The On Going Memoirs Of Jon Allen

Nervous...

2008-04-24T11:04:00.000-07:00

.... NOT
Our team selections start this weekend here in Charlotte. I just took a look at the course map for Friday and it suddenly hit me. All the preparation, countless hours spent training, and to think about being on the start line tomorrow morning causes an unbelievable surge of adrenaline. My heart rate quickens, muscles tighten, and my mind becomes incredibly clear. The image of the first rapid from the start pool is vivid to the last detail. I've been there a hundred times by now, and tomorrow it all becomes real. The excitement and passion within will be unleashed on the word go. I think about all the people who have supported and believed in my efforts, and I give you all a sincere thank-you. I will not be alone on the start line. Your well wishes and good thoughts will be with me as a power over the start line and all the way through to the finish.

Don't Need a Pool When You Get Entertainment Like This!

2008-04-11T15:16:00.000-07:00

I haven't done much blogging lately, but every so often something inspirational happens. We're back in Charlotte and there seems to be an endless stream of inspiration here. (If you look back in the archives to about this time last year you'll see what I mean.)

I was sitting in the courtyard of the Studio 6 chatting on the phone with my girl back home. The courtyard is surrounded on three sides by hotel and the open side leads into the parkinglot. I was minding my own business and a cop with his gun drawn crosses the open sid eof the courtyard then disappears to the right. Seconds later to african-american gentlemen walk out from behind that same side. They were coming into the courtyard and with my usual exit blocked I felt like a cornered wildcat. My flight instincts kicked in (cause everyone knows I'm no hero) and I made my way into the hotel through the back doors.

Once inside I looked through some windows to see if I could figure out what was going on. I could see a couple cop cars, one parked on top of a small tree, a lot of cops and a lot of guns.

As we left for our workout at 10:30 there was about 20 cop cars, a police helicopter, and SWAT was just arriving. We learned later that an armed robbery suspect was hiding in our hotel and Police had chased him here. You can check out the whole story and watch a video at http://news14.com/content/top_stories/594786/standoff-ends-with-suspect-in-custody/Default.aspx

HOOTERS BIKINI CONTEST

2008-04-10T15:30:00.000-07:00

Hanging out at the course all day is great, but sometime guys just need a little mindless entertainment. Enter the Hooters girls. It was the regional selections to see which girl from the Charlotte area would go on to Vagas to compete in the National Hooters Bikini Contest. We rolled up and the crowd was filled with dudes, but I was suprised to see a fair number of ladies there to. No doubt keeping an eye on their guy, or possibly supporting a friend in the contest. The contest itself was nothing more than a parade of hot girls and some cranked up club music. What else do you need?

It wasn't all trashy... They were auctioning off Budwieser memorablia for Cancer research. With lots of guys bidding way to much for cheap junk. Who would have thought old creepy men would be so charitable?

Overall it was well worth the experience. I didn't spend any money and was entertained for atleast 2 hours.

Been Gone so Long it's Hard to Remember

2008-02-28T18:27:00.000-08:00

Dust has begun to settle on my memoir here, and if you look close enough, you can actually see cobwebs forming in the corners. Things have been happening since I last wrote here. Biggest news is that I made the national development team, and receive government support for my paddling. Also, I grew a beard, I went to Australia, and I am currently in Charlotte NC. Oh... and Craig is going to be having a baby.
With team trials approaching fast there is always a sense of urgency in the workouts. It's all about trying to make every run the best and not wasting any time on the water. The frustration builds quickly if things aren't going well and patience runs thin even on good days.
My summer plans hinge on the results from the last weekend of April. If all goes perfectly, and God herself reaches give me a push, then I'll be racing Olympics in August. If things go really well, I'll be racing World Cups in June/July on the National Team, and if things go realistically I will race the world series races as a member of the development team in late August/Sept.
Thats about it. Other than thoughts of team trials sitting in the backseat of my mind constantly screaming "Are we there yet?", life is great!

Venice Italy and Defying Death.

2007-06-07T03:30:00.000-07:00

Leaving Tacen yesterday the plan was unclear and all we knew was that we would get into the car and head into Italy eventually making it to Merano for the next race. The trip was slow starting because of some bad communication mostly. We stopped at the Mecator, which is just a big grocery store, to pick up some snacks and then we would drive for a while before stopping for dinner. The stop at the Mecator took 50min just to buy snacks! Then Thomas Purcell comes out of the store with 3 energy drinks and some cookies and says "Lets go get some food now." We all just laughed at him and told him to get in the car. We would stop for dinner after we left Ljubljana.

After looking at the map, and choosing a route that took us to Venice, so we could stop there to see what it's like we took off on just another leg of a great trip. Arriving in Venice without knowing anything about it, other than the fat that some of the streets are canals and people drive boats instead of cars, was quite the experience. We drove through and around the ferry terminal 3 times before we finally figured out that we had to park and then we could walk down town. The town was very nice. It was just after dusk and the town was lit up. We grabbed some icecream and spent an hour walking around. ( Derek Paul and Adam just went to get something to eat at 12:47) We left Venice with a dream and hope of getting to Merano at a decent hour.

The road from Venice to Merano on the map appeared to give two simple possibilities. You could either go the long way to Verona then up to Merano, or you could take a sweet short cut around Verona then up to Merano. The only thing was that the short cut on the map was represented by a type of line that was not defined in the legend of the map. We called it the ghost road because it simply was the same line as a highway but not coloured in the usual yellow colour.It turned out that this ghost road was impossible to translate accurately onto a map. It was a mountain pass which involved numerous hairpin turns and blind corners.

The only saving grace that we had was that it was one in the morning. This gave us several advantages over someone driving it in the day. First of all if there was no other cars on the road, and secondly if there had been cars we would see their headlights around the corner before we would ever see the car giving us more time to slow down. The road was constantly twisting back and forth, but you could tell that the cliff to the left would make for an awesome view of the vista in the background. The advantage to driving at night is that that Derek and Jamie who were driving were free from the distraction of this beautiful panorama and could focus wholly on the road ahead. I was very impressed by how these guys handled the road and was glad to be one of the passengers passively sitting in the backseat trying to ignore the fact that this was the second time this trip that we have taken the narrow mountain pass to get to the next destination. WE made it safely to Merano and spent the night sleeping on the deck outside of the club house, but thats another story all together.

Tacen Race

2007-06-07T03:26:00.001-07:00

The race is Tacen was exciting just as Tacen always is. The drop at the top of the course is one of the trickiest fastest sections on any course that I have ever raced on, and the rest of the course is usually unpredictable and complicated. My race was unspectacular and for once I won't even write about it. There was some good stuff and bad stuff, and as Chris would say it had its ups and downs. For full results go too http://www.timing-mojstrana.com/

Moving Up And Getting Away from this Place

2007-05-27T11:07:00.000-07:00

We went out for dinner last night and the sky was suddenly overcast with the darkest clouds I have ever seen. Derek ran to roll up the car windows, and got caught in a torrential downpour half way back to the restruant. Jokingly we talked about buying Derek dinner if he stood out in the rain/hail until our food came. We got interupted though when the awning started to resemble a water balloon about to burst. Everyone grabbed a chair to push the water off. Anyway I'm rambling and the only point is that the river reacted to this downpour that continued all night.

The river was up a little bit when we showed up for the race in the morning. First runs went by and I was in 26th with a clean run. I was happy considering this was only one of two clean runs I have had out of 18. My second run I think 18 out of 20 gates were in the water. I got to the bottom and a few more racers come then the race stops. They had started raising the poles. I was choked that the next boaters would have a much easier time with high poles. I got up to the top when the announcer announced.... that everyone from bib 80 to 101 would get another run. I was bib 100 so I would get a rerun. The river continued to rise. By the time my second run came around it was another river. The poles were back in the water and the river was raging. I touched 6 gates and had a crappy run. I ended up in 24th which was an improvement from 26th but only because the river was relentless with all the paddlers. Paul once again pimped me after first runs. Dammit!

Racing in Bovec

2007-05-26T12:14:00.000-07:00

It's not the best river in Europe but it reminds me of home is a way. It's natural and surrounded by towering mountains. The only way across is the suspended bridge that sways with every step, yet they drive cars across which give me a feeling that it must be safe.

The race is tomorrow and we are all fired up. Derek and Paul have a side bet that the loser will drink a raw egg. We'll do just about anything for wholesome entertainment at this point. I'll try to post how the race went but I can't promise anything soon because I don't have internet back at the homestead.

Racing Last Weekend

2007-05-25T04:58:00.000-07:00

The bandits were in Bratislava last weekend participating in the World Series Race. This race series is brand new and open to any participants. The whole thing is based around the idea that cash prizes makes for good races, and this weekend proved the theory. It was a star studded event with Slovakians taking the top prizes in every catagory on the home course.

I myself had a poor race but not completely bad. I had great splits at the top on my first run and was more than 3 seconds up on the likes of Derek and Paul. I ran into trouble at the bottom and lost heaps of time in up 18 just before the drop aptly named Niagara. In the drop I lost a little time and finished the run way down in the standings. I couldn't wuite replicate my top half on the second run although I fixed a few things, but messed up others. The bottom wasn't any better than the first, and I finished in 50th place for the second weekend in a row.

In other news it seems life in Canada doesn't just go on hold when we leave the counrty. Junior trials happened last weekend and the team has been decided.

K1w: Kathleen Tayler, Katrina van Wijk, Thea Froehlich (all ON)
C1: Spencer Pomeroy (ON), Julian Potvin-Bernal (QC), Cam Smedley (ON)
K1m: Ben Hayward (AB), Babacar Daoust-Cisse (QC), Jean-Patrick Blanchette (QC)

Additionally, we have invited to the Junior Pre-Worlds:
Breanne Lyons (AB), Francois St. Aubin-Migneault (QC), Ian Williams (ON).

