Conquer the Bear Part III - Kayak

So it was I headed back to Big Bear for kayaking - event number three in the serious. I thought this would be easier than the snow shoeing and the mountain biking, so I was looking forward to it.

My extensive kayaking experience consists of - don't blink or you'll miss it - an REI class and an adventure race back in September 2008. Who needs to know how to paddle anyway?

It was a nice day, and I got to borrow a 10 foot kayak. . .

(A view of the lake from the finish area.)

(Me with my borrowed kayak before the event.)

My goals were two-fold.  First finish.  (That is different from finishing first.)  Second don't fall out of the kayak into the lake!  I was using a kayak I had never seen before and paddles I had never used before.  I'm sure that won't matter when it comes to balance or rowing or steering.  Besides, it was only a 5k race in the bay.

It was nice being on the water on a sunny Sunday day.   The only real downside of the race was that there were teams / individuals who did not know how to steer, so they would cut you off or get you stuck. So that was pretty frustrating.  At times I thought - would it be unsportsmanlike to push their kayak away?  Would it be worse if that ended up in them tipping and falling in the lake?  Does it matter if they ended up in the lake and they were rude?  Would anyone notice?  Why can't these people just leave me alone?  All I want to do is paddle myself around the bay a few times and finish my event.  So next time, I have to start towards the front and avoid the traffic and crazy paddlers.

But 24 minutes later, I was back on the beach with event number three completed and my two goals met!  Next year Jane and I are thinking about the 30k tandem race.  Now that would be some paddling.