Crashing and Dashing from Dusi to Campbells

Over the past weekend I participated in 2 races-on Saturday I did Crash and Dash twice and Dusi to Campbells on Sunday. On waking on Monday morning I could feel the full effect of both races.

Dash and Crash

Dash and Crash was exactly that-dashing and crashing for 10km from Camps Drift to Low Level Bridge. The race course does the ¾ loop of Camps Drift, down Ernie Pierce Weir, under commercial bridge, through Musson's Weir, through high way rapids and ends just before low level bridge. The start can be best described as a mad rush with a side serving of complete carnage-I have never seen so many boats taking off at the same time at Camps Drift! The great traffic volume at the start gives rise to a massive wave that could either make or break you. If you manage to catch the wave, dodge your fellow canoeists and unfortunate swimmers consider yourself “made” as you dash to the queue to shoot Earnie Pierce Weir. Consider yourself “broken” by the wave if it causes you to lose your balance and go for a swim. I was “made” by the wave in both Crash and Dash attempts thanks to the mad skills of my competent partners who drove.

I learnt 2 fun facts during Crash and Dash:

Fun Fact #1: Swimming is not ayoba

I went for my first real swim during Crash and Dash after hitting a rock at the bottom of Highway Rapid (swimming is when a paddler falls out of their boat and…swims). 

In the event of swimming I have been told that the order of events is as follows:

1. Get yourself sorted! Lie on your back with your feet up (you lift your feet to prevent them from getting stuck between rocks-thus avoid drowning)
2. Get hold of your paddle: Paddles float/drift away in the blink of an eye. Trying to find a paddle among the reeds is like trying to find a needle in a haystack. A canoeist without a paddle is a lighter without gas…useless
3. Get hold of your boat
4. Get hold of your partner

I quickly came to find what you gain on the swing; you lose on the see-saw. You avoid drowning by chilling on your back at the expense of your buttocks and back. The bruises on my bum and back are a gentle reminder to avoid swimming at all costs.

Fun Fact #2: It’s possible to breathe through your eyes

Canoeing has opened the door to a host of new experiences and challenges, some of these experiences can best be described as exhilarating and terrifying at the same time. In stressful situations people will generally find an increase in their breathing and heart rate, an increase in blood flow to the muscles and pupil dilation; this reaction is called the “fight or fight response”. My body, on the other hand remixes the flight and fight response as it gets the pupil dilation right, but seems to think that cessation of breathing trumps increased breathing. I am convinced that my body has learnt to breathe through my eyes as I have come to find that I am able to paddle through fairly long rapids with minimal gaseous exchange at lung level. 

Picture of me with baited breath whilst shooting Musson's Rapid. Note the eyes the size of saucers-my body's attempt to increased surface area of my eyes to enable breathing. 

Campbell’s to Dusi Bridge

Campbell’s to Dusi Bridge served as a good curtain raiser for the “big race” to come in 2 weeks as it forms part of day 1 of the Dusi Canoe Marathon. Campbell’s to Dusi is a 28km race with 2 portages. The take out for first portage is at Guinea Fowl's , at Guinea Fowl's you are greeted with a steep steady incline followed by a short flat section before you reach “Devil’s Cauldron”. It has been dubbed Devil’s Cauldron as it’s a steep section that consists of many steps going up and down into a valley that tends to lock heat on the day of Dusi. Once you are out of the cauldron you shoot down a gravel road on Geoff’s road to the next point where you put in and get back on the river.  For someone who usually runs up hills with ease I felt humbled during this portage as I was forced to walk up the inclines whilst heaving and huffing (my laboured breathing was met with a few concerned looks from fellow paddlers as we passed them on the single track). other than a near death experience at Mission Rapid where my partner and I were dislodged from a rock by an oncoming boat that was next to be lodged; it was smooth sailing from Geoff’s put in to Finger Neck portage. With one silly swim and 2 character building portages my partner and I successfully finished Dusi to Campbell’s Bridge in 2 hours 40minutes.