Congratulations to everyone who raced. I'm sure full results can be found somewhere on the web, but i'm not sure how to post them...

Bandits roll out

2007-05-22T05:42:00.000-07:00

In true bandits form we changed our plans at the last minute yesterday. The original plan was to head to Augsberg with the National and Development team, but as we were loading our boats we had an apiphany. The only reason they went to Augsberg is to train for the world cup race there later this year. We felt our time would be better spent here in Tacen training for our own racing. It also means we will be doing less driving over all and saving money in the process.

I am sooo glad that we changed plans. the only similarity between Augsberg and Tacen is that they are now both on the Euro. Tacen is so nice right now and growing up into a very facsinating little tourist town. Augsberg on the other hand is a fun place to go, but in the past it has meant nothing but trouble for bandits like us. We get too drunk stay up too late and traing less because of it. Here we are away fro the temptation of the nightlife, and can focus wholey on training.

Although the only draw back to our plan was that we arrived rather late in Tacen and didn't have any reservation. We went for dinner and then decided we should search for a hotel. The places we looked eitehr were open, full or really hard to find. We were at the end of the rope for the day and thought the best idea would be to camp at the course. We rolled out our boat bags, and bundled up in warm clothes then settled in for the night. There were some rafts available to sleep in but we had to wait for the owners to leave. I fell fast asleep, but Derek and Paul went over to the rafts later on. Paul said they were wet and Derek said they were awesome. SO I'm not sure if I missed out. I figure I slept well enough although I think I was in a state somewhere between sleep and awake cause my dreams were so messed up! Anyway it's time for me to go to bed again. This time we have moved into a hotel with the Luxury of beds and blankets. OHYEAH

Lip Mich Incident

2007-05-17T08:22:00.000-07:00

We've moved on from Liptovsky Mikulas, but it's unlikely that we will forget the events of the past weekend's racing very soon. The racing was fun and the top canadian of the weekend was John Hastings. It's wasn't the racing that made this weekend unforgettable. It was a short delay about halfway through the semi-finals. A young C2 was on the course and approached a moved that required paddlers to cross the river above a midstream rock. They didn't quite make it and got stuck against the rock. The fragile C2 was crushed instantly. The bowman was barely able to escape being stuck in the boat which was sunk partially below the water line. His partner in the back was less fortunate, and was unable to get out in time.

The boat clutched his fatigued body as the whole weight of the river relentlessly forced him against the rock. The boy was stablized by volunteers known as Frogmen who are suited up in wetsuits to assist in a case of an emergency. After several failed attempts to push or pull the boat away from the rock and out of the rivers clutches, a saw was brought to the scene to chop the boat in half and hopefully save this young paddler. At this time a large crowd had gathered helplessly observing from the bank as the Frogmen worked furiously to unpin the boat. The Frogmen ripped away most of the boat and the boy was finally helped out of water and to the safety of shore. Obviously in pain, he refused medical attention and walked away from the incident apparently unharmed. A sobering event to remind us that we are not so invincible. Our sport is dangerous and a momentary lasp of focus and simply a bad decision almost turn fatal for two very experienced young paddlers.

Bandits Top Ten at Polish Trials

2007-05-06T14:35:00.000-07:00

The races this weekend were pretty fun and even though the course was very physical compared to the course in Charlotte we managed to hold our own. My problem again was too many penalties. On the second day I managed to rack up 14 seconds. Yeesh. The Ploacyk Dynasty showed everyone that they are the ones to beat in Poland taking 4 of the top five spots in mens kayak.

Our plans now is to take kit and pack it onto Liptovsky Mikulas in Slovakia. It's only a two and a hlaf hour drive but it's going to be a little squishy with 5 people in a Skoda Fabia. I guess we'll just do what it takes though. We are all really looking forward to this stop as we get to stay with our slovak family in the Lodenica hotel :)

Krakow

2007-05-04T13:00:00.000-07:00

The road to Krakow was full of obstacles but we prevailed. We started in Charlotte and flew to Munich. It was a battle to get our boats on the plane. The agents at the desk were unsure how much to charge us and the price they suggested ($254 US) was way more than I was willing to pay. I pulled out my laptop and went to their website for baggage allowance. The price said it was half of the normal excess baggage price for items 1.5-2m, so we paid $65 at the desk. Then just before we got on the plane they were waiting for us. Some guy with a mustache reminicent of Borat demanded that we paid the other half because it was airline policy. After pushing the argument as for as we could, without getting kicked off the flight, we ended up paying another $60 each.

The struggle only begins there. After a reasonably comfortable 8 hour flight Charlotte to Munich were catching a connecting flight to Prague. Our plane was taking off from an outer runway so we had to catch a Bus out to where the plane was. We rounded to the corner to where our plane was and saw our boats. We cheered a little until seconds later we realized the trolley with them on it was heading the wrong way. We talked to the baggage carrier who told us they would be routed through Frankfurt and probably end up in Prague by later that night.

The boats didn;t arrive that night. We stayed in a hotel near the course in Prague, and walked around the town that night. We were propositioned by strip club attenedant and many drug dealers. All offer the best deal or the most beautiful women. We went back to the airport in the morning as we were promised our boats would surely be there. Again we were met with dissapointment. The boats were going to come on the next flight, or maybe the next flight. They ended up coming that day around 5:00pm. We loaded up the boats and jumped on the European super highway straight to Krakow. We arrived here in the city at 2am and found a hostel that was open 24hrs.

Now we are finally ready to race. As far one day preparation on the course can make you ready. Oh well as long as I don;t get beat by the Iranians then I'll be happy.

Under Dog Almost Overcomes

2007-05-01T09:16:00.000-07:00

Coming into this we knew that our group was going to be competitive with the guys on the team, but at the same time we were all coming as underdogs. The real underdog story begins and ends with Chris Mctaggart who stepped up his game this year to a level we all brag about getting to. After the first two races he was sitting tied with National Team member John Hastings for the alternate position for the team with a 4th place finish, right on the tail of Nathan Davis who was sitting in what seemed to be a great spot with 2 3rd place finishes.

On the last day of racing Chris or John would have to place 2nd or 1st to achieve the third spot on the team which looked like it was going to go to Nathan. First runs proved to throw more twists than expected as Nathan missed a gate on his first run which took him out of the race for the day, and Pierre Levesque, who had already made the team, not finding the same speed he had on the first two days. This left the first three postitions wide open and the boys wasted no time pushing to fill them. John and Chris were sitting 1st and 3rd with veteran National Team Member David Ford in between. It was a tight race and Chris was in good position after a spectacular first run merely 1 second behind Dave.

The day went on and Chris had a great second run as well. In the end John Hastings bested him and took the third spot on the national team, but I respect Chris' effort and expect great things to happen in Chilliwack this summer when the National Championships roll around.

Team Trials Results

2007-05-01T08:56:00.000-07:00

The races are over, the celebrations have ended, and the trip is really just beginning. I'm sitting in the Charlotte Airport mooching free internet, and waiting for our flight to Prague. The races we're going to are going to be high caliber and we are all excited to square off against racers from around the world. Just a few short months of preparation before National Championships in Chilliwack. This race experience is the best we can get, and it's going to be seriously fun.

Our tour this summer is a little smaller than last, but full of good people with lots of character. At the start of the trip I will be travelling with Derek, Paul, Jess and Craig. After about three weeks Craig heads home for a break before joining the National Team on the World Cup circuit. Then it's just down to the four bandits. Hopefully this year there will be a little more control of ourselves and a greater focus on racing, rather than partying. I'm looking forward to seeing catching up with old friends and creating new memories with the friends that are more like family.

Three Races Three Days

2007-04-28T18:34:00.000-07:00

It's the end of day two and things are going well. I was paddling very poorly during practice throughout the last week, yet I have been able to keep things together through the first two races. Every paddler has to make a performance standard, which is set as a percentage off the fastest boat, and I made this on the first day. It was such a weight off of my shoulders, and I am glad to have achieved this standard on the first race. Mostly I'm glad because today I was no where close to this standard. I placed a little bit further down in the standings which isn't great, but I still have one more day to put in a good result.

The courses have each been challenging in their own way, and the weather has been ruthlessly hot and sunny. Spending too much time watching other athletes, as exciting as it is, drains the energy right out of you. It's alway nice to find a spot of shade where you can see the action from. The racing has been intense and I look forward to tomorrow as it decides the fate of a lot of talented athletes.

Race Simulation

2007-04-22T10:33:00.000-07:00

Over the last two days we have been working on full length runs, and trying to simulate race conditions as closely as possible. The courses have been challenging, but not far off of what is likely to be set at the team trials races. It has been a good taste of what next weekend is going to be like. Although for myself it has left a bitter taste in my mouth. It seems I have not really gained all the much ground on the top boats over the last year of training. I seem to be struggling to find speed on this course and there is only five days left till the raceing begins. At this point I am not worried because the things that are going wrong seem very easy to fix. I have figured out most of the tickiest parts of the course. I find that it's little things that I need to focus on, and I should be able to adjust my racing to fix these minute problems.

Studio 666

2007-04-22T09:13:00.000-07:00

Last night, as we were climbing into bed, the noise of an accident in the parking lot broke the silence. Kurt peaked cautiously out the window to see what was the matter. Two cars had collided face to face with a clatter. He called me over to check out the action. As I looked, Kurt explained with a tone of satisfaction. There was a car and an SUV. They had obviously just been in an accident. The guy in the car got out, clearly furious and asked in his politest manner that the occupant of the other vehicle join him so they could exchange contact and insurance information. " You crazy b*tch, GET OUT OF YOUR CAR! I'm gonna report this!" At this point he was standing between the two cars. The lady in the SUV backed up and sped at this guy again. The man narrowly escaped being crushed by jumping up onto the hood of his car. The lady then backed up and tried to go around to make her get away. She smashed the guys door which he had left open when he got out of his car, and then sped away.

