The ups and downs of lake SUP

My paddling experiences this year started with a flatwater paddle on New Year's Day with my partner in crime and muse, S.

Then shortly thereafter, we started regular classes out in Etobicoke, training at Paddle Sport Performance. These were great classes - great weight/cardio training, plus a lot of time on ergs practicing paddle stroke. The race days were awesome - both the team and individual erg challenges. S kicked ass, as expected; I did adequately but couldn't compete with the dragonboaters in the class.

While S was out SUP surfing every chance she could, I skipped the cold of Jan and Feb, but did get back to winter lake surf in March and April a few times.

In May, for my 40th birthday, she and I went to Guatemala for a second time to revisit Lago Atitlan...

... climb near Amatitlan ...

... and hike up to the top of Volcan Acatenango to watch Volcan Fuego errupt!

The same day we summitted we then jogged down and after a couple of celebratory beers & a bag of chicharrones from the nearby tienda, we hopped into a van to head to the beach for a couple days' rest & surf. 4000m of elevation lost in one day!

A couple weeks later, I retrieved my Boardworks 14' Ohana from Surf Ontario, ready for the start of race season.

While S was able to attend nearly every race of the Thursday SUP Series at the Toronto Wind Surf Club, I got to about 1/3rd of the races - fatigue, work, illness, or injury getting in the way of being able to go every week.

The races were a lot of fun - wish I'd been able to go to more of them. By the end of the season, S had picked up enough points to win 1rst place Women's Rec, and I'd finished third Men's Rec.

In July, S & spent a couple days SUPping on the Madawaska River & playing on standing waves.

In August, S & I went to Collingwood to do a race and introduce my mom to the fun that is SUP. I placed a respectable 4th, and S got on the podium, as usual.

Amazingly, there was surf at some point every month this summer. Had some great sessions at Pleasant Beach on Lake Erie, and some good rides at Ashbridges Bay on Lake Ontario, too.

But my best day on the lake this season came - fortunately or not - immediately after an injury. My first wave that day - before warming up and remembering how to do things correctly - threw me off the left side of the board. Unfortunately, I tried valiantly to keep my right leg ON the board, thinking that if I put down enough weight I could keep the board from tipping and dumping me. Instead, I heard a cracking noise and went over. Undeterred, I had the best SUP surf session ever - probably because the ankle injury prevented me from putting too much weight on my front foot, so I was properly sinking the tail.

(Nothing was actually broken - what I heard was likely the joint popping a la knuckle cracking, or perhaps I actually tore some ligament. Not really sure. Didn't hurt that much at the time - just a dull annoyance, mostly.)

90 mins later, we got off the water and went home to ice the ankle & finish packing... because the next morning I was on a plane to Newfoundland with 4 friends to spend a week in St. John's. Planned for the week were: walking, hiking, rock climbing, bouldering, driving 3-4hrs away & kayaking.

Instead I learned way more than I want to about anti-inflammatories like naproxen, KT tape, tensor bandages, ice packs, and just how much pain I can endure. I scrubbed the climbing, reduced the hiking to a minimum, only bouldered a little, and dropped back to secondary driver. Sucks, but if nothing else I know that like with Guatemala, I will definitely have to re-visit the Rock someday for a more comprehensive visit.

It's been 8 weeks since the ankle sprain on Sept 2, and it's almost back to normal - I'm biking a few kms pretty much every other day, climbing 5.10+ & 5.11a without needing the tensor bandage, and just got back out this week for a flatwater SUP. Running is still pretty uncomfortable, but that'll come back eventually. Hopefully, this weekend will mark my return to Lake Erie and Pleasant Beach - this time without the injury!

Show up, paddle hard, win a prize?

I'm still in shock, a week later.

Got talked into going to the Great Muskoka Paddling Experience, and it was certainly quite the experience -- every imaginable type of watercraft was there: canoes, kayaks, OC1s, OC2s, foot-pedalled kayaks, planing and displacement SUPs, and even some prone paddling. Lots of friendly paddlers from all over. It was a very well-managed event with great food next to a beautiful (though cold!) river, which started right below the falls.

Bracebridge Falls - Source: Wikimedia Commons

The most amazing thing about the GMPE this year was the prizes for the 5K SUP paddle race. For anyone willing to race on a planing SUP board, the prize was a Boardworks 14' Ohana or 12'6" Raven SUP board, donated by Kayak Sport Canada.

