Subject: Re: Congratulations
Date: Thu, 17 Jun 1999 12:57:32 -0500
From: David Reichel
The first day was very exciting. Wade Binion, Robb Wytaski, and I worked frantically to make the last minute preparations for the race. The gun went off with a mass start of 72 boats. Only a few hundred yards from the starting line, we had to go under a railroad bridge with very limited space for boats. We started in the 10th row so we expected congestion if not disaster. Somehow we moved up nicely and made it through the railroad bridge without difficulty. Right behind us there was a "pileup" that could have been nasty if we had been a little slower. Wade got his paddle knocked out of his hands going under a low bridge about a quarter mile later and we had to stop the boat and go back and get it. We went from about fifth place back to about 10th in a few seconds and lost our opportunity to shoot the waterfall at Rio Vista the way we wanted to. Instead of waiting in line, we just pulled up on top of the dam, lowered the boat, and kept going. We did so well with out makeshift portage that we actually passed several boats. Just a little later, a canoe in front of us, rammed up on a log and stopped, and we thought we had just enough room to ramp over the log on the right. Unfortunately, the current swung the canoe into out path just before we hit the obstacle, so we rammed the canoe and jumped the log at the same time. The guys in the canoe thought we should be disqualified for not stopping and waiting for them, but I think it was largely their fault for blocking what was a clear opening for us. I think part of their complaint was that they expected to beat us and didn't like getting passed. Our support crew was really surprised when we came into the first check-point in fourth place. We were expected to run in 10th to 15th place at that point in the race. We were feeling good and paddling very strongly. About 30 minutes later, we had an excellent run down the most dangerous rapids, Cottonseed. The third place boat was just a little ways ahead. After Staples Dam, we entered the most difficult section on the San Marcos, with fast current, obstacles, tight turns, and "sweepers" which are places where fast current tends to carry the boat into dangerous trees or brush. We made almost no mistakes and held fourth place very well. Several people commented that we went out too fast the first few hours, but actually we were just paddling well and our pace was well within our ability. We also had a very fast boat which helped us get out front so easily. We pulled ahead of the third place boat (with John Bugge) for several minutes, but we lost time when we got stuck going over Little Ottine Rapids. What was an open channel two weeks before had turned into a rock pile because of lower water. John found the open channel and his boat was quickly 200 yards ahead of us. Possibly the most exciting part of the race for many of the spectators was just before dark, when the Bugge boat came around the corner above the Palmetto checkpoint and we were only 10 yards behind. The spectators went beserk! They didn't know that our two boats had been running so close. I think we could have kept up with them the whole race, but we had inadequate lights and we couldn't see the river well enough to paddle fast. John thinks we paddled too hard the first day and tired ourselves out so that we couldn't keep up with him. That just wasn't true. Without good lights, we worked just as hard, but couldn't go as fast. We hit obstacles that we couldn't see and couldn't chose the best routes through the current. The first night, we got passed by two five man boats that had good lights. One of them let us follow them for a while, but neither boat was willing to let us stay up with them all night. They didn't want to deal with us when daylight came. By Sunday morning, I was still paddling, but I was feeling nauseated and was having trouble getting any food or water down. The whole race I tried to eat and drink every 10 minutes, but I wasn't taking in enough calories because of the nausea. In addition, I hurt myself at one checkpoint that night. I gracefully jumped out of the boat and landed with my tailbone on a sharp stick which was about one inch below the surface of the water. I felt so much pain that I thought I might pass out. One teammate encouraged me to just take some aspirin and get back in the boat. I remember commenting that I could have injured anything and it wouldn't have mattered as much, because you have to be able to sit! It bothered me the rest of the race. Unlike some boats, where paddlers had already "gone down", which means that at least for short periods of time, they couldn't paddle at all, we were still able to pull water. I just didn't like feeling sick. I wasn't having much fun at that point in the race. I tried to get a little sleep, but I might have slept for about 5 minutes. About noon, I tried taking a caffeine pill and it seemed to clear up the nausea. I actually felt like paddling again! For the next eight hours we paddled very well and the race was fun. I would