This place is crazy, but it's deffinitly entertaining.

Midnight Intruders at Studio 6

2007-04-15T19:01:00.001-07:00

This morning Jessica and Anna looked like they had lost a little sleep and it appears the reason was more than just some late night girl talk. After the girls had been asleep for quite a few hours they were both jolted out of a deep sleep by a very loud bang on their door. As they both confirmed that the other one had actually heard the same thing the phone began to ring. Assuming it was one of the boys next door, playing a prank, Jessica answered the phone. The voice on the other end was hard to understand because of an apparent mexican accent. After first ruling out the boys, Jessica asked if it was the front desk calling. The person on the other end then asked her name. This made Jessica a little nervous but when the man asked if she had a boyfriend it got creepy.

After slamming down the phone Jessica leapt from her bed to Anna's where the girls sat huddled in scared, dark silence for a moment until they spotted the security latch on the door, which Jessica had put in place before going to bed, had been flung open. Realizing someone had been trying to knock down their door, Anna crept up to put it back in place but couldn't because it had been bent out of shape by the impact. The phone rang again... Anna insisted they not answer it. As they sat on Anna's bed, hearts racing and palms sweaty, they discussed what had just happened. Jessica recalled seeing some Mexican men in the hall-way peering into the open door of their room the day before. As you can call room to room in the hotel by dailing the room number, the girls realized that these men must have known what room they were in. After the phone stopped ringing Anna suggested they call the boys room next door. The girls decided to wait to see if anything else happened before they would wake the boys. They didn't fall asleep again for quite some time, the thought that they had been targeted by these mexican banditos was fresh in their minds pushing any thoughts of sleep far to the back.

Written by Anna Williams

Stiff Competition in the Dirty South

2007-04-15T18:35:00.000-07:00

The competition has been fierce with every night bringing forth cullinary skills that we never even knew we had. Tonight Derek was mincing, Kurt was sautéing, and I was frying broccoli. Who even knew it was possible? the teams are Chris, Connor, and Paul, VS Anna and Jess VS Derek, Kurt and I. With the boys pulling out all the stops every night the girls struggle to find a way to please an all male crowd of judges.

This is how the competition has been working: We're staying in 3 seperate rooms. Two rooms sqaure off each night while the third room judges. The winners get to take the next night off and judge the meals brought by the other two rooms. In a final twist the judging room picks an ingredient that must be in all parts of the meal.

It's been a lot of fun; for the boys atleast. The girls have suffered 4 crushing defeats two to each of the other rooms. Although it has been all fun and games and delicious meals up until now I believe it's about to get messy. The girls have been given a break with the recent addition of Ben Hayward to their kitchen. This may be just what it takes to get in a winning meal, and then the two dominating rooms will have to sqaure off in kitchen Combat.

Starting this trip with a bang!

2007-04-13T09:45:00.000-07:00

My beautiful new boat has been fixed 4 times since I got here, and needs aleast one more as far as I can tell. Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh It's so frustrating. The first break was from the airplane. You assume when you pay $170 US to transport something across the country that they would take care of it but apparently not. Note to self: Don't fly with United they really suck. The second break was all my fault. I just ran over a rock, but the funny thing is that 4 other people ran over the same rock and broke their boats in the same spot. The third break happened on the conveyor belt which carries paddlers from the bottom pond to the top pond. It cracked my stern just as I was sliding off into the water. It happened after my first run too which is the more annoying part. I would have atleast liked to have finished my workout before it broke but I just thats how the cookie crumbles. The fourth fix was necessary because I did a bad job fixing the third.

As far as my I see it this has just been really bad luck for the most part and it will just take some time to get past all these breaks. I am, in a way, glad that I can get through this bad luck at the beginning of the trip well before the pressure of trials starts mounting. On the brightside I am paddling well and feel really good. The weather has also been really nice over the last few days.

Coho Improvement Time

2007-04-12T09:56:00.000-07:00

Plan A: Glass in Knee Cups. Pfft Problem is I made them too small.

Plan B: I found an old cockpit rim from the Midas Touch and decided to install that instead.

"I can fix it. My dad in a television repair man. He has the umlimate set of tools."

Bandit Wanted Apply Now

2007-03-26T11:50:00.000-07:00

There is a group of us resurecting a quasi-bandit tour. We're looking for 2 more bandits or banditas so we run with 2 cars with 4 people. Currently on board for the tour is Anna, Jess, Paul, Derek, Craig and I. The tour in the past has been lots of fun and always is a high point in my year. I am very much looking forward to going again this year. Races on the tour will include Krakow Poland, Liptovsky Mikulas Slovakia, Bratislava Slovakia, Tacen (Ljubljana) Slovenija, and Merano Italy.

Potential Applicants should be very independant, but also work well within the group. Their skills and attributes should be complimentary to the rest of the group. Anyone interested in coming along as a manager should also apply, but be aware that if you don't kayak you will probably have little say in what the group does, and plan on spending a lot of time at different rivers. We're looking to fill these positions as soon as possible so we can procede with reserving cars and booking flights.

Derek Beer Classic

2007-03-26T11:41:00.000-07:00

Derek pulled it off for a second year in a row now. Managed the race quite well and even had a good day of sunshine for the first time in a month. The race went smoothly. I ended up in third place because I had some penalties on my first run. Even though my second run was the fastest on the day it wasn't quite enough to make up for 3 touches on my first. Too bad for me. The winner on the day was Toby who ran clean and fairly quick for the old coach. Derek came in second and also placed in many other classes including C1 and K2.

A big thank you goes out to all the volunteers who came out to help make this race happen, and also to the sponsors of the race: Panago, Chilliwack Harley, and Norma's Cookies. This beginner flat water race had more sponsors than any other race I have been to in Canada (other than Nationals). I belive it was just a matter of approaching local businesses. Sponsorship is something we should look for for all our races. Derek has pledged that the profits from the race will go to the CCE travel fundto help pay for travel expense throughout the year. Thanks to Derek for making this another successful race in the Northwest cup series.

2007-03-26T10:02:00.000-07:00

Poor Paddling at Rich Wiess

2007-03-21T11:08:00.000-07:00

It's wa one heck of a race and I was prepared to drop bombs! It was a great day for a race with the first sun we've seen in about a week and a half. The rain is what makes the Tamihi Rapids a glorious place to paddle, so we can't complain when it's pouring because you know it's filling the river to the brim.

This kind of racing is what we all live for but unfortunately I'm not the best at floating with spped. My tactic is to race as fast and hard as I can. This caused some problems for me over the weekend. I was on a great first run up till uhhh gate 3 yeah Two great gates and then I was man handled by the river which tossed me effortlessly around gate 3. Other than that it was one of the fastest running times of the day with a 96. (Chris' winning runs were 99's).

the second run didn't go much better although it was again a very fast run I managed to pull a roll before gate 17 and ended up doing a 23 second loop. Again without this loop the run would have been very fast. Over the last few weeks before trials it is going to be important to focus on putting together entrie runs of total awesomeness instead of 2/3 awesome 1/3 awefulness.

All in all it was a crshing defeat but congratulations to Chris, Paul and Derek who earned a spot on the podium with consistent and quick paddling.

T V Addiction

2007-03-21T10:34:00.000-07:00

possbily the best show on TV right now, Heroes is about a group of seemingly unrelated, ordinary people discovering their extrodinary abilities. As the plot unfolds the connections between the heroes becomes more intertwind, and the menacing evil villan is increasing his power by murdering more heroes to gain there abilities. Will the heroes come together in time to stop Sylar? is Peter Petrelli gonig to be Sylars next victim or can he summon his own powers to escape the villans wicked clutches?

Any of the heroes from this show would have broke out of prison in a second, and deffinitly be able to pick the million dollar suit case. Talk about entertainment. Though there is one thing about this show thats getting under my skin. Production is taking a 6week break. blah! not only is this inconvinient because by the time it starts again I will be away in Europe but it's also breaking at the most suspensful part of any episode so far. Jees these producers have no heart!

Snap Back to Reality

2007-03-13T17:57:00.000-07:00

I've been taking a little break from school because I was never really sure what I wanted to do with my life. It's been a long process trying to find myself and after a some soul searching I think I've found what I really want to do. As for actually doing it that may take a while but now I have goals, ambitions, and something on the reality side of the scale, along with my pizza delivery job, to balance out this dream world where I live. The application for the business program at UCFV has been submitted, albeit the deadline passed a month ago. Bottom of the barrel for the start of this next semester but with help from Pacific Sport I should be back at the top of the registration pecking order as early as next semester.

2007-03-09T15:41:00.000-08:00

I was reading this book called Eats, Shoots and Leaves (Not about Pandas or Murder). It is infact a book writen about the misuse of grammar in our society. Eventhough I am not a grammar perfect writer I have started noticing more and more mistakes in signage around the city. In the photo above it seems that school's no longer practice what they preach! Missing some punctuation Mr. Teacher. F for Effort. I only finish half of the book because eventhough it is very well written and intriging book about grammar, the fact that it's about grammar caught up to me and I lost interest. (Please no comments on how bad my grammar is! I just thought the sign was funny.)

Bronze Place

2007-03-04T21:20:00.000-08:00

A long day culminates in a pretty good race. We left at 5:30 this morning and I took hold of the wheel of my new baby auto. We got to the river around 8:30 and I jumped on the water for a run down the course. It's the best part of waking up, and Foldgers got nothing to match. We raced in the afternoon , and eventhough my runs weren't technically perfect I was happy at the end. My focus during the race today was to paddle hard and fast. It went pretty good except that I paddled into trouble a few times. I ended up in third place and by making excuses and changing the rules to an entire sport I would have been 2nd. (I had two touches) Makes me sad. Nathan Davis took the honours with Connor following in second. I'm glad to say that the new boat was great. I look forward to the next race at the Richwiess in Chilliwack.