So, I borrowed a 404 ("Not Found"), which combined with my #200 ("OK")  bib number made for some awesome geeky karma:

Since so few racers came out to represent the novice/recreational SUP paddler - perhaps because it's a new sport? perhaps because most paddlers were already experienced enough to want to do the 10K or 20K races? or perhaps in protest of the new mandatory PFD law? - I was one of only three possible winners of the board. Among the women, only three racers signed up as well, making that an equally tight race.

Three quarters of an hour on the water later, and a crazy number of awards later (so many paddlecraft classes! So many different races! Medals for everyone!) ... this happened:

Frankly, I'm thrilled to have won this (though still surprised). Not counting training paddles, I've done a total of 3 races on a SUP board this year - two at the Toronto Windsurfing Club on Thursday nights as part of their night SUP racing series, and once when that Thursday night race was instead the Canada Cup SUP Race 2015, coming second in Men's Rec 5K (in a field of 3 racers once again). Since those were all on borrowed boards - twice on inflatables - it's awesome to finally have my own ride.

Consider too that January 2015 - which feels like a lifetime ago - was the first time I'd stood on a surfboard. In April 2015 I stood on a SUP/surfboard for the first time in Canoa, Ecuador at a Love Life Adventures surf/SUP retreat. Thanks to Janna & Carlos' excellent instruction there and over this past summer with the SUPGIRLZ, seems I'm getting the hang of this sport, though I definitely have a long way to go.

One awesome feature of this sport is the versatility. Sure, we need to wear a lot more gear to survive cold water...

... but getting good at lake SUP, lake surf, or lake racing means when I hit salt water on vacations, it'll really FEEL like a vacation. No side swell? No cross currents? Salty buoyancy? Consistent reef breaks? No wind predictions that falter a few days later? Sign. Me. Up.

That said, I love the challenge of lake paddling. Since I started on this journey to rediscover the lake in my backyard, I've set foot (& paddle!) in all five Great Lakes, surfed two so far (Huron and Ontario) and plan to continue to surf through the winter. Maybe by the time I'm doing the GMPE 10K SUP race next Thanksgiving, I'll have managed to surf all five.

But back to the new board... once it was back in Toronto, it was time to try it out. What better way than to do an 8.5k downwinder with Jess Rando, The Paddle Coach?

Photo courtesy of @ThePaddleCoach

Yep, no races left this season to break it in, but definitely no shortage of water 'round here:

Photo courtesy of @ThePaddleCoach

Then we trucked out to my brother's place in Mississauga for my second Thanksgiving at his new place, and ate too much excellent food.

On Monday that weekend, it was decided that a lap around the Toronto Island, starting at Cherry Beach, portaging to the back side behind the lighthouse, and pseudo-downwinding back to Cherry was in order.

Another 8k of paddling later, I'm in love with the new board.

And after three days of paddling over 23km on the Muskoka River and around Lake Ontario, I'm ready for a bit of a break. So, for the winter, my new Ohana will live at Surf Ontario.

But come the spring, I'll be back on the water on Thursdays trying to get good enough to survive the GMPE 10K race next Thanksgiving.

Thanks to everyone who's contributed to my getting into and hooked on this new sport, and to being accepted into the family of lake paddlers.

Gone is my old Necky Manitou 14' kayak - long live my new Boardworks Ohana 14' race SUP!

2010 In Review

Clearly I've had other issues on my mind this year - haven't blogged here since July!

This year's results, as measured by my two Cannondale IQ 114 Cadence and AllSport GPS (for Blackberry):

Road Bike: 350km
Hybrid Bike: 619km
Kayak: 23km

4K

Final paddle of the season, I think. Between the early sunset, wind, and water temperature, a sit-on-top kayak is just no fun in October. Managed to do about 4K today before deciding that numb toes weren't any fun. Thankfully had the forethought to bring wool socks and a toque. Brr!

