Miesville Redux - June 8- update with maps

We're getting closer to the Miesville Redux, a Gent's ride for Genteel Ladies and Gents.

The map and turn list are up at Ride with GPS.  You can generate a TCX or GPS file from there.  Long range weather is promising, and the burgers will be good!

A couple of notes about the route - I ride this area pretty often on a singlespeed CX bike with 28mm tires.  It's fine.  Road tires may get bogged down on the infamous "B" road, and there are a couple of spots where a little more float would be good, but even road tires may suffice.  Fat tire riders - enjoy!

See you in 2 weeks!

~marsh

Boat repair - Struer K4

Now that temperatures are warm enough for me to use my 'outside workshop', I've got a whole slew of club repairs to do for the Rice Creek Boat Club.  Some of them are minor - like fixing chips in the bow and stern finish so the boat runs smooth and doesn't pick up weeds, and some are like the K4 that I rehabbed two summers ago. The finished project will go on the water in 2 weeks, but in the meantime it's hanging out at Finn Sisu ski shop down on Lauderdale - and thanks to Ahvo and company for storing/displaying it for us!

Every club needs a K4.  It's the ultimate team boat for kayaking, and this was a beaut.  Well, kinda.  We got it from a friend in Texas, who got it from a club in Ontario in 'as is' condition - still needing a whole lot of TLC.  He realized that he didn't have the time to work on it, and his kids weren't that interested, so we swapped a K1 for his K4.  Winner all around.   This was no boat show queen, and in fact - it was in pretty bad shape.  Wenonah Canoe was kind enough to bring the boat (and a box of pieces) back up after one of their long haul deliveries, and I started taking inventory.  Over the years, I've done a bit of boat repair, building, rebuilding, glass work, epoxy work, etc.  But I've never worked with veneers of mahogany that were this thin.  Fortunately, I had a couple of patient folks to consult.  Express Composites was a gold mine of info and ideas.  They really helped a lot with figuring out how to solve some of the materials issues.


The first problem is the sheer size.  A K4 is THIRTY FIVE feet long, and only 20" wide.  The whole boat only weighs about 70lb!!!  This boat was built by Struer Brothers in Denmark, in about 1995 - probably concurrent with the Atlanta Olympics.  The original Danish finish was a catalyzed lacquer, and as you can see below, mostly had been 'degraded' by years of use.
This particular boat had been ripped nearly in half at seat one, and someone (maybe Tamas Buday Jr) up in Canada had done a pretty darn good job Sr) rebuilding the hull to make it usable (and straight).  I had mostly 'cosmetic' work to do, if you can call rebuilding the hot molded veneer cockpit combings cosmetic.  More like an archaeological puzzle.  Instead of attempting to be authentic and repair it the same way the brothers had made it, I opted for 'functional', cleaning up the edges, carving, sanding and piecing together the remaining bits, along with lots of thickened epoxy, some carved solid bits of mahogany a bit of glass, carbon filament, and a lot of sandpaper.  And I'm pretty happy with the results.  It's pretty ugly from closer than 10 feet, but on the water, it just looks like the patina of age.

 More glass, more sanding, more shaping, more expoxy, and time.  Cabosil and epoxy make a nice filler, especially when you mix in a few glass fibers to give it some strength.

 And some interesting clamping challenges too.

 The other side of the cockpit was a lot cleaner - mostly a few broken bits but at least they were all there.

 Almost every cockpit had a broken nose that required some kind of work.  The original work had steam bent mahogany wrapped around the cockpit.  I wound up carefully carving and fitting pieces and then wrapping with 4oz glass.

 The cockpit floor got an extra layer of veneer and glass, just to make sure it was strong enough.

 Seat assembly ready for locating and rebuilding the mounting.

 Seat 4

 I wish I'd had someone take pictures of the sanding process. Nick McGrory, Sarah Tokos, and Isaac Ridge, junior athletes of the Rice Creek Boat Club, spent a bunch of hours sanding to get it ready to coat. I spent more than a few more, but I was fairly picky about some of the finish details, and I really wanted to get it right where I could.

 At any rate, after a hundred or so hours of repair and sanding, several coats of catalyzed lacquer, followed by several more hours of sanding/buffing, here it is.

 Almost like a vanishing point sketch.

 Low luster Sherwin Williams catalyzed lacquer, sprayed on a calm morning. I probably could've/should've added a couple of extra coats, but it's good, I think.

Not exactly legal, but hey - it's up there.

Well isn't that embarrassing - Miesville Redux (date change) June 8

I've no idea what I was thinking, but I realized that I have a commitment on June 7, and rather than tell y'all to go ride anyway, I'm going to take the liberty that comes with putting on a ride, and CHANGE THE DATE.
Chris C - you can now ride!

Miesville Redux - JUNE 8 - that's EIGHT, no longer on Saturday, it's now SUNDAY.

