Happy New Year!!!
I've been off-radar for a while. 2017 brought lots of changes, some upheaval, and writing about it all didn't seem appropriate. The short and long of it is that we launched Twin Cities Paddlesports in early 2017, on beautiful Lake Phalen in metro St Paul, and are working hard on fulfilling our mission of bringing paddlesports to a new market in-city.
There were a lot of reasons for 'starting over', not the least of which was to broaden the mission and offer paddling opportunities to both younger underserved kids, and offer some structured training to adults.
OK, on to the fun stuff. We did Canada Day, Nationals, OKC night sprints, and put an athlete on Jr Worlds team. We did classes for little kids, programs for sprint athletes, and brought electricity to the water (literally - "Murphy" our coach boat is the only electric powered coach boat in any of the US sprint kayak clubs).
We also saw the old NGB USAC/K fold, and return to the roots with American Canoe Association. With that came a renewed focus on educating coaches, and we (coaching ed committee) with the help of Nelo brought the top guy at ICF, Czaba Santo, to Lake Lanier, GA for an instructor certification course, and then delivered the first level of coaching education to 30+ coaches around the US.
My travel for 2017:
Coach instructor training - Georgia - Feb - fly
Boat pickup - Pennsylvania&Toronto - March - drive
US Team Trials - Georgia - May - drive
Car pickup - Texas - July - fly/drive
RAGBRAI - Iowa - July - drive
US Nationals - Florida - August - fly
Boat pickup - NY - September - drive
Wedding in OKC - Oklahoma - September - drive
Coach education course - Georgia - November - fly
Winter camp - California - December - fly
Other really fun stuff.
Snow biking is really fun. Due to really poor snow conditions this year, I only skied 75 km all winter. On the other hand, I totted up 500+ kilometers on my fat bike during the winter season! Proper clothing and studded tires made riding - even on ice - a lot of fun.
Another change this year is that I finally got hearing aids. I got tired of not hearing my wife, athletes, what was said at the other end of the table in meetings, etc. A world of difference.
I also have started going to live music when I have a chance to hear someone I find interesting.
Darrell Scott - at the Dakota.
Rodney Crowell - Dakota
Reckless Kelly - Dakota
James McMurtry - Turf Club
Colter Wall - 7th Street Entry
All of these were well worth the price of admission. Most moved from the 'punch list' to 'any time, any place'.
Lots of fun in store for 2018. I plan to write more about coaching, biking, travel, music, beer and BBQ this year.