Kayaking w/ Orcas

Trip highlights, as tweeted:

In bed for the night @ Telegraph Cove. Delicious power outlets all in use. Have 2 go 4 days on a single charge as of tomorrow. 10:05 PM Aug 8th

full page map

Paddled 4 hrs today. No orcas or whales yet, but saw porpoises and sea lions! And kelp... Lots of kelp. 5:03 PM Aug 9th

Great day 2. Paddled 2x today while wife slept. Still no whales seen, more jumping salmon. Couple pods went by after moonrise, blowing. 12:02 AM Aug 11th

5 orcas w/ baby. 5 porpoises. 2 sea lions. 1 mink. 2 kickass guides. 10 new campers. 1 tricked out camp. Cedar hot choc. P'butter smores. 11:29 PM Aug 11th

Blackberry != rugged. Add humid climate in north east end of Vancouver island & keeps takng photos instd of letting me check messages. 11:34 PM Aug 11th

Last day (4) on Little Sofia Isl.: too many orcas to count, in groups up to 10! Also porpoises, purple starfish, & a curious seal. 12:00 AM Aug 13th

Great thanks to Larry, Chantalle, and Eduardo from orcaseakayaking.com for a most memorable trip! 12:09 AM Aug 13th

Three Days In Massey: Paddling, Cycling, Hiking, and Rockclimbing

Drove up with the wife and dogs Monday to visit friends in Massey, Ontario. On the way, we passed through thunderstorms powerful enough to knock out power for several blocks in Bradford.


Tuesday I drove over to the River House B&B to rent a canoe, then, with the dogs in their new Outward Hound PFDs, paddled from their put in to the beach at the mouth of the Riviere Aux Saubles (Sauble River) and back.


The trip down the Spanish River ended up being a beautiful 11K trip - the thunderstorm I was expecting at noon or earlier held off until about a half hour after we all got out of the river and back to Black Creek Equestrian where we were staying. Unfortunately, I'd been expecting a short run on the river and overcast skies, so I got rather badly sunburned. Ah, well, next time I'll bring sunscreen instead of leaving it in my duffel at the farm.

Wednesday I set out to go mountain biking, but with the rain the night before the trails behind the farm were pretty intractable for my road-friendly hybrid Specialized, so I parked it against a tree and went off the trail for some rock climbing instead.


I'm loving my newly purchased AllSport GPS for BlackBerry (@trimbleoutdoors), which helped me greatly find my way out of the woods after I veered off the path in search of the sounds of running water.


By the way, if you haven't seen the new features in Picasa Web Albums, check out the map of my paddling/hiking this week, which supports Google Earth & Google Maps.

5x5 Week

Decided to try paddling at least 5K every day this week.

Monday: 4.9K

Tuesday: 5.4K

Wednesday: 7.2K + a 6 min swim & a quick jog up and down the bluff from Bellamy Ravine to Sylvan Park. The lake is definitely warming up.

Thursday: 6.2K, according to Trimble Outdoors' AllSport GPS (downloaded OTA from BlackBerry App World). Trip map here.



Friday: 8.9K, from Galloway Rd past the water filtration plant southeast of Beechgrove Dr to the bridges at the south end of Colonel Danforth / Lower Highland Park. Max speed 8.6K/h, according to AllSport. Very brief dip in the lake at dusk, followed by a brisk counter-current paddle back home.

UPDATE: Here are some photos taken throughout June.

6+19

Friday: quick trip to and from Bellamy Ravine, including a brief catnap on the lake & a very brief swim just before dusk. Chilly but invigorating.



Saturday: beat Plants vs. Zombies. Rain sucks.

Sunday: Hiked up the Bluff w/ the dogs to test out Google Lattitude's accuracy. Not bad, but I think it's time to score a copy of Allsport GPS or Trimble Outdoors for my BlackBerry, if they work in Canada.

Quick 19km ride to and from Pickering in about 50 mins. Great speed on the way there (27km/h, terrible on the way back. Average 22.5km/h.

Rouge Beach to Frenchman's Bay

Beautiful day on Lake Ontario today. The wife and I did 7km from the put-in at Rouge Beach park over to the channel markers just outside Frenchman's Bay in about an hour and a half.

2x8

Finally slept enough to have the energy to get out paddling today, after a brief paddle a couple weeks ago that ended when I discovered a capsized kayak a little way out from me.

Altruistic thoughts aside, I towed it in to shore thinking, "hey, free boat!" only to discover that its owner was on the shore wondering how he might ever recover his boat. I lent him my Wheeleez so he could lug his leaky boat up the hill to civilization and back to the store from whence it was acquired.

So, today was the first time this season I actually managed to cover some distance on the water: from Bluffer's Park to my close-to-home put-in at the bottom of the big hill south of Galloway Rd, in under 2 hours.