Fresh Start

2007-03-01T13:33:00.000-08:00

Back at home after a three week trip to Charlotte. I have a new car, a new boat and their are some new people at work. Feels good to be back and have some new things going on. The boat by far my favorite of these variations in life. I finally feel that I have a boat that isn't a limiting factor. This thing can turn like nobodies business and now I have to learn to keep up with it in just a month and a half before we head back to Charlotte for Team Trials.

I also have a boat now for sale. It's a Vajda 360 and I've paddled it for 2 and a half seasons now. It's still in good shape although it have accumulated a few patches over the years. I'm looking to get $800 for it. Right now it is in Charlotte and I can probably get someone to bring it anywhere you need right after trials, or you can have it for trials if your coming to the race. Let me know if you are interested or know of anyone interested. Thanks.

Sitting, Waiting, Wishing I was at home instead of the Airport

2007-02-22T12:45:00.000-08:00

Just sitting here... Waiting for a plane, and wishing I was already at home. We leave here at 9:30 tonight and it is now 4:00pm. Thats a good 3 hours before we can check in and then another few hours before our flight actually takes off. If all goes as planned we will arrive in seattle at 2:30am, after routing through Las Vegas, and then we still have a 3 hour drive till we get home. sheeesh. Well we'll just be hanging out drop a line if you care to entertain us!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY JAMES!

2007-02-22T12:39:00.000-08:00

Hey James,

We're coming home just in time for birthday partying. Albeit a day late(so maybe not "just in time"). Talk to you soon Master of the Universe.

Kayaker or Male Model... Life's hard!

2007-02-14T09:20:00.000-08:00

"You're bulimic.... You can read minds?!?"

The way things are going I've been thinking about giving up kayaking to become a male model. It's rough trying to make these decisions. I think I'm getting arthritis from all this cold weather paddling, and if I didn't buy kayaks I could buy really nice clothes. I saw a T-shirt the other day for $164; it had a dragon on the front. On the other hand the course in Charlotte will have water in it this weekend. This means warmer weather and a wicked new course to paddle on. The feeling of runnning down through a brand new section of whitewater, slaying an upstream like never before, or even just that adrenaline that comes from doing something unknown. Ahhh sometimes it just all makes sense. 5 days on Charlotte and a lot to accomplish. It will be awesome. I am going to try Brett Hyel's Coho from iTomco and see what it's like on the course for 2007 National Team Trials. I think I've made a good choice :)

DC and Georgetown

2007-02-12T19:02:00.000-08:00

Today we got out of the house for our first day off since we arrived. We started out at Cal Tort and filled our bellies with delicious mexican food covered in hot sauce. Then we hit the town. It was a touristy day of monuments and museum hopping. We met the other houses at the Washington Monument, and went to the top to observe the capital from 500ft up. Then we went to a modern art gallery called The Hirschorn. It was pretty cool. Then to finish off our sight-seeing we went to the Air and Space Museum. This is a fairly interesting place to visit, but might be better if you were interested in paying for the flight simulators or the shows they put on. It is still good to go in and look at everything they have on display.

After we parted ways with the others, who had riden the subway to town, we went to Georgetown in search of food, and ended up shopping for clothes. As the girls wandered around picking out endless things to try on Ben and I started a full on fashion war. The battle ground was H&M and the gloves were off, as were the sleeves and sometimes the pants. We probably tried on more clothes than the girls and I'm not ashamed to admit that I had a lot of fun doing it. After Kurt returned from his trip to the massage chair we headed back to the car and returned home for a good night sleep.

_Supposed to SNOW tomorrow. WHY??_

Cat Empire

2007-02-10T21:39:00.000-08:00

Now this was a night I had my doubts about. I had never heard of this band before so I fired up Limewire and downloaded some of the tunes. It sounded a little like Regae, rap and ska mixed into one unique sound. I wasn't super syked but the prospect of going out and doing something other than eat or go to a movie was exciting. I thought of having a shower, yet to my disappointment the ladies had used up all the hot water and anything less was just icy. So I just forgot the shower with water and did it the italian way. We got to the show and there wasn't a lot of people the opening band was this rapper named Diverse. He wasn't too hot and I could understand why there wasn't a lot of people. But as show time rolled around for the Cat Empire the place was packed. Seriously barely room to move around. It was wicked. The band's stage presence was totally cool. So relaxed and just fun. The music was upbeat and the crowd was jumping and swaying as one entity. It was a lot of fun and I just have to say to those that didn't come because they are donny's or what-have-you that they missed out.

One Word Strikes Fear in Heart English Student

2007-02-09T17:58:00.000-08:00

Through the grapevine comes tibits of information every so often. Once in a while a suggestion arises to post it, and this one seems reasonably blogable. In the depths of my soul I know I shouldn't, but in the boredom of a late night it seems like a good idea. A certain person, who shall remain nameless, has had many ladies knocking down his door just to be with him. They say he takes their breath away, but apparently he has done it all without using the L word -and not the L word as in the sense of "The L Word"-. It's rumoured that this guy doesn't even believe in love. How could such a nice guy (such a ladies man) be so afraid to say one little word? Perhaps it's just a matter of preparedness, or just meeting the right girl. If you think you know who this is and he has said the L word to you please comment on this post. If you think you can get him to say it to you in a serious way I am encouraging you to go for it and share your story here! If you can get him to say it before Valentines Day you will be honoured forever in the fastandclean hall of honourable mention for all time. If you ask him about this particularly priavte subject he will just smile and giggle as usual, so approach with caution.

Trips Slowly Coming Together

2007-02-04T19:52:00.000-08:00

It is a piece by piece kind of trip. We arrived here in Charlotte before the course was ready to paddle. Thought we would head to Dickerson about 6 hours away, but instead went to NOC for the weekend. It was a pretty cool river and has a great drop in the middle, a restraunt right there, and a weight room under the restraunt. It was a good few days of training. We met the Americans from Atlanta and local area in the morning on Saturday for a workout, and stayed with C-1er Tad. His Family owns a wicked cabin not 20min from the course. It has plenty of beds and an 8 person hottub. So we spent the night relaxing and even got some of my NCCP course done! We are back in Charlotte and just finished watching the SuperBowl, which was less than Super, and in the morning we are picking up a second rental car and heading to Dickerson in the morning. We will stay there until the water is running here, which actually seems like it might be good to go in a few days :D :D Apparently by the 14th the course will be full of water. It takes 7 days to fill the course with water. It's going to be fun going to D.C. It's Kurt's hometown and he's excited to take us to the ghetto and show us the 9:30 Club. Also the course is a lot of fun and we have some specific goals to work on. All in all what seemed to be a clamity of a trip is slowly coming together.

Vegas Baby

2007-02-01T22:29:00.000-08:00

Just mooching free internet in Las Vegas the City of Sin! This is the place dreams are made of. The runways are lined up with the strip and you can see all the sweet casinos. You can also gamble in the airport. it's wicked!

3 weeks of Whitewater

2007-02-01T12:08:00.001-08:00

It's been a long week leading up to our departure. Dealing with broken cars, packing, training, meetings with Pacificsport, no water in Charlotte etcetc. But the time is finally here for us to get going, and my parents apparetnly are already planning to start the celebration( in the most peculiar way.) Look at the label on this ^pasta sauce^. Yeah it says "Vodka" and if I had the photography skills to take a picture of the reflective ingredients label you could see that there is actually Vodka in the sauce...right before tomatoes ;) This is just something I have never seen and thought I would share before going away for a while. I will try to post lots of stuff while I'm away... and I hope I get lots of pictures in for the Photo contest :)Au Revoir!

-Photo Contest-

2007-02-01T00:17:00.000-08:00

Hi guys!

Hope you're all looking forward to going to Charlotte. I know I am I had ice in my hair after this mornings workout! Since I want you to send me pictures of this trip afterwards, I am going to host a photo contest on The Ongoing Memoirs of Jon Allen. I will post all of my favorite photos and pick the best one to be my banner at the top of the page where it is currently a picture of me topless. Email photos to fatdude_2001@hotmail.com

Surrendering Ownership

2007-01-29T11:51:00.000-08:00

The time has finally come where I have to give away my baby. It's been a memorable journey with this car. Breaking down a few times, and pumping cash into it to keep it alive. It's just too bad that it came to such an abrupt end. I'm going today to give it up to ICBC. They will give me some money and with that I will start a new journey with a new car and it will be jsut as great. Turning over a new leaf. Starting fresh. life is good. I may also have a lead on a new boat. Then heading to Charlotte for a training camp. This is going to be a good year! I'm not sure what's happening, but all my sentences are really short... I'll try to write better in the future but for now I have to go.

2007-01-24T17:48:00.000-08:00

Apcolypse Now

2007-01-10T11:18:00.000-08:00

What to talk about. What to talk about.... I know how about the weather! I can't even remember when this aweful plague of bad weather started, but I'm getting a little tired of it. It started with flooding, then there was the snow storm. The most current of our poor weather has come in the form of wind.. huh? a little wind you think. I think not. This relentless wind has been randomly knocking down powerlines in every part of town, and I might just be the one to blame! find out why after the break.

The other night I was delivering pizza in this wind. It was an aweful night. I hadn't been getting enough sleep the past few nights (thanks to facebook pfft), and everyone seemed a little bit stingey after the good feelings of christmas had past and the New Years hangover just strated setting in. I had started at 4:00pm, and the next drivers started at 4:30, 5:00, and 5:30. This means: I'm off first!!! yes! early night. well quiting time rolls around and 4:30 gets to go...5:00 gets to go too. Seems I am one of few drivers competent enough to stay late. I was mad and I apoligise. I was praying for an early night and the good lord delivered. He knocked out every watt of power in Sardis. Panago included. This is why I think I am to blame for the power outage. I am sorry it won't happen again.

