Welcome to Browntown with Bennett Fleming

While many at keeners wish to improve whitewater kayaking skills and form bonds that will last a lifetime, I on the other hand wish to walk the righteous path and reach the state of tan known only as “Browntown”. In an attempt to document my journey, I will lead you through the 7+ stages to the ultimate brown. As a wise man once said, sunscreen is for white people.

Stages I - III: The Phantom Brown, The Clone Brown, and Revenge of the Brown

Honestly, these stages aren’t even worth talking about, and are rather shameful if I do say so myself. Like the Star Wars prequels, we pretend that they don’t even exist.

Stage IV: A New Brown

At stage 4, the brown is very pronounced. A distinct life jacket tan line can be seen, or as former keener David Koyrakh said, “That’s not a tan line, that’s a race line.” Many compliments are given and much pride is taken in the brown.

Stage V: The Brown Strikes Back

“No sunscreen is the path to bad skin. No sunscreen leads to tan, tan leads to dry skin, dry skin leads to peeling.” - Definitely Yoda

Stage VI: Return of the Brown

Though through unfortunate genetics my skin dries out very quickly and thus peels easily, the Browni are not so easily beaten. Like a brown phoenix, in the smouldering pile of peeled skin, a new, more glorious tan is being reborn. At the end of week 2 at keeners, with dedication and lots of moisturizer, I am currently in-between stages V and VI, and hope to reach full stage VI by the end of the session.

Stage VII: The Browntown Awakens

The stories are real, all of them. Only after years of careful patience and dedication can one achieve Browntown, a tan so righteous that only a true Browni master could only dream of achieving. 

Thank you all for joining me on this epic odyssey in my quest to achieve Browntown. They say that a new stage, Stage VIII, exists, but only whispers of its name are heard. Maybe we’ll see in the Christmas of 2017.

Credit: Anna Bruno

Till next time,

Bennett Fleming

Chasing Glory by Bennett Fleming

Drop edge, paddle out, turn back into the curler, lean in and stroke. Surf.

Eyes upstream, carve out onto the shoulder, look into the foam and drive in. Cycle.

Drop down the wave, takeoff edge, lean back, look ahead of the rotation and bring it around. Air 

screw.

Surf, cycle, airscrew. Glory.

Now do it again.

This year being my third and last year at keeners, I have felt many things. Fear, pain, and regret, to name a few, but the one thing that keeps me coming back is the feeling of glory. Never mind the amazing coaches or the beautiful river, the feeling of pure joy and elation just gets me every time. I remember one of my first kayaking instructors, a former keener. I remember how amazing he was, cartwheeling and looping in the flat water, and I remember his ever so far away goal, to air screw. At the time, it seemed so impossible. To fly and contort in such a way just seemed so distant, but now I know that many things I deemed impossible are now within my reach. With a little coaching and a lot of effort I completed an airscrew, and it felt glorious. I felt it all throughout my body, and I was so shocked at what I had just done, I didn’t even try to stay on the wave. To me, glory is one of, if not the most enjoyable feelings in the world.

But the thing with glory is its fleeting nature. You can chase and nip at its heels, and sometimes take a bite larger than the last, but glory will still elude you. After doing a trick that you’ve perfected over and over, the glory starts to dull. It’s not glorious, it’s expected. So you find new ways of tasting glory, new tricks, new lines, but in the end, glory will still outrun you. 

So that’s it right? We’re doomed to chase a fleeting high, only to be disappointed over and over? Not quite. It may be fleeting, but it’s contagious. When I see someone more experienced or less experienced than me complete something that they’ve been working on, when I see their glory radiating throughout their body, I can’t help but to feel that glory too, and that’s what I love about keeners, and kayaking in general for that matter. I will always be surrounded by people radiating glory, be it big tricks, beatdowns, or big pancakes, and the ever present feeling of joy, no matter how strong, will keep me chasing glory forever.