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.

Making a Difference One Cent at a Time

The prospect of canoeing 121km is rather daunting. If the Popes Allen Gardiener Memorial was anything to go by, I know I will need a worthy cause to set my mind on in order to cover the kilometers when times are tough. At EAP (the practice for which I work) we have taken it upon ourselves to sponsor a charity for 2014. As a practice we have chosen to sponsor Esther House and we have decided to make the Dusi Canoe Marathon one of the drives to raise funds for them.  

Esther House is a NGO (Non-Governmental Organisation) based in Pietermaritzburg since 2001. They are a shelter for women who have been victims of abuse and trafficking, Esther House differs from other shelters as they aim to keep women together with their children. They assist distressed women and their children by giving them access to various services, teaching them skills and attending to their basic needs. Victims have access to services such as social workers, police assistance, therapy sessions and medical care. They also provide food, clothing, skills development and accommodation.

The Dusi Canoe Marathon takes place from 13-15 February 2014. Chandelle, our partners and I will canoe a total of 121km over the 3 day period. If anyone is keen to donate money towards our cause you are able to do so in 1 of 2 ways.

1. Sponsor us per kilometre covered: Individuals, small companies and big businesses could sponsor us R1, R10 or R100 per kilometre covered (Day 1: 42km, Day 2: 43km and Day 3: 36km). eg: If we only make day 1 and day 2 an individual who opted to sponsor R1 per kilometre would donate R85 as we canoed a total of 85km
2. Donate a lump sum of money: Donate as much as you want :) If you want to donate R20 or R2000000000000000 – every cent counts

ALL proceeds will be donated to Esther House to cover the costs to provide for the individuals who seek shelter.

If you are keen/know someone who wants to/work for a company that would like to donate please contact me, alternatively you could make a direct deposit using the account info below. If you require further information or a formal letter of request I could hook you up with that too.

Beneficiary: Esther House
Bank: Nedbank, Scottsville
Acc no: 1341045404
Branch: 134125
Reference: Dusi

Ibis to Dip Tank

2 qualifying points and 4 days later my body has recovered from effects of the Popes Allen Gardiener Memorial race. The race was a rather rude awakening after a 2 week Christmas holiday in the Cape. Popes Allen Gardiener Memorial race runs from Ibis point to Inanda Dam and forms part of the route of Day 2 of the Dusi. After a long holiday with no canoe training, very little rest and low water level on the river the race proved to be a challenge.

The Popes Allen Gardiener Memorial race is 26km. My partner and I spent 3 hours 45 minutes battling a rocky, windy and bumpy course where we paddled 20km on the river, portaged for 3km and finished with 4km on flat water.

During this race I learnt a few important life lessons:

1. I learnt that paddling is NOT for sissies – I’ve always considered myself to be a bit of a tough cookie, during this race I found myself feeling otherwise. After a few scrapes (no really, it was just a few flesh wounds) from menacing thorn bushes I caught myself silently longing for the comfort of my cotton duvet covers, hoping that someone would jump out the bush and slay the thorns for me.

   

   Me having a pitty party on my pitty potty after a close encounter with a thorn bush

2. Sometimes the best way to deal with nature is to just “go with it” – Due to the low water level our boat got stuck between rocks with the result we had to get in and out of the boat to try and break free. Whilst stepping out you stepped out onto various surfaces; sometimes you’d get some reed like vegetation, other times you’d find mud or a form of rock. The more rocky surface varied from smooth flat rocks, mossy slippery rocks, loose rocks/overgrown pebbles and some pseudo mud caked rocks (I refer to them as pseudo mud caked rocks as they had the appearance of caked mud, yet stepping on them sent you flying instead of providing the stability you so desperately seek). From the above mentioned description you can imagine that stepping out of a boat and walking on a rock may not be the most graceful endeavour. In some instances I found that the best way to scale down a slippery rock is to just “go with it”. If you can’t find your footing on a slippery rock just whip out your fun pants and slide down-the most efficient stance being that of a surfer on a surfboard.

   

   Me in my fun pants scaling the face of a rock 

3. There is something worse than running into a headwind - I managed to squeeze 2 short runs in whilst I was on holiday in the Cape. Since I have not trained at home in a while I forgot about the wind factor, my chilled run turned into a mild strengthening session compliments of the assertive breeze at Rondebosch Common. I remember thinking “What could be worse than running into a head wind?” Much to my dismay I got the answer to this question on Sunday while finishing the last stretch of the race…Paddling into a head wind for 4km on flat choppy water is way worse (in relation to river water, dam water does not “move” for this reason it is referred to as flat water)

Though I found this race both physically and mentally draining (I was seriously contemplating going for a psych analysis to ascertain why I agreed to do Dusi). It served as a good trail to prepare me for the race to come in 5 weeks time. I took comfort in the fact that most people found the race difficult due to the low water level and the general consensus was “it will never be worse than that”.