Managing the spring head case

With spring in the air and the rivers flowing…it is definitely time to brush all the cobwebs and leaves out of your boat and get on the river! Don’t be surprised if your first trip to the river you have some hibbie jibbies rattling around in your head—even if you are heading to your back yard run. You have been out of your boat for a while!

Here are a couple of suggestions for helping work through the head games:


• Remember is it a head game. You are a good boater and you are heading to a river that you know well.

• If you are not feeling 100%, think about backing off a bit and paddling a run that you are really comfortable on to build back up your confidence and remind yourself you are good! Even putting in a bit lower/taking out a bit higher than you normally do just to make it a good positive day.

• Make sure you are paddling with people you enjoy being with. Kayaking is a social sport and having good supportive friends along will keep you smiling/laughing, reminding you how much fun it is to be on the river!

• Focus on the positive. You know the run. You know you are a good paddler. Relax. Do not spend the entire drive to the put-in thinking about how nervous you are and/or how you might crash & burn. You might—but chances are good you are going to have a great day. Don’t ruin it by focusing on negative stuff.

• Sing a song! Sure it is a distraction. But sometimes the way to get negative thoughts out of your head is to crown them out with something positive. So find a song that will get you fired up/relaxed/feeling good about yourself and everytime the negative creeps in shut it out with your song.

• Have a smile on your face. This is fun!! And have a super good day.

Read more...

Big Thumbs up for the Diesel 60!

Having spent very little time in the Diesel in the past few years, and never in the new Diesel 60, the Cheoah was definitely going to test whether I liked the redesign or not--and I loved it!

I have always enjoyed the Diesel, but not spent a lot of time in it because I always felt the D65 was just a bit too big for me. All this winter paddling the Mutant down the rivers of Costa Rica and Ecuador, I kept thinking that it would be great to return home and check out the new 60 as it sure seemed it would be the right size.

The Cheoah was cold and rainy yesterday--not the kind of day you want to spend any upside down time (not that Cheoah is ever particularly the upside down kind of river!). So I was hoping that all the chatter about stability was true. And true it was and more.

I remember the day I paddled the original prototype of the Diesel and came away thinking it paddled "sexy." I still think that. It moved so nicely down the Cheoah; super responsive to correction strokes, and steered well from either the bow or the stern.

I saw my friend Taylor Cote in her D60. Taylor is a tiny person that paddles big (I missed seeing her run Bear Creek). So going from Taylor's diminuitive size, to my fairly normal size, up to maybe ball park 150 pounds, this is the 2009 boat of choice for you--especially if you want more of a river runner than a play boat,but not a river runner so creeky that it feels corky and slow--you need to check out the D60.

Great day out with the boys, in a super fun boat. Nice work TeamWave Sport!

Read more...

Primping for Costa Rica

I don't think I would ever call being a kayak guide a "glamorous" job. You wear funky sometimes smelly gear; you are wet a whole bunch; sometimes you have to roll up and quickly wipe your nose; and you find yourself walking through ankle-deep in-you-know-what cow pastures. So what was the last thing I did before heading out for another four month tour of Costa Rica and Ecuador? Went to my friend Rob at Van Michael's salon and got my hair cut on the way out of town! Might not look glamorous once that helmet goes back on, but thanks to Rob, I left town feeling good :-)

Hope to see some great ladies down on our trips this winter!

Read more...

Barbara Brown: Namesake on the Gauley

The ladies of TeamERA are always looking for new heroes. And we were recently reminded that we had one within the ranks of our International Trip Guests: Barbara Brown.

While in Ecuador with us in January of 2005, talk of the Gauley River came up among the group. Before it was all said and done, we learned that Barbara was not only part of the first two trips down the Gauley, but was the namesake for the infamous rapid Lost Paddle (not much explanation needed there!). Still an active part of the WDC paddling community, many have fond memories of Barbara.

"Barbara was certainly part of the revolution back then, pushing limits, exploring new runs. What a river to be associated with a first descent on, very cool indeed. I have known Barb for some time, and have had the honor to meet her daughters Becky and Amy, both of whom are very acomplished paddlers themselves. One particularly cold spring day we were all up in the Cheat watershed, opted to stay @ the Helldeath motel [ Heldreth] in Kingwood, rather than brave freezing camping conditions. I can recall Becky and Amy speaking with their Mom on the phone that evening, telling her of our plans to run the Big Sandy the following day. I was handed the phone and was made to promise that I would not allow Amy, who was probably 13 @ the time, to run Big Splat.

That was a long time ago, as Amy went on to win 3 or 4 Upper Gauley slalom race titles, 02, 03, 04, maybe 05 as well. Did I mention that Barb may be a grandma, as Becky was to have her baby soon, she was in attendance @ the Tim Gavin Downriver Race and let me know the good news.
You wont meet a nicer bunch of ladies out there!"
Mike Moore

Read more...

Making the Transition by TeamERA Jess

Everyone is searching for something in life. For me, faith has been my holy grail. I have been trying to find faith in something my whole life. My destination was reached when I stumbled my way into Endless River Adventures and began my journey into the wild world of whitewater. I finally made the transition from someone who whitewater kayaks to being a real boater. You may ask what the difference is, well in my opinion, it is the state of mind one is in when they are in their boat. Here is how the story goes....

Read more...

Kayaking Giving the Advantage in a Job Interview

Just something that popped back into my head about how kayaking helped me in my job interview - Sarah Machinist

When I interviewed for the position that I just got they (my interview was 3 people interviewing me at once) were taking turns asking me about facing challenges, difficult work situations, etc. The paddling thing had come up at the beginning of my interview, because my only South Carolina related experience was the time I paddled the Chatooga. So when they asked me if I had ever been faced with something that was beyond my experience or comfort level and how I dealt with the situation, I said that I hadn't had that experience professionally, but proceeded to explain sitting at the top of a new rapid where walking around it was not an option. (I had a time we were on the Ocoee and I looked at one of the rapids forever in my head.) My solution was to make a plan - because you know you have the skills to run the rapid, take a big breath, smile - because it will make the experience much better, run the rapid perfectly, and make sure there is someone to high five at the bottom. They seemed to like my answer pretty well and the smile part is definitely something that I can still hear and see you telling me to do.

Have a great day,
Sarah

Read more...

Pregnant and Paddling

Our Brandy just wrote a great post about dealing with being pregnant and paddling. What we like so much about Brandy is that she is a)spunky; b)totally committed to being a good boater and c)human and having to deal with issues like having kids, being nervous on the river, trying to balance family, work and goal of being a good kayaker..

finding a balance is such a challenge. Especially when you want to be a mother and a kayaker and have to struggle with preconceived notions about what a mother should/should not do (let alone what you should/should not do when pregnant). Brandy reminded me of a great article that our friend Maria wrote. Maria is a working mom, an incredible kayaker, and an enthusiastic breaker of stereotypes of what a mom/woman should or should not be doing! Maria's Cartwheeling Through Pregnancy is a great inspiration for all of us!

Read more...