hello, readers! welcome to this new blog thingy we've got going... hope you like it! great bunch of folks these potomac people are, no joke!
last week i was out to Oregon for a little Gorge Games action. Oregon is like a second home for me... i spent last summer pushing rubber on the Middle White Salmon and absolutely fell in love with the area... its got amazing rivers, great people, and a funky fresh vibe to life.
for those not familiar, the Gorge Games is a multi-sport event encompassing everything rad n' bad that you can do in the Columbia River Gorge. The big-box events are definitely the wind sports: windsurf and kite-boarding have the largest cash purse and draw the most spectators by a mile. But kayaking is fun too, eh!?
Friday started out with time trials for Saturday's Extreme Race on a groovy little class IV rapid called Maytag. The stretch of river for the extreme race itself is pretty extreme, haha, and hence I decided to post-pone my Gorge Games debut until I can style drops like Big Brother without shitting my pants (28 whopping feet). Time trials narrowed the competitor field down to 17: 2 ladies and 15 gentlemen, enlisted for combat duty on the Truss.
The two girls, Heather Herbeck and Lana Young are two super-standout locals---they fire up the gravy all year long. My first time meeting them was on the Truss... that's one thing I love about Oregon, it's completely normal to see all-girls groups running the mank.
Saturday morning there was a mass exodus to the Truss (Green Truss section of the White Salmon River). Since I wasn't racing I joined the safety troops and sat like a momma duck at Bob's while everyone fired up the course.
Photo: Monica G.
Photo: Monica G.
Photo: Luke Spencer
Photo: Jennifer Hart
last week i was out to Oregon for a little Gorge Games action. Oregon is like a second home for me... i spent last summer pushing rubber on the Middle White Salmon and absolutely fell in love with the area... its got amazing rivers, great people, and a funky fresh vibe to life.
for those not familiar, the Gorge Games is a multi-sport event encompassing everything rad n' bad that you can do in the Columbia River Gorge. The big-box events are definitely the wind sports: windsurf and kite-boarding have the largest cash purse and draw the most spectators by a mile. But kayaking is fun too, eh!?
Friday started out with time trials for Saturday's Extreme Race on a groovy little class IV rapid called Maytag. The stretch of river for the extreme race itself is pretty extreme, haha, and hence I decided to post-pone my Gorge Games debut until I can style drops like Big Brother without shitting my pants (28 whopping feet). Time trials narrowed the competitor field down to 17: 2 ladies and 15 gentlemen, enlisted for combat duty on the Truss.
The two girls, Heather Herbeck and Lana Young are two super-standout locals---they fire up the gravy all year long. My first time meeting them was on the Truss... that's one thing I love about Oregon, it's completely normal to see all-girls groups running the mank.
Saturday morning there was a mass exodus to the Truss (Green Truss section of the White Salmon River). Since I wasn't racing I joined the safety troops and sat like a momma duck at Bob's while everyone fired up the course.
Photo: Monica G. Heather starting things off right at Bob's
Photo: Monica G. Lane Jacobs styles Big Brother in a KENDO (really, a kendo)
Photo: Luke Spencer I didn't get to see everyone fire off Big Brother, but I heard rumors that the cave was hungry that day! No surprise in the results, Tao Berman took 1st, New Zealand's Sam Sutton nabbed 2nd, and the Czech Republic's Honza Lasko stole third. Great showing. Heather came out on top for the ladies with Lana not too far behind. After the Extreme Race came BoaterCross! BotoX was also held on Maytag rapid... which is a pretty awesome place for a race. You can fly down that thing like greased lightning if you pick your line right. Gravy, baby, graaavy! I had a helluva good time throwing elbows with the girls and tweaking it out for third place. Here's a shot of yours truly trying to go fast:
Photo: Kate Wagner
i flippin' love BoaterCross... such good fun. i can't wait to come back next year! and of course the awesome events are always followed by awesome event festivities... 3 hour dance party say whaaaat?! aaand thus concludes another epic adventure in the Pacific Northwest! a million thanks to Kate, Christie, Rachel, Jesse, and the boys at the Beaverlodge for putting me up for the week. you guys rock rock.
Photo: Kate Wagneri flippin' love BoaterCross... such good fun. i can't wait to come back next year! and of course the awesome events are always followed by awesome event festivities... 3 hour dance party say whaaaat?! aaand thus concludes another epic adventure in the Pacific Northwest! a million thanks to Kate, Christie, Rachel, Jesse, and the boys at the Beaverlodge for putting me up for the week. you guys rock rock.
Over and out, team, over and out.
Photo: Jennifer Hart 
