The week started off with Jurassic park themed competition where we were split into two of four and one of five. The groups were Velociraptors, T-rex, and Endonemous-rex. I'm in the T-rex team with our leader Stephen Wright who fits the role of alpha T-rex perfectly with his short arms. Our team consisted of two Americans, a Costa rican, and a New Zealander. We were determined to become the top dinosaurs and win the competition.
Thursday was the craziest day of the week for me. It was big water beatdown bacon Thursday. The Velociraptors were in the lead with T-rex in second and Endonemous-rex in third. I knew we had to pull something spectacular out of the hat to get into first place. The best beatdown without swimming was worth 450 points and the best beatdown with swimming was 150 points. I watched from the side as my two New Zealand buddies dropped into right side Phil's Hole in the duo creek boat as they got a horribly glorious beatdown for a minute then swam. I wanted to get an even better beatdown so I ran up to the top with my play boat, determined to get the best beatdown for my team. I dropped into right side Phils and immediately felt my spray skirt was coming off on the side. I surfed for about 40 seconds in control, then everything went terribly, fantastically wrong. Before I knew it I began tumbling end over end with no control over my boat. Just as I thought I was out I got sucked back in. I could feel my spray skirt starting to come off and on the next tumble I was shot out of my boat and popped up down river happy to be out but not so happy to have swam because it was less points for my team.
A kayaker from Endonemous-rex was in the lead for the 450 points after lunch. I was still determined to get the best beatdown without swimming, knowing there were still big nasty beatdowns that you can get down stream. As we arrived at the last rapid of the day, just bellow Colosseum, I knew I could get a beatdown in Centre slot, which is more of a pour-over than a hole. Without really thinking I dropped into Centre-slot, knowing that this could be one of worst beatdowns I will ever experience. As soon as I dropped in I knew that it was all going bad, I could hardly keep a side surf because the water was so steep and the hole was violent, I started tumbling trying not to panic, I came up in a side surf trying to hold it up with my head half under water, I then continued to tumble starting to run out of breath. Suddenly popped out thinking i was home free I took a sigh of relief. Everybody was shouting but I thought they were cheering, suddenly the whole sucked me back in flipping me over again, out of control. I was upside down but then I could not feel the tumbling water pushing against me, only calm water which was so relieving. I took my time making sure I set up for a good roll. I flipped up taking in a big breath before shouting in triumph as the others cheered me on. Kalob came up and gave me a big high five, and so did Stephen and the rest of the Keeners. It was a great feeling.
I felt great for helping me carry my team of T-rex's to victory for the day earning a lot of points for my team. We are now in first place heading into the final day and I hope we continue our lead but more importantly enjoy my last day at Keeners and make the most of the best kayak program ever!
Thursday was the craziest day of the week for me. It was big water beatdown bacon Thursday. The Velociraptors were in the lead with T-rex in second and Endonemous-rex in third. I knew we had to pull something spectacular out of the hat to get into first place. The best beatdown without swimming was worth 450 points and the best beatdown with swimming was 150 points. I watched from the side as my two New Zealand buddies dropped into right side Phil's Hole in the duo creek boat as they got a horribly glorious beatdown for a minute then swam. I wanted to get an even better beatdown so I ran up to the top with my play boat, determined to get the best beatdown for my team. I dropped into right side Phils and immediately felt my spray skirt was coming off on the side. I surfed for about 40 seconds in control, then everything went terribly, fantastically wrong. Before I knew it I began tumbling end over end with no control over my boat. Just as I thought I was out I got sucked back in. I could feel my spray skirt starting to come off and on the next tumble I was shot out of my boat and popped up down river happy to be out but not so happy to have swam because it was less points for my team.
A kayaker from Endonemous-rex was in the lead for the 450 points after lunch. I was still determined to get the best beatdown without swimming, knowing there were still big nasty beatdowns that you can get down stream. As we arrived at the last rapid of the day, just bellow Colosseum, I knew I could get a beatdown in Centre slot, which is more of a pour-over than a hole. Without really thinking I dropped into Centre-slot, knowing that this could be one of worst beatdowns I will ever experience. As soon as I dropped in I knew that it was all going bad, I could hardly keep a side surf because the water was so steep and the hole was violent, I started tumbling trying not to panic, I came up in a side surf trying to hold it up with my head half under water, I then continued to tumble starting to run out of breath. Suddenly popped out thinking i was home free I took a sigh of relief. Everybody was shouting but I thought they were cheering, suddenly the whole sucked me back in flipping me over again, out of control. I was upside down but then I could not feel the tumbling water pushing against me, only calm water which was so relieving. I took my time making sure I set up for a good roll. I flipped up taking in a big breath before shouting in triumph as the others cheered me on. Kalob came up and gave me a big high five, and so did Stephen and the rest of the Keeners. It was a great feeling.
I felt great for helping me carry my team of T-rex's to victory for the day earning a lot of points for my team. We are now in first place heading into the final day and I hope we continue our lead but more importantly enjoy my last day at Keeners and make the most of the best kayak program ever!
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