Lonely... I'm so lonely.... |
40km canoe race, starting in Huntsville and eventually making it's way up the Big East River.
I did this race last year as a solo. This was both a great and terrible idea... I'm glad I did it, but man that was a tough haul.
This year I'll be back but with my canoe partner in a tandem effort.
The Course
It's all really beautiful, really enjoyed it.
It's an out in back, starting on the very wide Muskoka River.
This is followed by Lake Vernon, which was pretty choppy last year (at least on the return leg). Hopefully the winds cooperate.
Then you get to the star of the show - the Big East River. You start off upstream, which at first seems pretty easy - but the current gets stronger as you go, and the river narrower and curvy! By the top the current is really working against you.
Oh and you start to encounter boats coming the other way, first the boats that are beating you, then after the turn-around all the boats you are beating. It was a bit chaotic and I had a few near misses last year - have to be really on it to predict what everyone is about to do! Especially with the current and corners, not everyone is fully in control of their path...
The advantage of flying downstream gives way to slower current and eventually it feels like work again. Then you have to tackle the lake (which was rough last year!) - it's only a few kilometers but by then I was ready for it to be over... and finally the Muskoka River. Pretty sure it's downstream, but the current is slow, any advantage is minimal.
And that's the race! Looking forward to it. I think.
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