After dinner I cycled the 8K back to Bluffer's to retrieve the car.

August Wrap-Up

Last night: took mom out for her second foray into cycling this year. Afterwards, did another 25K or so.

Today: paddled 6K from Galloway to Bellamy and back, in about 80 mins.

Tonight: 20K along Kingston Rd to Danforth to Bloor to Sherbourne; stopped for dinner and a couple beers with Jakub & Lori, and then after a half-hour Comedy Central fix (South Park's "Bloody Mary" episode), 20K home. W00t.

Including some short trips around the neighbourhood, that's another 92K on the odometer since 08/23, for a total of 652K this season by bike and 78K by kayak.

Sourdough Schedule, Part 1 of 2

A quick recap of the schedule of events in Alaska, along with some photos.

08/06: Arrive in Vancouver, BC.


08/07: Visit to Stanley Park the Vancouver Aquarium, and some last-minute pre-wedding shopping.


08/08: Embark on the Celebrity Millennium, and shortly thereafter, get married onboard. Set sail a few hours later.


08/09: Full day at sea, cruising to Ketchikan, Alaska. Dinner at the Captain's Table with the Environmental Officer, Alaskan Ranger, and a number of Captain's Club guests.


08/10: Ketchikan events include ziplining, rockclimbing, horse-drawn trolley tour, and shopping for diamonds & souvenirs.


08/11: Juneau events include tram car up the side of the Mt. Roberts to get a better view, and dogsledding on a glacier, accessible only by helicopter.


08/12: Skagway - a goldrush-era town still including brothels, breweries, and of course, diamond shops. We took the train north into BC to go kayaking; others went as far as the Yukon on the same rail line.


08/13: Icy Strait Point / Hoonah Village - explored the now-defunct cannery, souvenir shops, and local town. Sadly, no diamond stores this far north.


08/14: Full day at sea, including a visit to the Hubbard Glacier. We were within 0.3mi of the glacier at closest approach. Managed to lose my wallet some time after dinner. Pooh.


08/15: Disembark the Millennium, and board a bus to Anchorage for the start of our inland tour.

More photos here. Continued in Part 2.

Sourdough Snippet

I have now categorized and merged the 10.6G of photos shot by the 6 people with cameras on this trip (7 if you include our wedding photographer, Ivan Vidic, who did an awesome job and taught me a few things about digital photography in the process!). How many photos is that? Over 5000. So it'll be a while before I've found the best ones. In the meantime, here's a taste:

Sourdough Starter

Back from Alaska, exhausted, enraptured, and espoused. Had a great time: great people, great food, great scenery, great adventures... great everything.

But because we collectively shot over 9G of images and video over the 15 days out west, it's going to be a while before I get everything online.

So, here's a 'by the numbers' account of the trip:

Date married: 08/08/08
Guests/relatives in attendance: 12

Ports visited by ship: 5 (Ketchikan, Juneau, Skagway, Icy Strait Point, Seward)
Cities visited by land: 4 (Anchorage, Talkeetna, Denali, Fairbanks)
Cities visited by air: 2 (Coldfoot, Wiseman)

Distance from Hubbard Glacier at closest approach: 0.3mi (by ship)
Distance from Norris Glacier at closest approach: 0.0mi (by foot)

Days on ship: 7
Hours on train: 10 (2hrs + 3hrs + 5hrs)
Hours in air: 15 (helicopter x 1, twin-engine plane x 2, commercial plane x 12)

Number of reindeer meat meals: 4
Number of Tex-mex meals: 5
Number of times I ate halibut, salmon, or other seafood: too numerous to count (highlights being halibut quesadillas, salmon tacos, scallops on the Millennium & smoked salmon on the riverboat)
Net weight gain (lbs): 5

Methods of transportation used: 20
* car (relatives', rentals, hired), taxi (first time in a hybrid!), limo, shuttle bus, motorcoach bus, city bus
* helicopter, twin-engine plane, commercial plane
* cruise ship, tender/rescue boat, kayak, stern wheeled riverboat
* train car (2-level glass-domed Wilderness Express), train car (White Pass)
* climbing harness on belay (up a climbing wall), climbing harness + zipline (between trees)
* horse-drawn trolley
* cablecar (tram)
* feet (walking, hiking, swimming, spinning in the gym on the Millennium)

And a quick overview by map:


View Larger Map

Toronto Harbour Island Tour 12K

Went out paddling with some friends tonight around the Toronto Harbour, with the intent to circle the islands. Little did I know it was a 12K route, which we did in just over 2hrs.

