Not an easy task when you see that some of the kyackers are talented boaters in their own right--like Trip Jennings and Rob Tompkins. There was also a wildwater c-1 paddler by the name of Chris Davis who raced, but he did not get to preview the course and was stuck following the other racers. The competition was close and I ended up having to run the last significant rapid (Pipeline) with Trip Jennings right next to me 
. It was dicey, but I was able to stay on-line and upright. Not to take anything away from Trip (other than he paddles a kyack 
); he is a class act.Another cool thing about the race is that a picture of me running Pipeline made it on the front page, top of the fold, of our local paper (Richmond Times Dispatch). The photographer who took it also printed a pic of me paddling on the James on the front page of section "B" in the same paper, 2 weeks before
. Wish I could find 'em online so I could post a link. Oh, well. If anyone wants to see those pics, just come on over to the house or catch me on the river. There's a good chance that I'll have a copy in my wallet 
I had a slice of "humble pie" after the race by paddling Chris' wildwater c-1, Bala. He uses a kneeling thwart in his, so I was FUSSIN' at him to hold onto the boat so I could get in without flipping
. Once in, it took a lot of work for me to stay upright AND balanced. I couldn't turn around quick enough to get back to shore and get out of that thing. He told me that it is one of the easier wildwater c-1's to balance and turn. Hmmm, I'll just take his word for it.KNeal (still stoked from the race)
Addendum: the boat I paddled is a Maverick I got from Billy Hearn several years ago and it has a kneeling thwart. I also used a Mitchell premier paddle (carbon shaft/wood blade). The blade was recently replaced after fending off a "rock-a-dile" attack in the Cheat "Massacre-ence" race this past May. I was thinking of replacing the Maverick because of its many leaks, but now...?
