Wednesday, May 30, 2012

Dirt & Water

Last weekend was another adventure on dirt and water.  I hit the Bent Creek trails in Asheville for the first time with great friends (2 from high school).  Had 2 separate rides on the trails.  The first ride was about 12.5 miles.  The first 4.5 miles of it was a big climb straight up a mountain, then the rest mostly bombing downhillers with some steep banked turns and smooth jumps.  Our second ride was about 6 miles with more fun downhillers.  

We hit downtown Asheville for the evening to enjoy some of the local brew and pizza at Barleys, one of my favorites.  Several publications have written that Asheville has overtaken Portland as the #1 beer town in the country.  Besides the many local breweries (which are very good), Sierra Nevada and New Belgium are both expanding their brewery facilities in the Asheville area.

Back home, it was time on the water with the family and friends with some boating and SUP.  Rob, Matt and his two sons, and I had to make our own waves again with some SUP wake surfing.

Waterturtle, Derrick, Rick, Mike and his boy Luke.  Luke is 7 yrs old and was crushing it with us on our second ride.
a portion of the tough climb up
Fun in the woods.  Bent Creek trails were a blast.
Lake Surf Alert - small but fun.  Enjoy the short videos below - we were kookin' & goofing off.

Tuesday, May 15, 2012

RIP

Just went old school and watched my old VHS copy of Robby Naish's RIP.  Haven't watched that in years.  It was sitting in my basement video stash and screamed "watch me!".  Still one of the best windsurfing videos ever.  Great soundtrack.  The wavesailing rocks but the open ocean slalom scenes are absolutely killer as well.



Next up - those old Brian Caserio & Peter Trow windsurfing videos.  And actually go out and windsurf as soon as the wind blows.

Yes, I still have a combo DVD/VHS player.  Still need a way to watch all those old windsurfing VHS tapes!

Saturday, May 12, 2012

Happy Mothers Day

Picking up a Mothers Day gift for my sweetie. Of course I had to take it out for a test drive before I headed home. This photo was taken on Money Island before I headed out Masonboro Inlet (Wrightsville Beach)for an ocean paddle. Did a little SUP surfing in the am too....small but fun waves. Happy Mothers Day!

Wednesday, May 9, 2012

Local Racing

The 2nd Annual Aloha Cup SUP race was put on by My Aloha Paddlesports on Lake Norman last weekend.  Over $2,200 was raised for our local Habitat for Humanity.  A special thanks to very talented photographers Jeanette at TravelandPhotographyToday.com (her photos are tagged with her company name) and Ken Teeter (photos not tagged) for taking great pics at the event and sharing with us.

Vinnie's on the Lake was a great venue...sandy beach, hillside for spectators, and waterfront restaurant with outdoor seating....perfect for a SUP race.

Rob taking my old SOS Big Blue into battle in the surf class

The start of the Open 4 mile race

Trying to catch Kevin, the leading 14'er, on my 12'6".  I'd catch him at the turns but couldn't catch him in the straights.

Matt and I at the first buoy turn

My girls, McIntyre & Kris (heads down)

Dawn finished 1st in Women's Open Race
Kris finished 3rd in Women's Open Race

Bill
Matt finished 3rd overall and 2nd in Men's 12'6 in Open race
Nick, Matt's son. finished 3rd in Men's 12'6' in last week's Carolina Cup Rec race
Rob finished 1st in surf class of the Open race
This race is fairly unique with 5 tight buoy turns on each lap
McIntyre finished 2nd in Women's Open race

Kevin from Cary finished 1st in Men's 14' and 1st overall in Open race and I was not far behind 2nd overall and 1st in Men's 12'6

Matt, Waterturtle, Kevin

The start of the 2 mile Recreational Race.  Jen, Matt's wife, leads their other son Andrew to the 1st buoy.  

