Training Log Archive: levitin

Paddling bow with Ian in Aims's Wenonah Spirit. I arrived at the venue late, but Ian was later. Despite starting on the water later than we had planned, we managed to bring the boat back by noon, to pass off to other competitors. The venue, Buffumville Dam in Charlton, is a nice pond separated by a road, under which runs a passage wide enough to fit one careless boat or 2 boats if every breathes in. :-)

We picked an excellent sequence of controls to get, and a pretty good plan to split. At the first split, I did not move toward the center of the boat, so it was not trimmed properly. I managed to flail around and get to the meeting point before Ian punched two dry controls. I must have looked pretty comical to the fisherpeople on the shore. Heading southward, there were not any opportunities to split or portage, although some other teams made different choices. On the return leg north, I picked the right strategy, to drop Ian for two dry controls while I moved the boat north. This time, I moved to the middle and managed to move the boat much more directly with less Keystone Kops wandering.

We finished 3rd in the Long course (all 13 controls), beaten by serious paddlers by about 15 minutes. Fast enough for T-shirts. An enjoyable time on the water, not too much wake or muck or bugs.

Looking at the Garmin data, I learned a couple of things. We had a maximum speed of 6.1mph paddling tandem. My first solo paddle with the untrimmed boat wiggles all over the place, but happily shows no loops. (It shows location but not orientation of the boat, which did circle around a couple of times when the boat yawed.) My second solo paddle, near the end, when I moved to the middle, was much straighter. Even so, I could tell the difference between the portion of the Lap where we were paddling tandem (very straight) and where I paddled solo (mostly straight with a bit of swing). The speed decreased only from about 5mph to about 4. (I didn't hit Lap when Ian got out, but I can tell where the speed dropped to 0 and the track got wavier.)

Hiking at Mt. Pisgah, Northboro, with Daniel, from Smith Rd to the South View. What a view of the little valley of Northborough/Berlin/Hudson/Marlboro.

Trail riding along the Crane Meadow Trail near work. Swampy in parts, and not suitable (or permitted) for bikes in others places. I went from Crane Meadow Rd near the RR tracks all the way to Lyman St and back.

Warm afternoon run w/ J around Marlboro/Southborough.