C-Forum

Oh god, I just did the same thing! Hilarious.

You see, I make attempts at levity on here, but we all know -- C.S. is the king!

Dang,
if beer at the take-out is "old school" then what the heck is beer at every break spot during a run?

Longboatin wrote:what the heck is beer at every break spot during a run?

Refreshing!

KNeal

Thnks 4 the response - geez I was beginning to think mentioning drinking and boating was gonna shut down the post.

Oh, I meant that it makes it an old school race. Not many races give you beer at the end. Maybe it's all those slalom races I'm comparing it to (for example, I'd rather our big slalom races be sponsored by Ensure than by that Vitamin Water [word edited by admin].) For some reason, I just picture every race back in the 70s -- slaloms, downriver races, high school track meets -- ending with guys who look like Steve Prefontaine breaking the finish tape and cracking open a brew or lighting up a [note: this is a family website]. I'm sure at some point they probably took time out to "freak out establishment types" as well, but that doesn't happen at the Cheat Race. Anyway, that's just my impression.

Of course, races are one thing, but recreational trips [please, admins, I'm talking about PADDLING trips!] are another. Beer at the take out of a regular river run is not "old school." In fact, I'd wager it's still a constant -- a mainstay, even, of "new school" paddling trips, too. I'd say for "new schoolers," drinking beer at the take out comes right in between "getting jacked up on the gnar" (as they'd say) and "getting jacked up by law enforcement for not being old enough to drink at the take out."

In fact, I'd probably wager that Tyler Bradt himself, right after running Palouse Falls -- and right before consulting with his marketing agent about the next "Young Punks" video -- probably tipped him back a High Life with the "bros" at the take out, no question. Hopefully he was old enough . . .

Anyway, some things don't change!

- Alden "Just call me 'No School,' since I dropped out so early" Bird

Speaking of "law enforcement" and the Cheat, here's a funny little true story.

So the week before Cheatfest, I ran the Big Sandy. When we got to the take out, there were hundreds and hundreds of WVU and high school kids all over the beach -- drinking, smoking, barbequing, jumping off the bridge into the Cheat. People were parked everywhere. It was pretty peaceful, but not surprisingly the cops showed up.

When we went to leave, the cops were blocking the road, making all the paddlers angry. Being annoyed, I got out of the truck and went up to the cop car and asked if we could drive around them. The West Virginia cop looked at me and said:

"Son, I don't give a s--t what you do."

Never heard a cop say that before -- but it worked for me . . .

Now I know what Jay means when he says "you're taking the law into your own hands" out there!

Alden