Pimpin' Ain't Easy

I've been really stoked lately to be riding my bike as much as I have been able too. Fitness is coming back slowly, and although not a lot yet - the weight is coming off. I forgot how hard it was to train 6 days a week. It's not an issue when I don't have other outdoor activities to do. When we get a bunch of rain and the rivers and creeks start bumping up with a lot of water, or a good size snowfall comes through and the snowboarding looks good then I run into problems. For instance, the whitewater kayaking is looking real good right now.

The problem this time of year is it's creeking season. Why is it creeking season? Well, mostly because the temps are lower, and we get more rain. This allows the rivers and creeks to be at optimum or above optimum levels to run. Your saying, "that's great, get your 190 pounds in the boat and paddle then!" Just hold the phones a minute there kimosabe. First off it's cold. How cold your asking? Colder then a well diggers ass. You know how it feels when it's 38 degrees, cloudy and the wind's blowing? Now go jump in a river for 3 hours. You getting the picture? Luckily, they make these cool things called drysuits. It keeps you mostly dry, but the neck gaskets choke you out and you still feel the icy cold water when you get flipped over.

Tough to get these things on or off, and they do cut the blood supply off

Once you get all geared up and talk some of your paddling buddies (who are either a.) as stupid as you or b.) as stoked as you - it's a really fine line between them) into going with you it's usually not as bad as it sounds. I feel like getting geared up while it's cold is the hardest part. After that, you warm up as you are working your way down river. Your probably still asking yourself why it's a problem that this time of year is creeking season since the cold weather doesn't deter me much. Well, the real problem is in my head. I want to be preparing for the upcoming mountain bike race season, but I also want to progress as a paddler. Makes it tough to focus on either thing intently. So I end up playing this back and forth game in my head. All the while looking at the weather forecast and the boating beta page that measures the volume of water in all the creeks and rivers in the Southeast. Check it out: www.boatingbeta.com

This year, 2012, it seems like kayaking won a lot more then biking. Good news is that I became a much stronger paddler. The other side of the coin is that I gained weight, lost a lot of fitness, and didn't race at all on the bike in 2012. I'm hoping to be able to better balance out the two this year as I have goals on the bike and in the boat. Either way I figure that at least I'm outside enjoying our planet and doing something I love!