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Of the three boats in our fleet, ours was the widest and shortest, which meant we spent almost the entire time at the back of the pack, wondering how the others were enduring our slowness. Still, I had a great time, and SWMNBN got her first (and probably last) taste of paddling Lake Ontario this season. She's more a river paddler, she says.

I'm hoping to get in at least one more trip on the lake before we set sail for Alaska next month. We'll be paddling in Skagway, Alaska on August 12th, but that's a mere 1-3mi (1.6-4.8K) for up to 80mins -- nothing like the grueling counter-current 6 km/h we sustained tonight.

I'm now entertaining the idea of paddling from Toronto to the US next summer, right across the lake: over 50K! At 5-6km/h, that's 8-10hrs of solid paddling. We shall see if such things are possible. Might have to try Scarborough to Bowmanville or Toronto to Burlington first, to see if 50K is doable in a single sitting.

Fishleigh Dr to Nursewood Rd

Been sick for the last couple weeks, but did manage to do a couple rides w/ my fiancé - one for 20K and another for 23K, both helping to break her out of her '5K radius from home' comfort zone. Other than that I've been pretty tired lately.

Today, however, I finally got out and got paddling again -- this time from the corner of Glen Everest Rd and Fishleigh Dr to Nursewood Rd and back.

I'd planned to paddle to Woodbine, but the trip west was much choppier and windier than I'd expected, so I only made it to the water filtration plant at Victoria Park Ave and Queen St East. Oh, well, at least I was able to see the CN Tower from there!

After a brisk swim to cool off, I continued west looking for an easy roadway access point, and Nursewood Rd will certainly work for the next leg of my paddling around the lake.

If you're going to try this paddle, I recommend accessing the water from the east side of the path that heads down from the corner of Glen Everest Rd and Fishleigh Dr, as it's smooth until you get to the rocky beach. The west side, as I discovered on the trip back, is muddy, rocky, and difficult to portage by wheel. Either way, the path down from the street is a VERY steep hill -- much steeper and longer than the Galloway Rd access. Portaging, even with wheels, is difficult here.

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The great thing about today's paddle, despite not getting as far as I wanted, is that as of today I've successfully paddled the entire width of Scarborough, about 20K. Admittedly, I haven't done it in one single paddle -- rather, it's been 4 trips of varying length: Rouge Beach -> Galloway Rd -> Bluffer's Park -> Cliffside -> Victoria Park.

Frenchman's Bay @ Dusk

Tonight I drove out to Pickering to pick up my bike and its shiny new crank assembly & pedals. Afterwards, I drove over to Frenchman's Bay, ended up on the east side, got lost briefly in suburbia, and finally found my way to West Shore Blvd and the lake. The east side was much more lively, with a band entertaining people loudly enough I could listen in from a distance from the shore.

An hour and 5.5K later, it was time to head home. The moon -- even at half -- was bright enough to be caught first with a lens flare and then reflected in the bay.

I'll definitely have to do more night paddling -- there's a full moon next week!

26.050K

Friday/Saturday: 20K. With my other half's bike, went to and from my mom's house twice, including taking her out for her first ride of the season.

Sunday I did my usual 6K paddle from Galloway Rd to Bellamy Ravine and back, plus a short swim in the still *very* cold, but refreshing lake at the midpoint.

Scarborough to Pickering

In my continuing quest to paddle the whole north shore of Lake Ontario, I've now mapped another chunk of the lake: about 7.5K from Rouge Beach Park, the far east side of Scarborough to Frenchman's Bay in Pickering.

Kayak: Rouge Beach Park, Scarborough to Frenchman's Bay, Pickering

Share your bike routes @ Bikely.com

This also marks the first time I've paddled back to the car and had to use the Yakima rack twice in a day. It certainly makes loading easier than last summer's el-cheapo foam pads, especially since I can now load single-handedly.

By The Numbers

Paul suggested I keep track of my elapsed transit, so here's a quick recap of 2008 so far:

Bike Odometer Reading, Last Season:	1917km
Bike Odometer Reading, Currently:	2214km
Elapsed Cycling Distance This Year:	297km
Est. Distance Travelled By Water (5 trips):	30km
2008 Transit Distance:	327km