like to see our split times because they must have been excellent. It got dark at the last bridge in Victoria. By paddling very fast most of the day, we had gotten through a lot of river that I would rather not see at dark. Our lighting system consisted of a headlamp which used 4 double A batteries. I thought we had enough spare batteries to make it through the night, so I was feeling confident. I was later shocked to find out that the extra batteries I had packed were already being used, and we would be totally without light for at least five hours on one of the worst sections of the river. With weak lights and a fog moving in, we were almost blind. We were barely moving faster than the current. I decided to take a more active and aggressive approach. I started paddling hard and yelling out where the river was by just looking up in the trees. Our stern paddler was falling asleep on us and I told him if he didn't stay awake, we would all die, which probably wasn't true, but it seemed to help. We had enormous difficulty, but we kept moving. When we got to the "swinging bridge" checkpoint around midnight, we were told that we had traveled the last part of the river faster than expected. I was amazed that we could do so well against boats that had good lighting systems. The race official told us we only had about 35 miles left in the race, and that it was easy because all we had to do was follow the river. We still thought we had some lights and were excited to get the race over with. Only a mile later, our head lamp went dim. It was then that we discovered that we were out of batteries. The next few hours were the most difficult experience I have ever had. With no moon, some fog, log jams, brush, rocks, and other obstacles that were invisible until we hit them, we had a very difficult time. Usually we could only guess were the river was by looking up at the trees. Also, we were all having difficulty thinking clearly. I "saw" elephants, little people, indians with lights for eyes, lots of boats and bridges, and other things that weren't there. Once we got stuck on a log and I saw two chunks of cement on either side of the boat. When I put my hands down on them to push off, my hands just went down in the water because there was nothing there. All the voices I heard Sunday night sounded far away like they were in the next room. At one point, one of my teammates insisted on stopping the boat at a farm house to ask if we were still on the Guadalupe River! The farm house that he saw, with outbuildings and a yard light, didn't exist (a hallucination), so we didn't stop. We got passed by a four man boat (the Cowboys) near the end and they were clearly paddling uphill for as long as we followed them. Just before the bay, I stopped ducking for brush and branches because I thought that I was dreaming. In a dream, you never really get hurt, but I remember that twice I ran into a thick branch that really did hurt! Crossing the bay, I couldn't get myself to believe this wasn't just a long painful dream. I was continually amazed by details like jumping fish, a tug-boat in the ship canal, the patterns of light on the water as the sun came up, and the ridiculous things my partners were saying. How could I be dreaming something with such detail? I hurt all over. My butt hurt the worst. I felt like I had a dagger between my shoulders. My hands hurt. Even my feet hurt from sitting in water for two days. The scenery moved way too slowly for a dream. What kind of a dream was it that would require me to paddle every painful stroke across such a vast distance? Usually in a real dream, you can take shortcuts, but this dream seemed to be eternal. I finally saw the flag pole. Was I really in the Texas Water Safari? I didn't know. There were people cheering. I tried to paddle a little harder to look good for the crowd. We stopped at the steps and I stumbled out of the boat. I could barely stand up. I couldn't have made it up the steps without help. I talked to few people and have no idea if I made any sense. Someone handed me some food and I went to a motel room and slept for 5 hours. It was strange that for the next 36 hours, I could only sleep another 2 hours! I suppose I should have taken some sleeping pills. We had quite an adventure! Being in third place before dark on the first day was exciting, but as I said, we lost a lot of time because our lighting system didn't work correctly. The fact that we dropped to sixth place was mostly because of our lights, and not because we didn't pace ourselves well. However, considering the competition, placing sixth was a remarkable achievement for our team. Except for a few minor injuries, and some nausea Sunday morning, I felt that I held up well, physically. We really surprised a lot of people with how fast we went. The two guys I paddled with were fun and we worked well together. I'm already thinking how to do better for next year! I'm also thinking about how I would be crazy to do it again! I guess that's all part of the challenge and risk of doing an extreme adventure like the Texas Water Safari!
David Reichel |