We organised the store by the light of our flashlights, and called it an early night. The next night had the same result. We were trucking along when our power went out and we called it an early night. Isn't it funny though how the universe has a way of balancing things like this out. The next night the power again went out all over town... exept this time Panago didn't lose power. We got hit with a rush of business and it was pandimonium. My first night off in a while and I go in because I thought I had forgot my jacket + wallet there the other night. I got suckered in to coming back into work for an hour or two. FOUR hours later I got off, and immediately crashed to bed. Anyway I am just tired of work right now, and everyone seems to be angry and thinking about quiting. It makes me even happier to be heading to Charlotte in a month.

What the Facebook is going on?

2007-01-07T13:02:00.000-08:00

Well if you haven't heard of the latest new craze, Then you probably don't have internet... or any friends... Facebook has just exploded onto the kayaking scene here in Chilliwack. It's addictive and has a strange ability to take up every spare second of your time and then some... look I am writing about it right now! It is this cool little networking thing where you can talk to your friends by leaving messages, or you can read messages your friends have, then read messages their friends have, then their friends.... can you see the vortex forming? Then there are always pictures to look at, groups to join, or networks to browse. The ultimate goal being to have more friends than your friends. Eventually proving that you are more popular than they are and gain the upperhand in your friendship. Once you have become a Facebook God there is no stopping you. Over a Billion people are one way or another a member of facebook, and I bet there is less than 6 degrees of separation between all the people in the world and facebook. If someone would like to help me prove that it would be much appreciated, becuase right now I am jsut running my fingers over the keys and hoping this makes sense. I might read it later but most likely not. I don't know anyone who actually reads this... my counter always sends me emails saying that 99% of my hits are accidental and there is a 1% margin of error. Apparently, most people are looking for some Magician named Jon Allen, but thats not even a very good name for a Magician... If he had a cooler name maybe I would have more hits. Anyway if you haven't Joined Face book then do it. Your friends are waiting. I'll be your first. jonallen@telus.net

What New With You?

2007-01-02T23:50:00.000-08:00

How come nobody ever tells me what's going on in there life?

I just passed my last driving test today! Second times a charm if ya know what I mean. I had an older guy testiclingme....I mean testing me. Said nothing except directions and obviously well rehearsed speaches prior to and after the test. All very business like. The power was out when I arrived, so having no life at all I just kicked back grabbed a magazine and ended up waiting for a half hour before the lights came back. It was all good. I took the 626 and showed him what good driving was all about. Thanks to many night spent with that car I passed with minor infractions...oops (myparentsreadthis) flying colours!<--spelt with a U always...

Happy New Year!

2007-01-01T15:58:00.000-08:00

"Another years over and a new ones just begun" -John Lennon

It was a good way to ring in the new year. Not too drunk, not too late. I feel like I turned over a new leaf this year. being able to conrtol my celebrations to the point where I am not the one making a bad impression anymore. I my self feel like 2006 ended on a very up beat note and looking back over the last year I have to say this has been a good one. Best of all was the Bandit Tour and I hope this coming year is just as much of a success as last year. Except that I am going to win some races! haha watch your back!

For Christmas this year my parents catapulted me into the 21st century. I have been spoiled and I'm not sure why, but I can't comlain becuase it is awesome! I got a new laptop computer, and a new cell phone. More technology than I can handle on my own, but I'll get used to it. I went from not even owning a protable CD player to being connected to the world in more ways than I imagined when I published my Christmas list. Now I just have to get caller ID on my phone and I'll be all set. I seem to have a problem missing phone calls. oops sorry guys.

The new year has many things that I am looking forward too and I can't wait to get started on the planning and preperation so I am going to get out of here. I hope everyone enjoys the rest of their holidays!

Szczęśliwy Nowy Rok ;)

Merry Christmas

2006-12-24T17:47:00.000-08:00

Happy Birthday Jesus! The day where we all give each other gifts to celebrate the birth of baby Jesus is just around the corner. Hopefully all your presents are wrapped and you can fill your cup with nog, sit in front of the burning fire channel, and just wait, listening for Reindeer hooves on the roof top. I waish you all happy holidays, and hope your Christmas is filled with great food, good company, and everything you published in your wish list.

Here's one for Chez Federau

2006-12-21T13:26:00.000-08:00

Norway's Lasse Gjertsen applies his hypnotic editing techniques to some kick ass amateur drumming. I found this wicked video on iFilm.com Shows that even an amateur drummer with a little creativity can make truely amazing music. Made even more amazing by they're lack of musical talent with instruments, but obvious talent in understanding music.

Embarassing Performance from National Team in Charlotte USA

2006-12-15T22:06:00.000-08:00

I am ashamed to admit this, but yes that is my brother Craig. I've always thought he was a dork, and now I have the picture sequence to prove it thanks to John Hastings. Looking good Craig! Right now Craig is down in Charlotte at the start of his wirlwind trip around the world. Coming home for less than 2 weeks at a time inbetween each stop. He is currently in Charlotte NC, then I believe off to Australia, then Brazil etc etc. Anyway I hope he's having a good time and that he isn't spending too much time under water. I look forward to hearing what he has to say about the course as I am planning a trip there in February.

gOOD oLD tIMES

2006-12-10T19:05:00.000-08:00

Found this gem tucked away in an outdated folder. Special Thanks go out to Nate and Derek for pushing, Jave for videoing, and Chris for the commentary. A bright Idea brought to you by fastandclean.blgospot.com

Are you ready for this?

2006-12-10T18:55:00.000-08:00

I have found that since I expressed myself on the issue of roadrage, and certain things don't even make me mad anymore. I think everyone needs to sit down and have a good talk about what makes them angry. Then we can sit back and reflect on how stupid most of these things are.

The one thing that really made me ragin' cajun was when people stop to far back from the senor at a stop light, and the light never turns. Especially in the turning lane where you're supposed to get a go-ahead green arrow. mmmmmmmmmmm so mad. Seems stupid to worry about that now cause there is a Civil (or not) war in Iraq. I guess I can wait for another turn at the light.

Road Raging

2006-12-06T21:40:00.000-08:00

So I was reading the newspaper today and they started running this section on road rage. Readers write in, and finally get to let people know why they just got the bird. I found it funny to be reading this. As a pizza delivery driver I often get into a rage over stupid things. No one how ever has writen to the paper about what really gets on my nerves. It's one of the stupidest things too. I can handle people speeding past me, and the person going too slow. I don't mind, I like to drive slow. I can even turn a blind eye to the person who goes out of turn at a 4way or gets mad at you for not going soon enough when they just rolled over the stop line with no obvious intention of actually stopping. The one thing that kills me is such a waste of time that I just loose it. Some people just have no sense when it comes to stop lights. I'm just wondering... what gets your goat on the road? and can you guess what my beef is with bad drivers?

This is officially the oldest I have ever been...

2006-12-03T20:56:00.000-08:00

University is entering exam time and the toll it is taking on me has been unreasonable. Mostly you have to consider that I don't go to school right now. I, my friends, seem to be holding the short end of the stick. With a majority of the employees working with me at Panagopolous going to school and taking exams my work load has been bumped to an outrageous level especially coupled with full time winter training. This past week I worked about 35 hours. That's a lot for a part timer like me. The mornings have been frigid and the fact that I only got a few measily hours of sleep the night before because I was at work, or volunteering with Operation Red Nose (http://www.operationnezrouge.com/en/) doesn't make training in the snow any easier. I would just like to says that I do have sympathy for those stuck studying, but please realise the burden you are placing on us underachievers by persueing high education.

This isn't where I parked my car...

2006-11-26T21:47:00.000-08:00

Snow, Thanksgiving, Gates... all things that are new in Chilliwack over the last few weeks. We celebrated US thanksgiving becuase A: we love food B: to make Kurt feel more at home. I put on my Sunday's best and went over to the Kemps. We had an awesome turkey (although we didn't get around to deep frying it like they do down south!), choclate fountain, pumpkin cheesecake, cranberries and so much more. After stuffing our guts, downing some wine, and finishing desert we went down to settle things the way I am very sure the pilgrims did; We played foosball. I teamed up with the one armed man, Kurt, and "tore Connor and Kyle both new ones" twice! Aww the spirit of the holidays!

WE've been rebuilding the course for the better part of a couple of days up at tamihi since the flood wiped out everything. Yeah, everything. We have restored the pathways along the bank and approximately 21 gates. There has actually been a lot of changes to the river bed during the flood and it is interesting looking at all the new features as the water slowly drops to reveal them.

Now snow. This is a troubling one. Such mixed feelings. On one hand it's very cool and sets such a nice atmosphere, yet it's also scary as hell. People in the fraservalley can't drive when it snows, and delivering pizza for 8 hours during the day isn't exactly the safest place to be when reckless drviers are going 70km/hr past scared driver going 20km/hr. insanity! According to top Traffic Advisor, Derek Beer, there was a head on collision at the Shell Gas station. Crazy stuff. stupid stuff. Anyway that's what new here.

PS. Chris is coming but it's been an adventure for him to get here. think he's supposed to be coming tomorrow.

{Picture of the Trip}

2006-11-15T11:43:00.000-08:00

Watch out Horses... Here's Jonny! Thanks to Kyle Kemp for the photo.

Teapot Challenge Champion

2006-11-12T22:15:00.000-08:00

was Ricky...

I completed the challenge in 2hrs and 4min. (30:32 min up the mt.biking, 20:40min down, 20:05min kayaking, 20:58min running up, 8:50min down, 20:11min back kayaking [approx]

6 guys started...5 finished.

I've been unconcsious for the last few days.

The race was awesome. Ricky killed everyone, and Toby came in a close second. The true race was really for thrid. Kurt, Derek and I all finished within a few minutes of each other and what a great back and forth battle. Kurt took off from us on the uphill and downhill biking. I was 4th on the way up and with Derek a few minutes behind walking his bike. I got to the top just ahead of Derek but could hear him catching up on the downhill. He apparently was trying to slow his bike down by yelling at it as he hurdled over jumps; he didn't relize there was a path around them. Derek passed me just as I had to bail off the bike for the thrid or fourth time, as it was a little out of control on the day of the race. The adrenalin was pushing me to go faster, but this was one situation where slow and steady keeps you alive. I passed Derek again after the technical mt.biking and set my sights on Kurt, who had a good 5 or 6 minute lead going into the paddle.

