rivers for Change organized the California 100,
a 100-mile adventure race down the Sacramento River in California, from
Redding to Chico. Several members of our kayaking club (BASK)
did the race and had a great time, so this year, I decided to give it a
shot, even though it would mean getting up before dawn for a 6 am start
and possibly finishing well after dark. I had only kayaked on
whitewater twice. This race would be far different, though: I’d be using
a full-size sea kayak. Other competitors would be using racing canoes,
outriggers, ultra-fast surf skis, stand-up paddle boards, and of course,
kayaks.
Training…and Injuries
To prepare for the race, I signed up for a forward stroke clinic with racing-trainer extraordinaire Susan Starbird and started planning gear, GPS waypoints, and food. In mid-March, Nathan and I headed up to Redding to do a race prep clinic—the first six miles of the river, covered twice. At low flow levels of 4,000 CFS (cubic feet/second) due to the ongoing drought, the rapids were easy for us.In mid-April, I hit a snag in my training. Upon recovering from a cold, I went out for a jog and stumbled off a high curb, spraining my right foot (or so I thought). Four days later, we had our second race prep session in Redding. Our goal was to cover the first 50 miles of the river. Flows were identical to March, so I wasn’t worried about the rapids. I was trying a new hydration system (consisting of an MSR dromedary bag on my back deck) and new clothing. The first five miles did not go well for me; I capsized twice due to the ...more
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