race weekend

i'm a little bummed after our cabin trip. the race did not turn out the way we had hoped. but with this race, sometimes there's nothing you can do. if it's not your boat you're at the mercy of the other paddler....their set up, their plan, their ideas. my dad's partner has done the race before, so it's not like he was in the boat with rookie. but as a team they were rookies. they made the decision to enter a little late in the game and rejean (pronounced like ray-jean...... think "jean" claude van damme~ no he doesn't look like that, but his name sounds like that) is a french canadian from quebec so it's not like they could practice together tons before the race. it was a great night for racing, but stuff just happened. their light went out... and their backup light died too, so they were trying to navigate a very technical river blind. they ended up getting stuck on logs, hitting stuff, ripping a hole in the front of the boat and taking on tons of water. eventually, all of this caught up with them and they missed one of the cut-off times. i know they could have made it. even if my dad had to drag that man down the river, they would have made it. my dad is determined and he has improved A TON this year. he wasn't planning to enter the marathon, but when a last minute chance came up he couldn't resist. i'm glad he did it even if it wasn't the best racing set up. the race is wicked fun, and all i got to see was the start. it's intense.... that doesn't come close to describing it.
and plus, this weekend was on where they got to meet lots more paddlers and teams. and bonus: my dad got to meet george blaha! during one of the pre-race dinners rejean was making a presentation (he's a big wig for one of the triple crown races) and after he called up tons of race big wigs and blaha he says, "and we are a team so i need my partner grant tally up here too." so there goes my dad up on stage.... we joked that people would be whispering, "who in the world is grant tally?" but it was pretty cool. second bonus: we got to do race prep where the big names get ready. there's this guy that let's people use his house and property to park and get ready. every year, we would see them on the "other side" of the river and i always wondered what it took to get there.... they're in now! rejean (or as my dad called him "rej") knows everyone! i had a sweet spot for the start in this guy's backyard.
i can't think of any other good stories right now, so i'll post some pictures. even though i know the race turned out in a bummer way, i have good pictures and i will NOT have them wasted. these will be race pics and i'll post fun connor pics from the cabin later.

throwing rocks with grampa

dad and rejean

my mom always stands like this for pictures.....

.....and nathan thought it was hilarious to copy!

he was right. :~)

connor loved helping grampa get ready.

last minute feed crew instructions... don't mess up.

the boats are held near the bank until about 30 minutes before the race

rejean said (with his little french accent) it's hard to be a celebrity, eh?

boat 99.... ready for the start
they start the race in a le mans style start, which means they have to run about three blocks to the river before jumping in and taking off.

ready to go for the 60th annual ausable river canoe marathon!

this one is for mike and nic... they always manage to find very interesting very random people. this guy walked right into about 4 shots we were getting ready to take. then when i was by myself picking out this primo spot by the river he walked right in front of me again. i decided to take his picture then.

believe it or not... this guy's 82. he's done this race over 30 times, and he finishes well every time.

and they're off!

they made it through the start unscathed... i watched two other boats tip right in front of me.