What an idiot;)

Recap: Trailhead Cycles 32/22 Grinder

Saturday morning rolled around bright and sunny, and I drove off to find the start of the 32/22 Grinder presented by Trailhead Cycle.  There were about 30 folks showed up for what was a pretty low key event to benefit the Maple Grove/Champlin Park high school mountain bike team.  I'm good with that.
Sean (course architect and director) made the usual announcements and we were off.  I wound up in the first few riders, the pace was good, and everyone knew how to ride in a group.  Life is good.
The course took us out through NW Anoka County, which is part of the "Anoka Sand Plain" geologic feature.  For those used to SW Minnesota and the bluff country, or even the barrens of St Croix country, I can sum up the region in two words - pretty flat.  That doesn't mean there are no rises or surprises.  For the most part, the roads were in great shape - hard pack, unsullied by the spring grader, and very rideable.  The previous week's rain did create a few soft spots, but nothing difficult, and no sand pits.  The open farmland scenery is interspersed with clusters of  'McMansions' (and a few real ones), but for the most part, it's still farmland.
For about 16 miles, we rolled along at a nice pace - around 18mph, and I'm feeling pretty good to be able to stay with these guys, most of whom are a lot younger and a whole lot fitter.  And then around mile 17, some clown came to the front, upped the pace about .5mph, and I was hanging on by a thread. Actually, the 'clown' was a nice guy whose name I never got, but who happily pulled the rest of the way.  After that, I came unhooked on every hill, and chased back on the descents and flats.  At about 2 miles to go, I made contact for the last time, and the rubber band snapped.  I rode the rest of the way in with Sean, finishing the ride in under 2 hours.

SO what did I learn? This was my first real gravel outing on the Auger+.  I like it...  I never felt any push/wash/twitch out of the bike, it sucked up the road chatter really well, and if I had to drive thru potholes, it did so without issue.  Just a bike, which lines up nicely with their marketing.
I was really excited about the way the Challenge Almanzos hooked up on the road surface.  Probably not the right tire for everything (what is?), but they were definitely right for the surfaces on there.  I drove them pretty hard into a couple of corners, particularly late in the ride and never felt anything but solid connection.  My sense is that Challenge's high thread count carcass combined with latex tubes and HED C2 rims all contribute to a really smooth ride.  I ran them at 4bar pressure, which could've even gone a bit lower..
Too soon to really form opinions on the new Garmin.  It worked great, but the 'factory mount' while simple  and elegant is not easy to read the display.  I need to get a KCNC or Kedge extension mount to get it out in front a little further.
Looking forward to the next gravel adventure.  Miesville Gents on June 7, if not sooner.

~marsh

New GPS time

I broke down and got a new GPS unit for the bike.  After making do with my aged Garmin ForeRunner 305, carrying my phone so I could use Keep, GPS essentials, and whatever else it took to try and manage files, I bought a Garmin Edge Touring Plus.  Why the Touring Plus instead of the 810?  Easy - maps, routes, courses, and time/distance info but I don't really care about having a power meter, Cadence, bluetooth pairing, or the other really cool advanced features of the 810 series.  I just want to know how fast I'm going, how far I've gone, and how to get there.
Plus from a blog standpoint, DCRainmaker does a great  job of comparing features, facts and capabilities of these things.  I used their site to help make the decision to buy the Touring Plus.

Right off the bat, some likes - it's small, it's light, it's bright, and it comes with a base map already loaded.
The mounting system seems a little cheezy, but it'll work fine until I get a KCNC or similar.

After enduring the lack of graphics, ppoor routing ability and pretty lousy mounting system for the 305, I'm anxious to start riding with the ET+ to see how it works.

Routes and maps to come.  I promised those earlier in the year, and haven't forgotten about it. Much more work to be done in that area.

Miesville Redux - a little more info

I added a sign-up form just so we can let King's Place know that we're invading.  Same deal as before - no fees, no times, no much of anything except a nice ride with good people.

Looking forward to riding without the glacier - but there could still be mud! And turkeys!

~marsh

Miesville Redux - Gent's Ride - June 8

Since there doesn't appear to be anything on the calendar on June 8, I'm going to offer up the Miesville Redux - a 40 mile "gent's ride" (for genteel ladies as well).  The course will be up in the next week or so, but count on it hitting the 'best bits' of the Miesville Grinder, including stopping at King's after.
The idea of a gent's ride is that people will start out together, and generally stay as a group for the first half of the ride.  That means waiting at the tops of climbs, floating back to check on folks who are stopped/drifting backwards, and generally making it a social occasion instead of a typical testosterone filled 'I can hurt worse than you can' event.
Once we hit the top of Miesville Ravine, you are on your own. A couple of downhills, a couple of good climbs, and done.  Nobody's going to take times, sweep the course, or anything of the sort.  This is just for fun and gravel.

Also, no signup this time.  Just show up.

