Both the weather and the water are getting warm enough that I'm starting to feel comfortable surfing wakes out on the Mississippi. I got to do a little of that both Tuesday and Thursday. On Tuesday I was on the river north of the Hernando DeSoto Bridge when I saw the Coast Guard's buoy tender the Kankakee coming upriver, and I found some nice waves in its wake. The vessel was moving fast and I really had to sprint hard to catch something, but each time I did I felt that rush of satisfaction that's part of what makes surfing/downwind paddling so addictive.
As I was paddling out of the harbor on Thursday there was a barge rig heading upstream in perfect position for me to get out to it, and I was eager for more surfing goodness. I achieved a couple of nice rides, but unfortunately there was another barge rig coming upriver behind this one, and it started blaring its horn at me, so I moved over toward the Arkansas bank to ease the pilot's troubled mind. Once I was down below this towboat I checked out its wake, but the waves weren't nearly as good. Oh well.
I had a bike ride planned for Friday, and my biggest challenge was the weather: when I checked the Internet radar Friday morning, it showed a huge mass of rain moving across Arkansas right toward Memphis, and I didn't think there was any way I could do my ride in the morning without getting drenched. I figured I would have to wait and hope the rain would move out by the afternoon, but as I continued to watch the radar it looked like the system was moving slowly enough that I could squeeze the morning ride in. I rode the Greenline out to Shelby Farms and back, thinking there was a good chance that the last 20 minutes or so of my 95-minute ride would be done in the rain. But the rain held off, and once I was back inside I checked the radar again and the rain had only just arrived in Forrest City, about 50 miles west of Memphis. So it was moving more slowly than I’d thought. And when the afternoon arrived with still no rain, I checked the radar again and saw that the part of the system that appeared headed for Memphis had fallen apart. Spring weather is unpredictable.
Yesterday I headed out on a slightly longer paddle--80 minutes--and I was expecting it to be a calm distance paddle. But as I left the harbor I saw three upstream-moving barge rigs down below the Harahan and Frisco and Memphis-Arkansas Bridges, so I knew that before I was done I'd have an opportunity to surf some more. I ferried over to the Arkansas side and paddled up into the lower reaches of the Loosahatchie Chute before heading back downriver. By this time the barge "convoy" was passing beneath the Hernando DeSoto Bridge, and once I was below the last rig I paddled in to explore the surfing possibilities. The waves were moving fast, and they were sort of wandering from side to side rather than moving in an organized wave train, so I really had to sprint to catch them, and once I did catch one, the ride didn't last long. But it was good practice for the next time I'm in a true downwind situation. I had to focus on staying balanced on the crest of a wave, and keep my eyes open for another run to catch when the one I was on petered out.
This morning I paddled for 60 minutes on a river that was all clear of barge traffic, and that was okay with me. Surfing is hard work, and I was ready for a calm session. All this week I'd worked on that thing that's been the theme of the whole winter and spring for me: improving my rotation from the hips. Again, now that swimming is no longer such a frigid prospect I'm feeling a lot more relaxed out on the turbulent waters of the Mississippi, and rotating more freely. It's still a mixed bag, though: some days I feel like I'm still making myself do it rather than doing it naturally. Today I actually felt better rotating out on the river than I did in the harbor.
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