I slowly made up time on Kurt throughout the first paddle and the run up. I passed Ricky while he was running down and I was going up. He reported that Kurt was just up ahead. Well Ricky's deffinition of just up ahead is a little different than mine apparently because I didn't see Kurt at all on the way up... We met just before the turn at the top of Teapot; he was still a couple minutes ahead of me and already heading back down, yet I knew where he was now. I reached the turning post and started back down. I was flying on the way down and caught up to Kurt about half way down the wide gravel section. I could see he was putting in an effort to stay ahead, but I bounded past and he seemed to ease back again. I raced to the bottom. Now in third place and starting the second paddle: the last leg of the race. I could feel the burn. It was deep and I felt my legs seizing with fatigue as I transitioned into my boat. Kurt showed up just after I had taken my shoes off and was getting into my paddling top. I knew Kurt wasn't going to give in and graciously take forth place as I so badly wanted him to. I had to keep pushing. My legs got no rest in the boat as I forced them to push with every stroke. I could hear Kurt behind me. He deffinitly was still a threat. I pulled into the finish dock as a feeling of relief shuttered through me. Only then did I relised how cold it was outside.

It had been a miserably rainy day and an exciting, challenging race. I achieved my goals of biking up the mountain with no walking, and of finishing the race. I didn't care what place I ended up in, even though my competitive nature wouldn't let just finishing be enough, as long as I finished. I would like to thank everyone that came out and helped us in transitions by keeping our stuff safe and shuttling it around. It really made the day great and I know everyone Racing really appreciated it!

Major Dilema!

2006-11-09T16:23:00.000-08:00

I went Mt.Biking for the first time today in preparation for the modified teapot challenge. First of all mt.biking is insane. I hardly ever ride bikes so it was a wicked experience to be hurtling down the mountain dodging trees( for the most part) and rolling over logs. I admit that I was scared, but like a true adrenalin junkie I pushed past the fear and got into a mind set where I was doing things that a I would look back at and wonder how it was even possible. The toughest part of mt.biking was just lettng the bike roll. It is instinctive to put on the brakes in the face of danger, but this caused the bike to slide. When you put the brakes on and start to slide you have very little control, so it was better to be very gentle with the brakes and let it roll. I fell once. Hurt my knee. Got back on the horse, and nailed the next line. Very cool feeling. Not ashamed to admit that I walked down some parts.

I feel like it was all very sureal, because I don't know how I was able to do it. I just pushed my fear aside and went for it. Like I said before I've never been mt.biking before and Dilema was a pretty serious trail. I love it and now I am psyched about doing the Teapot Challenge. WE are going to ride from Mike's house to the top of Dilema on the gravel road, then down dilema (Ricky says he can do down in 6min... I'm probably looking at 30..lol), then you paddle from Mike's house to the bottom of Teapot, Run up the hill, then back down, and finish with the paddle back to Mike's. Toby and Picky are predicting sub 2hours, and I think I will make it back before dark if we start early enough. I'm just going out to have fun and hopefully not die on the mt.biking section. I'm going to Ricky's probably tomorrow to get my bike in shape so I don't lose parts on the hill.

Walking the Walk

2006-11-08T10:41:00.000-08:00

Everyone blogged about it, everyone talked about it, but who did it?

I got a call from Derek as soon as he got off of school. He was looking for a partner crazy/brave enough to run the river at it's highest in recorded history. After I expressed my concern about the logs and it getting dark out, my adventerous side and Derek's contagious excitement took over. We only ran a small section, but atleast we were out there doing it. News crews catching us in their spot lights and people lining the bank taking pictures was really cool. We found a sweet surf wave, but you only got one shot at it and I fell off trying to dodge logs. Over all it was fun and exciting. Not too difficult paddling even with the tree snapping power becuase it was mostly flat. We got off just as the light ran out and our parents showed up out of concern for our safety. Safe and sound we are the only ones from our group to run it at its peak. Connor and Toby Joined Derek again to run it the next day but it and dropped significantly, which actually alowed them to get up the Chilliawck Lake road to run a better section.

Chilliwack Out of Control

2006-11-06T10:27:00.000-08:00

The Chilliwack River went from being too low to absolutely too high! Looks like we'll be training on Tamihi Creek for the next little while. another few weeks of rain in the forecast, and we are stuck sitting on the bank once again hoping that some of that turns to snow in the mountains so we have good water supply throughout that winter... Top Correspondent here at fastandclean, Anna Williams, and Craig Allen David Ford Liason brought back Video's for the webpage. There is little doubt that due to there being no eddies at all, and not to mention the trees steamrolling down the river like Locomotives, training at Tamihi will be put on hold for a while.

Chilliwack River Nov.6 2006

2006-11-06T10:04:00.000-08:00

2006-11-06T09:51:00.000-08:00

Stroke of Luck

2006-11-05T13:53:00.001-08:00

The last few days I seem to be running on a stroke of luck. Unfortunately it's the bad kind of luck. I had my first car accident the other day. It seems that the torrential down pours happening in the Fraser Valley have made the roads a little slippery. It was my first day back from Dickerson and I adimttedly was a little jetlagged still and did get much sleep due to and intense travel day the day before. I was day dreaming about hot babes, and must have been speeding too fast. I touched the brake for a corner and began sliding across the river that was promotory road. I quickly snapped out of my day dream to a full blown nightmare. I was careening out of control towards a telephone post. The last bit of good luck that I have left in my person put a Big pile of dirt between me and the telephone post. It was some poor shmuck's garden that I obliterated using it to bring my car to a complete and sudden stop. I checked my vitals and drove away. What a rush! The accident left my car relatively unharmed although I can't open the hood yet and the underside of the bumper was crushed a little. I thought I had escaped with out much a due until the next day when I rolled into the bank to exchange my left over american deigenaro and my car was leaning to one side as I bumped into the 2 inch curb... I had a flat tire. completel flat at that. I threw on the spare and I am now shopping for a replacement. hopefully my luck starts to improve soon before I get seriously hurt :(

Today's Post is Brought to you by the Letter B...I be, you be, we be chillin

2006-11-03T15:03:00.000-08:00

Trip was good... not much to talk about but let me say a few things. Working in the Huanted Forest was wicked, wicked in the way that you can't put into words. So, I took pictures. The drill went a little something like this. We would show up 2 hours before the first "Vicitms" aka customers went through the forest. We would get ready in make-up which was a big production, and I give repect to the Calleva staff who made us all look so aweful that it was awesome. I'm just guessing but I think those girls painted about 30-40 staff members and made sure they were all dressed for there scene everynight. Then we would go into the forest and scare the pants off, and sh*t out of anywhere between 800 and 4,600 people. Talk about a money making machine.Not only did each person pay $20 to go into the forest and walk the 20 minute trail, but also emptied they're pockets on Concession Food, Rock Climbing Wall, ZipLine, Death Jump, Fortune Telling, Etc. This place really knows how to get it done. Despite one scene burning to the ground, constant machanical problems, rain, people hurting themselves trying to run away from what they paid to see and total power outages the managers did an amazing job to put on a great event everynight (except one). Markoff's Haunted Forest made it on to the front page of the Washington Post and countless Radio spots as the Best Scare in the area. Truely a great experience, and truely exhausting.

Doing Great

2006-10-30T13:36:00.000-08:00

Dn't hv mch tm s' 'm tkng t the vwls. DC 's grt nd 'm dng gd. Hp y'r ll dng grt. ttyl.

2006-10-22T14:56:00.000-07:00

Everything is packed from sleeping bag to helmet, passport to picklejuice etc. Our trip to Dickerson is about to get under way. Only 2 hours left til we leave the 'Wack and this funky orange smell behind. Although the weather in Chilliwack has been unbeatable it hasn't been very kind to our river, and now we are travelling to far off exotic places to find frigid weather and flowing water. The search will lead to exasperation but with Kurt Braunlich at the reins we are sure to take no prisoners and get 'er done. As you see here in the photograph my stern has a protective dome on it to insure the safety of the fragile fibres underneath while I'm slaying unpstreams on WHITEWATER!!!!!!!!!

Depressing Lows

2006-10-21T10:55:00.000-07:00

With goreous weather plaguing the 'Wack, and all of British Columbia, rivers and all water sources are reaching or nearing record lows. This has left us high and dry... ostracized from tamihi and forced out to the highway gates (which I think cuase me to get a sore throat) for the last few months. It's been decent, yet tedious, paddling flatwater for so long. The problem now is that our last resort for flatwater gates is drying out! The water is so low that we found a car... Strange eh? There's been this car at the bottom of our training site for years and no one knew about it. Speculation has gone from the car being stolen and dumped in the cannal from the dirt road right beside it to amazing acrobatic flips over the highway barrier, and the dirt road into the cannal....with no one seeing anything. Anyway enough talk just look at the pictures!

