Partly cloudy skies and a temperature around 65 degrees Fahrenheit provided the setting in Ocean Springs, Mississippi, for the tenth annual "Battle On The Bayou" canoe and kayak race yesterday morning. Racers gathered down the hill from the Gulf Hills Hotel, and after a few words from event director Mike Pornovets we were in our boats and lining up for the start of the 8.4-mile contest. The starting gun fired, and just like that my 2019 race season had begun.
The opening seconds were anything but smooth for me, as I got hemmed in between a female surf ski paddler on my left and a tandem canoe on my right. I got shoved flush against the surf ski and was lucky not to flip as I wrested my left blade from the slot between us and tried to get back up to speed. I probably didn't lose more than a couple of seconds, but that was plenty to allow the fastest racers to open a huge gap. I would spend the next several minutes throwing in one mad sprint after another to make contact with the lead pack as we headed up into Old Fort Bayou. I eventually succeeded, but wondered if I would have anything left for the remaining seven and a half miles or so.
This lead pack consisted of Jeb Berry of Gulfport, Mississippi; Christian Massow of Cypress, Texas; and Andy Capel of Maumelle, Arkansas. I managed to settle onto a wake behind Christian's boat, and once I'd recovered from the set of sprints I'd done I began to relax a little. I'd have been happy to sit there until at least the halfway point before making my bid for the win.
But Christian didn't want to wait that long. He surged into the lead maybe two and a half miles in. I'd pegged Christian as the pre-race favorite and I didn't want to let him get away, so I stuck with him as we moved in front of Jeb and Andy. For the next several miles I could see Jeb's white boat out of the corner of my eye; I was less sure about Andy, who was paddling a black boat, but I had to assume he was still nearby.
Christian is a former member of the German national team who now makes his home on the northwest side of Houston. My experience with him goes back seven years. I first met him when he raced here at Ocean Springs in 2012, and that race wasn't even close: he pulled away from me early and was nearly four minutes ahead of me at the finish. The following year he beat me again, but I was more competitive with him. Then in 2014 I threw in surge after surge and finally dropped him and won by a two-and-a-half-minute margin.
After that Christian disappeared for several years, and I wasn't sure I'd ever see him again. But he resurfaced at Ocean Springs last year. It turned out he'd had to overcome some health woes, and now he was ready to get back in the game. I beat him fairly easily last year, but he must have gotten in some really good training in the ensuing months, because in August he showed up at the flatwater sprint nationals at Oklahoma City and won Masters titles at the 200-, 500-, and 1000-meter distances, beating out a guy named Mike Herbert each time. There could be no doubt: Christian was back.
I moved into the lead as we rounded the big island at Bristol Boulevard and headed back down the bayou, with Christian sitting on my starboard wake. The two of us began to open some distance on the other racers, and I contemplated what was going on. I figured it was one of two things: either Christian was getting tired and was just hanging on, or he was conserving energy so he could use his sprinting ability to take the victory at the end. Deep down I knew it was the latter, and Christian confirmed it by covering every move I made to break away from him. At one point I had to stop and wipe my eyes because sweat was stinging them, and I hoped Christian might retake the lead, but he wasn't having it. I knew my best hope was to keep throwing in surges to try to wear down his finishing sprint.
By the time we passed under the Washington Avenue drawbridge some 2000 meters out from the finish, I didn't have a whole lot left. I continued pushing the pace as much as I could, but I was pretty sure I knew what was coming. We rounded the last turn and the finish buoys came into view, and I started to sprint, but Christian turned on the speed and within seconds he had two boat lengths on me. I continued paddling as hard as I could, but I was beat. Christian crossed the line in one hour, 11 minutes, 40 seconds, and I clocked in 11 seconds back.
About a minute later Jeb and Andy moved into the home stretch. I understand Andy had led Jeb for quite a bit of the second half, but Jeb came back strong to take third place in 1:13:00, 13 seconds ahead of Andy.
Gulfport residents Penny and Lynn Sanburn were the first female paddlers to finish, propelling their tandem outrigger canoe to a time of 1:25:44. The first solo female was Kim Schulte of Mandeville, Louisiana, who clocked 1:27:44.
The complete results are posted here. They're listed by class, not overall finish order. I was in the "K1 Race (M)" class.
I was thoroughly worn out but generally satisfied with how I'd done. After the awards I returned to the home of my friend Nick Kinderman, who'd finished a distinguished sixth place overall. Nick and I had a restful afternoon and then went out for supper in the evening. At supper Nick asked me if there was anything I wished I'd done differently in the race. I thought about it for a few seconds but I really couldn't think of a thing. I'd fought hard early to catch the lead pack; I'd recovered from that effort fairly quickly, a sign of good early-season fitness; I'd given chase when Christian tried to break away, and I'd done what I could to make him work when he was on my wake. As for what happened at the finish, it's just a simple fact that I can't outsprint a guy who can beat Mike Herbert in a race of 1000 meters or less. Meanwhile, I'd beaten my previous best time on the course by 71 seconds. I'm always happier after a good fast race than I am after a race where everybody plods along waiting for somebody to make a move.
So, all told, I can declare it a good season opener. I hope it was just the first of many good races.
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