Manitoba Weekend

The angle shows us behind, and at this moment we probably were.  But we did catch these guys by the finish line.  They beat us the next day, but I don't see any photos of that....
The angle shows us behind, and at this moment we probably were. But we did catch these guys by the finish line. They beat us the next day, but I don’t see any photos of that….

About 2 weeks ago paddling comrade Kenzie asked me to race with him in Manitoba.  I hadn’t really been planning to go, but I was so thrilled to be asked that I looked into flights and rides and boat logistics and then said yes!

Graham found a great deal on a flight from Winnipeg to Saskatoon on Sunday night, so we grabbed it. My buddy Trevor offered to give me a ride there, since he was going anyway, and our boat was going to come in from Regina with Kenzie’s parents.  It turned out I couldn’t get off work early enough on Friday (farm visit) to leave with Trevor so I got a flight to Winnipeg as well.  It also turned out that since I am racing Ski to Sea with Kenzie’s mom Fiona later in the month and she was going to Winnipeg too, I raced both Saturday and Sunday with her.  So the weekend was nothing like I planned, but ended up being really fun and great anyway.  Going with the flow!

The water was super tough the first day, and we struggled a bit with a crummy water depth and twisty slow creek with lots of logs and sticks to hit. That race was in Selkirk on Cook’s Creek.  The next day we had a 40 min warm up down the Assiniboine to the Red River (shout out Brown/Martineau rellies!) and then did a 10km race on the Red split over 3 laps around bouys.  This race was a really interesting mass start, with 1 dragonboat, sprint C-2s, K-2s, K-1s and C-1s as well as a bunch of marathon boats.  It was waves galore!  Happily Fiona was driving and did a great job navigating the fray.  We had a great race in the deeper, faster water and seemed to match up really well.  I am looking forward to Ski to Sea, and ready to defend the Saskatchewan women’s title from last year.

Ideally you want photos to be taken at the that moment of the catch when everything looks extended and long and strong and powerful.  And sometimes, you get one photo and its of you being a little late on a switch.
Ideally you want photos to be taken at the that moment of the catch when everything looks extended and long and strong and powerful. And sometimes, you get one photo focusing on your boat and it’s of you being a little late on a switch. On the bright side, it shows us passing the other boat. 

1 Comment

  1. I heard you and Fiona crushed the field in the Sea to Ski – well done!

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