Open Mic Night

2006-10-18T21:53:00.000-07:00

Last night some of the local crew went to the Yuk Yuk's comedy tour. It started around 9:00m and cost about $15. Now I guess paying $15 to these people gives them the right to make fun of you all night! It was pretty funny. There was more than enough jokes at my expense for wearing a cheerios shirt, but I didn't mind I thought they were funny anyway. My favorite of the ones directed at me had to be "The only thing better than Cheerios Guy would be a Mini Wheats Guy. He's wholesome and good for you on one side, but then you can flip him over and lick the sugar off his back!" Hilarious!! After the comedy the local band Trevor MacDonald took the stage and everyone in the bar proceeded to the door-guess they had to work or something. I on the other hand talked Nikki, Anita, and Anna into staying to watch the band for a while. They play kind of oldies rock and I thought they were good. It just so happened to be open mic night. Nikki left after a while and I think she was kicking her self in the morning when I told her that I got up to sing. It was funny because there was just us in the bar, plus the staff, and some middles women. I sung a very poor rendition of Bryan adams Summer of '69. I'd like to thank the band for the opportunity to live out one of my dreams even though it probably won't go any further. There has been talk with Chris Mctaggart about Kareokee once he gets out here, which would be wicked! But for now I can cross singing with a live band off my list of things to do in life and sink back into obscurity after my 15min of Fame at Industry.
(video to come)

Building Traditions

2006-10-14T22:57:00.000-07:00

As the days pass here in Chilliwack our group has been busy forging new traditions. At the recent party (that you can read about on www.wettimes.blogspot.com ) we perpetuated the tradition of skinny dipping in the lake. and we have also formed a new tradition. One with less shrinkage and more eating. I feel that traditions that involve eating tend to last longer; Consider Givingthanks, or Chirstmas as prime examples. Our new tradition has been deemed $1 Taco Night. The Jolly Miller serves up delicious soft shell tacos for a mere $1.50 and the hard shell variety for $1. It's fabulous feasting! (but beware you have to buy a drink to go with it) but they're very good. So come to the Miller on Monday night to partake in Taco night... and possibly Canuck's Hockey afterwards!

Travel Schedule

2006-10-11T22:35:00.000-07:00

October 22nd leave Dickerson
October 23rd 8:30am Arrive

November 2nd Return to Chilliwack

BC Team Earning Good Money Now

2006-10-10T11:13:00.000-07:00

With Anna Williams taking charge of the BC Team fundraisers there has been lots going on. On September 16th our club put on a HotDog sale and on Sept 30th we rallied again to get all soapy and dirty washing the filth off Chilliwack's cars. On behalf of Anna and the club I would like to thank all the volunteers for coming out and lending a hand for a few hours, or bringing supplies, and to Barb Kemp and Classic on Alexander for suppling us with the means to make good Signs. In total we have raised $832 with $477 coming from the hotdog sale and $355 from the Carwash by donation. I hope next time we see even more volunteers... and if you can't help I'm sure your car needs to be washed, or you can eat a hotdog or two!

Happy Thanksgiving Everyone

2006-10-08T17:07:00.000-07:00

I hope eveyone is having an awesome weekend. The weather in Chilliwack could not be better. Except that we are hoping for rain becuase there is no water in the river right now. This makes me thankful that I am going to Dickerson on the 22nd of october. It's going to be great. If your turkey isn't looking like this first delicious turkey just be glad that it doesn't look like the second one, unless your a vegitarian... or the third unless your an alcoholic...

Stuff Other Than Pizza

2006-10-02T12:11:00.000-07:00

It seems like all I do is deliver pizza and eat pizza and make pizza... but that not true! So here is a post that has nothing to do with pizza other than that which I just said about pizza... and that... So over the last weekend we have been doing some physical testing in the boat. It has been made very difficult by the afternoon winds at Cultus Lake. Today though we went out in the morning and the lake was like glass. It's so nice out there in the morning. Anyway I'm not to sure how I compare to everyone because we all did it at different times because our schedules are so conflicting, but will fill you in on the full results soon. Also I have been looking for a Plane ticket to Dickerson and today is my final deadline that I have set for myself. We are going there from Oct.23rd to Nov.2nd. It is going to be such a blast. First of all Kurt has set us up with a home stay (sweet) and a free Van with trailer(double sweet) and we're all going to be working in a huanted forest at night scaring tourist and working behind the scenes (hahaha so sweet!). The only down side is that not very many of the guys on the team can afford to go with schooling and working going on. Doesn't matter though because I have never been to Dickerson and it will be a wicked week of training. Plus I might take some time to go do a touristy kind of thing around the Capital of the USA....

New Employees at Panago

2006-10-02T11:57:00.000-07:00

Times are changing at Panagopolous. Our most experienced driver has now quit and moved to Hungry Mans Pizza Paradise. So, in a bold strategic move the management scoured the city for the best boy for the job. They happened to run into our Map Boy. Yes, Derek and I are now working side by side ensuring the good people of Chilliwack receive taste pizza pies on time and in Incredibly good style!

Failure to Qualify

2006-09-27T12:54:00.000-07:00

I hate when blogs are all about things that make you upset, but I can't help where I get my inspiration from... I took my driving test today to get rid of my N and get my full license. Lets just say I'm going to have to take a second kick at the can. I failed miserably by not coming to complete stops, but now that I know a complete stop is 3 full seconds I will go back and conquer that test. When I say not coming to complete stops I mean rolling 8 stop signs. Dammit! Bad habits reinforced through hours and hours of delivering pizza at the speed of light!
Oh well another time I will do better.

Tales of an Honest Delivery Boy

2006-09-24T20:32:00.000-07:00

Once again I managed to get myself into a sticky situtaion while at work. This time I am apparently not allowed to go back there again. I'm not sure how I get into these confrontations...

Our policy at Panago is to exchange any pizza you don't like as long as there is atleast half of it left. Well I went to a house to exchange a pizza for them and they were being complete jerks. "You really want it back", "That's so pathetic!" blah blah. Well I get the nasty pizza from them, and my curiosity gets the best of me. I open it up and to my suprise there lies a pizza, other than being ice cold, doesn't look that bad. Now either they ate the nasty side or we made a good pizza. Now as I'm walking away the guy said something that I honestly can't remember but I turned around and said what everyone at the store thinks when someone returns a pizza "It couldn't have been that bad if you ate most of it." Now this inocent comment sent the wife beater of a goon into a blind rage. I had already jumped into my car and left just as he was calling me back to put up the dukes of hazard.

Anyway I had gone onto deliver pizza at 3 other houses and maybe got back to the store a half hour later. To my shock the manager asked me what I had said to that guy. I repeated exactly what he had said that I said (are you still with me?) Well the manager explained that this guy had come in to Panago... So I'm just guessing he got in his 4x4 deisil truck, which by the way he uses to commute to Vancouver everyday, after shotgunning the last of his Coors light right after I left and went straight to the store. I must have just narrowly miss seeing him there and I am very glad for that. Everyone was saying that he was atleast as big as Paul Bunion, and much meaner. When everyone heard what I had actually said to him the store was full of laughing and cheering...

Xiao Xiao #1 Kung Fu

2006-09-22T14:12:00.000-07:00


Robbers get Ready to Rumble! I've been studying this intense Panago issued training video ... >:^)

Panago Alert

2006-09-22T12:34:00.000-07:00

Terror Alert for Panagopolous Pizza has been raised to code Orange! The Chilliwack RCMP have told the stores manager, Lucy-anne, that an informant has relayed that two aboriginals and an african american in their mid-forties are planning a robbery within the following weeks. The staff have all been advised on proper Kung-Fu techniques to disarm a robber.

The plan is to scare the staff into being catious and alert while on the job. The rumors around the store is that another Panago in Abbotsford was rob a few months ago. The only person in the store was locked in the walk-in cooler and was stuck until the delivery personal returned to the location. She lost two fingers to frostbite, and is now committed to the Abbotsford Mental Health Institution.

Extreme precautions have been put in place to protect the store and staff. The doors will be locked after dark and people entering the store must ring the doorbell and be evaluated by the specially trained onsite profilers. I personally have turned to carry serious fire power on my hip. It's all about intimidation to prevent an ambush.

Elk Mountain Night Hike

2006-09-14T17:30:00.000-07:00

Ok This was a sweet hike mostly because nobody thought we would survive. There was a weather warning for severe lightening and hail, but those with faith and a sense of adventure( Ricky, James and I) kept on keeping on. The plan was to take the BBQ up to the top, cook sausages, and watch the sun go down. I have a lot of respect for Ricky's hiking abilities; He climbed up Elk with a BBQ on his back... and a sack full of sausages... and a six pack of Nestea. I told him I could carry something if he wanted to quit and give up. Needless to say he went all the way with everything on his back. The view was amazing and watching the storm passing through the valley as the sky cleared up just for us was wicked. (photos courtesy of Ricky-Bobby aka www.rickyfederau.blogspot.com)

Mt.Slesse

2006-09-13T11:00:00.000-07:00

For the second hike in three days this one was definitely a bold choice. I'm sure most of you have read this on connor's (wettimes.blogspot.com) or even Ricky's (rickyfedrau.blogspot.com) but I thought I should put up my account of the day anyway.

The way up to the trail head was almost as thrilling as getting to the top. My little Mazda 626 often has its abilities over estimated in the best of conditions. We were driving up the logging road towards the trail head and almost hurdled over the first trench across the road. I couldn't see it for the sun in my eyes, but Ricky's shrill warnings were just early enough for me to bring the beast to a halt. I edged the car through it as carefully as possible but hit bottom hard anyway. As we progressed up the trenches became a challenge. It was almost as if it were a game. We would scout the lines and I would attempt to get through. Usually high siding and spinning my tires until the first sign of smoke. The smell of burning rubber filled the cockpit and we would try again. It was very exciting and I was happy to give my poor 4x4 skills a chance of improvement.

The hike itself starts out nicely with a great view of the Nooksack glacier, and a secluded pathway to the actual trail. Once you find the trail that branches off to the left you realize this is no Sunday stroll through the woods. It honestly goes straight u the mountain. With as little back and forth as possible. I think if the path didn't have to wind around trees the would have just gone straight up the mountain. Me being not nearly as fast as Connor and Ricky, or as slow as James with a sore knee and Marian got lost somewhere in between. Often seeing Toby who would catch up but then wait for Marian to make her way. I found it peaceful to be alone in the wilderness. The path was poorly laid out and would sometimes disappear completely. It was an adventure to make it on my own... No one to follow and no one else's opinion to guide me. Near the top I lost the path so bad that I ended up doing what in my eyes amounts to nothing less than pure rock climbing with no ropes, no harness. The fear although probably irrational was motivation I had to go up because I was too scared to go down. Simple as that. Every burning step making the next one unbearable. I would claw my way up to the next cutback, then take a break, and continue up to the next cutback. It was an ultimate test of will power to continue up. Once I reached the summit the breath that I was struggling to catch was taken away by the brilliant view of the surroundings, and instantly every aching step was forgotten. I have seen things from these mountains that I never thought existed. It is the most incredible sight in the world.

