I'm getting all settled in to my lodging in the Columbia River Gorge. I'm sharing the house with another paddler in town for the race: Adrián, a native of northwest Spain who now lives in the San Francisco Bay area.
The agenda for Monday morning was to go down to the race site and pick up my rental ski and get checked in at the registration table. Those processes went smoothly enough. After that it was time to contemplate paddling, but it didn't appear that the wind was cooperating: it was from the east, blowing in the same direction as the river current, meaning no big swells were likely. The race organizers did decide to run the shuttle buses in reverse so that racers could do practice runs from Home Valley to Stevenson rather than the other way around. But that would be more of a downriver run than a true downwind run, and I do that kind of thing all year long at home on the Mississippi.
Instead, I availed myself of the sternwheeler that takes tourists out on the river from its dock at Cascade Locks, across the river from the race site. Adrián joined me and we paddled over in time to see the vessel heading downriver toward the Bridge of the Gods. We paddled in that direction while the sternwheeler made its way to its turnaround point at the Bonneville Dam, and then we caught it as it came back upriver to where we were.
The waves behind the sternwheeler are smooth and defined and easy to surf. It's not a true downwind simulation, but it's ideal for practicing skills like carving turns. It was also a good chance for me to familiarize myself with my boat, a V9 surfski. Even though this design is ultimately more stable than the narrower skis (a V10L, a V10 Sport, and a V12) that I have at home, its secondary stability is different, and playing around on the sternwheeler's wake allowed me to test its limits and get good and comfortable in it.
Adrián and I had the sternwheeler all to ourselves as it moved back upriver to its dock at Cascade Locks. Once there, it sat while one group of passengers disembarked and a new group filed on. Then it moved out again, this time heading upriver. Adrián and I hopped on its wake once more, but soon we had a lot of company: a group of paddlers had gathered on the water near the race site to join in the fun. When there's a larger crown surfing behind the sternwheeler you need to be much more on guard, because when a paddler flips or otherwise slips off the wave in front of you, there's the potential for a nasty collision and damage to one or more boats. I did see some carnage and I had to make elusive moves a couple of times, but I avoided any particularly close calls.
The sternwheeler eventually turned around near the mouth of the Wind River and headed back toward its dock. I rode its wake until I was back near the race site, and tore myself away from the fun. All told, I think I had a pretty good "first paddle" here in the Gorge on Monday.
When I got up yesterday morning the wind was light, but at least it was blowing from the west. As the morning moved into the early afternoon the breeze continued to build, and in the mid afternoon I decided it was time to try the run from Stevenson to Home Valley. Once I was out in the deeper water I found conditions that were perhaps not "epic," but plenty good. And so there I was doing my first downwinder since my trip to South Africa in January.
When I haven't paddled downwind in a long time I always worry about how quickly I'll be able to pick it back up, but I felt comfortable enough with it yesterday. I was linking some runs together and getting my speed up into 14-15-16 kilometers per hour territory. But then I would always stall out and have to start all over again building speed. I have a feeling that the really good downwind athletes don't stall out very often: they get their speed up and they keep it up. All that re-starting took a toll on me physically, and by the time I reached Home Valley I was worn out. It's about 10 km from Stevenson to Home Valley, and somehow I must find a way to pace myself on race day, when the course will be 22 km.
The last couple of afternoons have been very hot here, and I think part of my struggle yesterday was the result of dehydration. The heat wasn't nearly as harsh today; this morning it was almost chilly. I got down to the race site early so I could do a run in time to catch the first shuttle bus at Home Valley at 11:30. I did that run, got shuttled back to the race site, and did a second run in quick order. I definitely felt fresher in the boat and once again had some good moments of linked runs, but I worked plenty hard, too. Two runs was definitely enough for me today.
The event organizers have announced that Friday will be race day. So it's time for me to start getting some rest. It's likely I'll do just one run tomorrow unless I'm feeling particularly good.
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