It's Race Week out here in the Columbia Gorge, and activity is picking up at the Skamania County Fairgrounds where the race is headquartered. Racers can now do downwind runs from the fairgrounds to the community of Home Valley, and be picked up there by shuttle vans with trailers that bring them and their boats back to where they'd started. This section of the river is about six miles or 10 kilometers.
I'm settled into the rental house across the river in Cascade Locks along with Michael Meredith of Detroit and Rob Flanagan of Boston. So far our routine has been to head down to the race site in the mid morning and come back home around suppertime.
On Monday I did one run from the fairgrounds to Home Valley. I was feeling sharp and the run felt great. I'd planned to do another run, but we had a setback when a guy who'd asked to join Michael and me on the run flipped and got separated from his boat and had to be rescued. We ended up standing around in Home Valley for quite a while as Michael talked on the phone with race officials and other rescue personnel to help them locate the guy. Fortunately everything turned out okay, but much of the day had flown by once we were finally back at the fairgrounds.
So yesterday I was determined to make up for lost time in those beautiful downwind swells. Michael and Rob and I did a run in the late morning, rode the shuttle back, had a little snack, and set right out on another run. The second run was a lot harder for me than the first. I was tired from the first run, and it seemed like I was fighting the water more, and not letting the runs come to me. My muscles were exhausted and a little sore by the time I was waiting for the shuttle at Home Valley that second time. I realized that with the race coming right up I needed to start taking my rest a little more seriously. It's a fine line every racer has to walk at this event, especially somebody like me who has over 30 hours of driving invested: you want to go out and grab every bit of fun you can out there, but you also want to be rested and ready to go on race day.
Yesterday evening we learned exactly when race day will be: race director Carter Johnson sent out an e-mail announcing that we will race on Thursday (tomorrow). The wind forecast looks strong and conditions could be big out there.
So today has been a rest day. I took it easy around the house and didn't go down to the race site until noon, and the only paddling I did was a short loop on the river right at Stevenson. I'm hoping that getting some blood flowing in my muscles will help me feel nice and recovered tomorrow morning.
The race begins around 11 AM local time. I hope to get out and enjoy the river and produce a result that I can feel good about.
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