Rules -
Have a good time
Be gentle men and women out there
Wear your freaking helmet. If you don't want to wear one, don't show up on my rides.
Don't pee in people's yards or in front of them
Tip well at Kings - they are nice people.
Introduce new people
Have fun

When:  8:00 AM, Sunday June 8, 2014
Where: Miesville ballpark (if there's something going on, park to the right of the ball field, there's plenty of parking back there
Distance: about 40 miles (if you want to go longer, there's an easy lap option of the best part of the course)
Cost: nada, zilch, zippo, zero
What do you get? a fun ride

Broadening the base - how to attract new athletes to sprint kayak

I'm still a young pup when it comes to the sport of sprint kayak, but this is my 3rd sport where I've been an active participant as a coach, organizer or official, and I think it gives me a little perspective from which to speak up. I write this *not* as a challenge to the sport's leadership, and most certainly not as a slam on our current athletes or coaches!  It's an open question of how do we broaden the appeal of sprint kayak, attracting athletes from outside the existing framework, and stretching to achieve success at a world and Olympic level - in addition to introducing lots of new youth to a sport that only a relative handful of people even know exists (while it goes on right under their noses).

With no further ado, the question is this:  How do we reach outside the existing (and relatively small) development base of athletes to attract a talent pool of podium potential in all disciplines?

To set the stage:  Minnesota High School Nordic Championships are (in Minnesota) a pretty big deal. Being the best skier in Minnesota means a varsity ride to one of 10 or so elite schools across the northland from Maine to Montana.  Making it to State is a qualification process, and the top 15 skiers from each of 8 sections are invited - so 120 girls and 120 boys.  Each section consists of approximately 10 schools, with most schools having 25-60 kids in their varsity, JV and club programs.  A few can be as large as 250-300 kids.  I believe the total to be around 4500 kids taking part in Nordic ski racing at a high school level in Minnesota.  Out of that, you have approximately 20 per year that go on to ski at University on some kind of a ride.  Another smaller group may race club level for college teams and quite a few will continue to race recreationally, but a large number simply vanish from the radar. (sounds familiar to paddling, yes?)

OK, so back to the pointy end of this - out of these very, very talented young athletes approximately 10 a year will race in the USSA club system (outside of high school) for their regional team at US Nationals, a couple may be selected for international development squads, etc.  The model is actually very similar to what we have in USA Canoe/Kayak.  Out of the 240 athletes who make it to State each year, one or two may rise to National team status out of every Olympic cycle.  In other words out of 7000 or so athletes that enter high school skiing in Minnesota every four years, ONE may make it to the Olympics (Jessie Diggins this year)! Jessie and Kikkan Randall won the World Championships last year in team sprint, which is the first ever WC for the US!  (In direct relation, Sarah Tokos who was arguably the 2nd best Junior kayaker in the nation last year was realistically top 30 in the State).

Just think - if we could reach out into the football, basketball, gymnastics, swimming, soccer, hockey<gasp>, and baseball communities for just a few of their athletes who are injured, too big/small, or maybe bored and need a change, we could greatly expand the pool.

So my line of thinking - how do we (as BOD, NGB, and club levels) all begin to think farther outside of the box, and longer term on how to build this sport to where we can attract the athletes necessary to put our athletes on the podium?

My personal mission this year is to go after the 'next level' athletes - recruit the kid who has been trying to play basketball all thru elementary school, but his parents are 5'2 and 5'8; to get the girl who has been doing gymnastics with parents that are 6 footers and not lightweights; or the kid who plays football but can barely see the numbers on the lineman in front of him. All with drive to excel, good athletic skills, but maybe a mismatch of sports.  Hopefully I can double my active numbers this summer, and continue to grow from there.

I learned about grass roots level recruiting in cycling during the 80s and 90s.  One of the biggest things that the NGB can provide the local clubs is contacts.  Industry/sponsor contacts, local organizational contacts, and particularly contacts and collateral that develop families and names.  Mailing lists, social media links and push marketing - targeted Facebook and Twitter campaigns would help from a National level.  We'll do the same at the local end too, working on mailing lists from cooperative local organizations to develop interest from their constituents. One of my concerns with our current club marketing is that we've approached it much like soccer was marketed to parents and kids in the 80s - everybody has a good time, nobody loses, everyone gets to play, etc.  - and I do believe in this concept, and I believe it's right for our club to continue.
But I wonder if there isn't a subset of young athletes who view this as "it's not hard enough, it's not going to get me in shape, it's just paddling", not realizing that kayak is one of the most technical sports on the planet, and if you really need a challenge, ICF canoe beckons!   And we're going to spend a lot more effort on team boats this year.  C2 and C4, K2, K4 mean more kids get engaged and get to experience going _fast_, well before they have the experience to do so in a K1.  My hope is that this will help draw in a new crew as well.  Friends marketing to friends, athletes introducing to new kids, and hopefully some of them stick to it.

Your thoughts and comments are welcome.  I'm hoping to open a dialog, not rant about the state of the sport, and not worry about national team selection, or anything above the very local level.

 ~marsh