2006-09-13T10:35:00.000-07:00

Training hard, or Hardly training? I'm sucha dirty mehican

2006-09-13T10:24:00.000-07:00

I guess someone wasn't happy about having to go back to school... too bad there are about 2,000 kids at Sardis with that same motive.

2006-09-13T10:23:00.001-07:00

Fire Trucks behind school...

2006-09-13T10:23:00.000-07:00

Two dumpster set on fire.

2006-09-13T10:21:00.000-07:00

Fire at Sardis Secondary

down, set, Hike!

2006-09-10T22:54:00.000-07:00

Well I have spent 10 years living in Chilliwack with this psycho hike in my backyard, and have just got around to doing it. Everyone has always said "Go hike up Mt.Cheam it's beautiful." la dee da... It's Waaaayy better Than I ever imagined. You can see all the way to Vancouver Island, Cultus Lake, Fraser River, and Harrison Hotsprings!! Thats amazing. Not to mention the terror of being 2100miles above sea level with a cliff on oneside that drops just aobut the whole way straight down! Absolutely, blood rushing excitiment. It takes longer to drive up to the parking lot then hike to the peak because of the necessity for 4wheel drive, but it was worth every second of the stomach churning road up. Trevor's confidence behind the wheel was awesome and eventhough I am usually neverous driving past the edge of cliffs I thought it was a great time! I must recommend this hike to anyone who can get access to a 4x4 vehicle.

Big Times Views from Mt.Cheam

2006-09-10T22:51:00.000-07:00

Fraser River (foreground) + Harrison Lake (back nine) Unreal!

2006-09-10T22:50:00.000-07:00

Jones Lake (who even knew it existed??)

2006-09-10T22:49:00.000-07:00

Cultus Lake (the little puddle in top left) Epic!

2006-09-10T22:47:00.000-07:00

Mt.Baker (dead center) Amazing!

Fabien's New Website!!!

2006-09-08T15:45:00.000-07:00

2006-09-08T13:25:00.000-07:00

Everyone listen up! This new website by Fabien Lefevre is a revolution in the paddling world. It has the best techniques outlined in plain english along with videos and pictures. I insist that everyone takes the time to visit this website. Fabien reveals secrets on how he won the 2002 World Championships and the secret to looking so good doing it. Visit www.paddler.fr for all this and much more!

Quick Note

2006-08-28T23:22:00.001-07:00

I just got off from work and thought I should blog about this one guy I met. I had a delivery at this apartment where all the visitor parking was taken. So, I pulled into a parking spot, but was pretty crooked so I moved to another spot. Thinking that this would be alright since I was only going in for five minutes. I guess I didn't relize how big of an A-hole I was being by parking in this guys place. I came out of the apartment just as he got home.. I apoligised and jumped in my car to move it. He then parks his car right behind mine and comes up to my window to have a "word" with me. Well he had more than a word and most of them weren't that polite. In the midst of his rage he treatened to "rip my ugly face off". Wuestion is do you think he would have said something if I took another persons spot?? probably not... hm. I just hope he doesn't lose it when he calls Panago to report Mr. Gregory Silverthorne...

I was going to put something about how the world is turning to shite, but everyone else was rather nice the whole evening.

2006-08-24T11:53:00.000-07:00

Team BC representing the WestSide..... There's an award for the best province called the Brian Creer Cup, and BC was awarded 11 points.... The winners 143 points.

Takin' It Easy

2006-08-24T11:24:00.000-07:00

I almost forgot how good it feels to sleep as long as you want, eat when your hungry, and just be lazy all the time. Although I must admitt that eventhough I have committed to taking the next few days off I am already itching to get back in my boat. This is the time of year when a little self control pays off as within a few weeks, once everyone is back from nationals, Chilliwack is going to transform into bootcamp style punishment. My performance at the big national races this year has left me with no possibility of getting funding. It's hard to see that your friends are getting paid to do the same training that you do... Not to worry because I'm not the only one on the no funding, beans and toast, fit training inbetween work plan. I have a feeling that there is going to be a strong bond between the two different groups. Although we are all going to be training together I have my eye set on knocking one of the few funded friends off their gravy train next year. So, it's down to business for the next 8 months...

2006-08-24T11:23:00.000-07:00

I've been gone for a month and need home for a rest.

National Depression

2006-08-22T08:15:00.000-07:00

The week at MKC was a constant build up of anticipation for the big race. So much so that I missed some important things happening right my nose... But when you're 18. Race day happened so fast that it left my head spinning and only now 2 days later have I finally looked at the official result and it in just how badly I did.

The day was miserable. Thunder and lightning lit the early morning sky. Fog rising off the river it was an erie scene. Up river dark shadows of athletes with coaches running through the finest details of the course. The only sounds are of the rushing waters and the tiny frogs escaping from under the footsteps of the few people up before breakfast to look at the course. I kept telling myself that I race better in the rain as I was getting soaked in the down pour. I psychological tact to keep my nerves calm.

At breakfast my nervous stomach churned as I saw the sausage and eggs at the end of the serving table. I grabbed a bowl of porridge and some fruit then ducked out of line before the smell of the eggs overwhelmed me. I spent most of the morning trying to finish my bowl of porridge which was bland enough to eat, and just enough to fill my stomach. After I had finished I decided it would be best to go down to the river and make sure I still remembered how to kayak. It's the strangest thing when the pressure is on and you begin to doubt your ability to do the most routine tasks.

After a quick paddle, where I finally threw up a few time, I felt more confident in myself then I had in a long time. I guess a clear mind and stomach can do a lot for a persons outlook. I got to the start line with a great idea of how this was gong to play out. Jon Allen National Champion. It sounded great in my mind. The race ensued and it wasn't what I had hoped in fact far from it. Although I can't say it was all bad. This was one of few races where I knew without a doubt that I could paddled through all the moves on good lines and actually be fast. The problem happened when I started touching gates. Gate 2 +2 seconds.... Gate 3 +2 seconds... Gate 14 +2 and gate 15 +2. Not the way to do it. With 8 seconds in penalties on the first run I hadn't even given myself a chance. It was over before the race was done. On my second run I didn't do much better with another 6 seconds in penalties I knew I hadn't performed the way I needed. Another year seeing my friends excel at the most important race and going on to get National Carding which is the Gravy train for all amateur Olympic sports. I missed my chance once again and will be back in Chilliack training myself harder than ever before to make sure that next year is not another disappointment.

Place Your Bets

2006-08-09T18:16:00.000-07:00

I know that there I still people out there who read this, so let me know what you think the results will be at nationals. What ever class your interested in.

The most interesting things going down are C1 Long time Champion Jamie Cartwright Faces off against up and comer Craig "one nut" Allen. Craig finally found some speed this year and put Jamie in his place at one of the days during tirals but failed to do so in any of the world cups. Will Craig be able to pull it off again, or will the Veteran Jamie be able to put this one pump chump back in second place once again?

It has been a great year of kayaking atleast for me. Even though I didn`t make the D team just yet I have had a great season and I`m more excited for this national then ever before. It is going to be the closest race in decades. In Men`s Kayak the entire field has made such an improvement that David Ford needs to watch out for each and everyone of the racers on course this year. I`m not going to do any trash talking cause honestly I have only one goal for this race and it doesn`t include the podium although a boy can dream... *sigh*... My prediction comes down to who`s been putting it together infront of my eyes. So, here`s what I think.

1. Mike Holroyd
2. "Captin Mysterio" Dave Ford
3. Pierre Levesque

Anyway that`s just how I saw in in this strange trance I had. I talked to Madame Cleo and she confirmed what I had seen. So there. I`m going to peace out and leave you with that to ponder, but leave a comment to let me and everyone know what you think, so that you can say "I told you so"

From the Wack To the Down Right Wacky

2006-08-09T18:06:00.000-07:00

The trip so far is going great! We spent two killer weeks in Canmore Alberta. Mostly sneeking into the BestWestern Pocaterra pool, poaching wireless internet, and doing loads of kayaking. It was really fun camping because I finally got to try my new tent, which I had won at this race one year earlier. We did two races at the Kananaskis and I ended up 3rd and 5th which is ok because I made the percentage off the fastest boat that I need to make at nationals. It`s a great feeling to be heading to nationals with such a huge amount of confidence in my racing. I just know that I can do what I need to do.

We just roadtripped it across this amazing nation of ours and had lots of fun along the way. Probably stopped at a Tim Horton`s in every province, because our yankee of a coach just discovered it and has fallen madly in love with Timmy`s Hoes. Anyway there is a race here, in Valleyfield Que, this weekend and then Nationals is at MKC the week after. It is gearing up to be a great show down. With the "top boats" returning from World Championships and Mike Holroyd burning along a strong winning streak out west. I for one am very excited to be part of this nationals. It will be a closer race than ever before... Don`t forget to leave a comment and place you bets.

World Championships

2006-07-21T15:30:00.000-07:00

With Worlds fast approaching it's time to put the blogs in motion. THe biggest race of the Canoe/Kayak Slalom world is happening Aug 2-8, even including the Olypics...even though the big O may be more prestigious. With the smallest Canadian National Team to be sent in years we need to wish them luck as they take on the rest of the world. New standards recently set in place apparently ensure that only the best of the best have qualified for the race this year. I hope everyone who reads this leaves a well wish for our team this year.