not really sure what stance i've got going on but i'll be sure to improve my stance as well.

First day of training was sunday, we put in at Kaw point and paddled up stream to get a feel for what was going on. We met an MR340 veteran by the name of Doug. He was a very nice guy and very generous with some tips and whatnot,and  the way he looked at the canoe then at us and asked "are you guys going in that?" was pretty classic. We were not to be deterred and he even went on to say that the race was 70% mental,  so that felt  encouraging, right? I'm not going to lie, we were sketchy at first. The canoe has a very small sweet spot and does not tolerate futzin around well, furthermore she is not one to stay on track on her own, you have to stay on top of keeping moving in a generally straight line. Doug told us that from kaw point to the 2nd bridge by the Kemper arena was 2miles. I'm pretty sure we made that into about a 3 mile journey with all the zig-zaggin we were doing but by the halfway point we had her mostly under control, which led us to getting serious about a project list. Seats, are the main order of the day, padding, backrest, adjustable those things will be a necessity. We also discovered that going downstream is much easier than going upstream, whodathunkit? On the agenda is working on better paddling technique, upgrading seats, sunscreen, and some other stuff. All in all an exciting first outing.

april 04, 2012

Here we are, preparing ourselves for an attempt at the Missouri river 340, the race from Kansas City to St. Louis on the Missouri river, all 340 miles of it. It's been all fun and games talking about it till we got the checkpoint and cutoff times:

Kaw Point, mile 367, Race Begins, 8am Tuesday, July 31st.   
Lexington, mile 317, (50 miles) 5pm Tuesday   Leg avg.  5.56mph  Total avg. 5.56    
Waverly, mile 294, (23 miles) 9pm Tuesday  Leg avg. 5.75mph  Total avg. 5.62    
Miami, mile 262, (32 miles)  11am Wed.   Leg avg. 2.29mph  Total avg. 3.89    
Glasgow, mile 226, (36 miles) 6pm Wed.  Leg avg. 5.14mph  Total avg. 4.15    
Katfish Katy's, mile 180, (46 miles) noon Thurs.  2.56mph  Total avg. 3.60    
Jeff City, mile 144, (36 miles) 7pm Thurs.  5.14mph  Total avg. 3.78     
Hermann, mile 98, (46 miles) 10am Friday  3.07mph  Total avg. 3.64    
Klondike, mile 56 (42 miles) 6pm Friday  5.25 mph  Total avg. 3.79    
St. Charles, mile 29, finish line, (27 miles)  Midnight   4.50mph  Total avg. 3.85 mph
 


So, i suppose this is also an attempt at documenting our process, preparing the boat, training and meetings and whatever else comes along. I retrieved our vessel last weekend, and will be giving it the once over in the coming days. Seats with some padding and  back support of some sort, some structural repairs, make sure it's water tight, the basics.


  Here is Henry checking the boat out, with some lunch on our way home: