Opposites

One weekend in August I competed in a canoe race - the American Canoe Associations Open Canoe Slalom Nationals. The particular race I competed in had two components. The first was a down river component where you go as fast as you can down 4 miles of river. This requires strength, endurance, good technique, and the ability to navigate rapids on a whitewater river while taking on as little water as possible. The second component consists of two runs through a slalom course where 20 or so gates are hung over 200 or so yards of river. The gates, depending on their color, must be navigated by travelling downstream or upstream. This requires skill, precise control, power and, as with the downriver race, the ability to take on as little water as possible while battling the surging currents of a whitewater river, strapped into a boat as long as 15 feet and as heavy as 60 pounds. [Note : high end race boats weigh closer to 30 and can be a bit shorter, they compete in a different class.] Despite our dry conditions, the river had no shortage of water as it is dam fed. I didn't do particularly well but I had a great time.

A week later I took two of our children on a camping trip with the YMCA Trailblazers in Pisgah National Forest. One of our activities was to go tubing on the Davidson River. Tubing, in general, requires nothing more than the occasional splash with your hands to avoid a branch or a rock. Unfortunately, our dry spell did affect the Davidson as it is a free flowing river. The result being that some of the larger of us drew more water than was available and found ourselves sliding, crawling, and walking a lot more than we were floating! This did require strength and endurance... The kids agreed with me - we'd rather be in canoes!