Our buddy and fellow windsurfer (and former Navy Seal) Chuck

Our son Jake (yellow board) decided he could paddle 2 miles...so he did!  I'm paddling behind him (out of the picture) making sure he stays out of trouble.  He put himself right in the thick of it at the 1st buoy turn.

Father and son enjoying our time on the water

Jen crosses the finish line, 1st in Womens' Rec race and 2nd overall.  Her and Matt's son, Andrew, finished 1st.











Thursday, May 3, 2012

Carolina Cup

Thursday May 3rd UPDATE:
Official results are now up...links below.  There were some timing issues and they've sorted it out.  Turns out I was 5th in my class.  And huge congrats to our local Lake Norman podium finishers Rob Cornwell (2nd in Men's Surf Rec race), Jen Cesmat (2nd in Women's Surf Rec race), and Nick Cesmat (3rd in Men's 12'6" Rec race, 1st Junior overall, & 8th Overall).  And I think there were closer to 18 or 19 Charlotte/Lake Norman area paddlers representing at this event.

Graveyard 12.5 mile Elite race - by divisions
Graveyard 12.5 mile Elite race - overall results

Money Island 6 mile Open race - by divisions
Money Island 6 mile Open race - overall results

Harbor Island 3.5 mile Rec race - by divisions
Harbor Island 3.5 mile Rec race - overall results
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _


A large group of paddlers from the greater Charlotte and Lake Norman area converged on Wrightsville Beach, NC this past weekend for the 2nd Annual Carolina Cup.  This event has easily become the east coast's biggest race, drawing 350 racers this year for 3 different races, plus sprint & kids races (and 4 different clinics).  Once again, fun was had by all, and Charlotte/Lake Norman represented well with approx 15 competitors and some very nice finishes.  We even got in a little sunrise SUP surfing Sunday morning in some small but fun surf.  The race organizers, volunteers, sponsors, and host hotel Blockade Runner all did a great job running the event.  There are tons more pics all over the web and Facebook.  I think a video of the weekend's races and festivities will be released soon and I'll share it here once it is.







Click on the photos below to see high res slide show (use bottom banner to scroll)

My girls & I before the races

The start of the Money Island Open 6 mile race....120 paddlers strong.  I finished 6th in the Men's 12'6" race class.  Lots of strong competition. 

Rob finishing strong in the surf class of the Harbor Island 3.5 mile race...good enough for 2nd place in that class...and on my old Big Blue SOS board as well!

Dawn also finishing strong in the Harbor Island 3.5 mile race....6th in the Women's 12'6" race class.

Jen running across the mat for a strong 2nd place finish in the Women's surf class in the Harbor Island 3.5 mile race.

McIntyre finished 3rd in the Junior's division of the Harbor Island 3.5 mile race.    Matt & Jen's 16 year old son Nick finished 3rd in the Men's 12'6" race class of the same race.

McIntyre beating her mama (holding paddle) to the finish...mama was struggling to keep up with her daughter the entire race....LOL!

That says it all

Our bud Bill completing the Money Island Open 6 mile race....way to go Bill!

Most of the Lake Norman crew chilling out on the beach after our races and watching the finish of the Graveyard 12.5 mile Elite race.

Rob claiming his 2nd place trophy

Jen on the podium for her 2nd place finish

Pros Anthony Vela and Candice Appleby doing the kids clinic

Waterturtle on the left in the sprint races.  I got through 2 rounds and made it to the final 4 (out of only 10 men competing), but lost out after that.

Jake and I before his kids' race

Jake digging in for the home stretch of the kids' race.  This was probably the best part of the weekend watching the kids having a blast.

Last year's winner, Anthony Vela

This year's winner (by a large margin) and one of the fastest guys on the planet, Danny Ching

multiple Battles of the Paddle champion, Candice Appleby

Danny Ching and Dan Gavere freestylin'
McIntyre paddling with 15 yr old phenom and sponsored Bark competitor, Bailey Rosen