Last Saturday, two of my fellow coaches and I took part in the Marin Century, which, in addition to the traditional 100 mile course, features a number of other events, including a double century and a climb of Mt. Tamalpais. The three of us signed up for the traditional century, this being our first 100 mile ride, and we met in the fog of a San Francisco summer morning to make the drive over to the start at Terra Linda. The event was remarkably well organized, and after a bit of faffing about we managed to start just before the 8am start cutoff.
UCLA Women’s Assistant Coach Justin Price took off at a blistering pace, flying past many a carbon fiber frame on his 1988 Bottecchia steel frame edition. The two of us took some pleasure in passing people, as I was on my 1984 Univega, and both bikes feature downtube shifters. The century was to have the last laugh, however, in my case. I tried to keep up with Justin, and did so for the first 50-55 miles, but my three months of work as an antiquarian bookseller took their toll in the second half (excuses), and I found myself battling through the toughest climb (the Marshall Wall) without much punch left. Fortunately, the final rest stop was at the base of the descent, and I found myself much more comfortable following some watermelon and gatorade, not to mention with good company, as PRC Head Coach Matt Lehrer had caught me up, and the two of us started the attack of the last 25 miles together.
All told, I was on the course for 7 hours, with about 6 hours of cycling. Justin came across in about 6.5 hours, (5.5 cycling), and Matt not ten minutes behind me. It was a tougher challenge than I had anticipated, but well worth doing, and a great deal of fun. Next time around it would be great to get a group together so that we could form a real peloton — this was my first experience with drafting and let me say I’m convinced! Thanks to ET Hayes for the use of the spd shoes. Go Knights!
The Little Knights were back in action last Sunday at this year’s Newport Autumn Rowing Festival (NARF) in Newport, California. The competition was similar to the previous weekend in Sacramento, but this time featured a revamped UC Davis Varsity VIII, as well as the Stanford Varsity VIII. Building on the success and good rhythm of last week, we attacked the piece with renewed aggression, and began to separate ourselves from Davis and draw closer to Cal C (the Cal Frosh VIII) by the half way point. When we took it up for our sprint, we added yet more, and came across the line at 40 s/m, expanding our lead over Davis and, as it turned out, over Cal as well. The result was the best finish yet for the Little Knights at NARF, as we earned a 4th place finish overall (of 30), behind only Cal’s Varsity, Stanford’s Varsity, and Cal’s JV respectively, and in front of the Cal Frosh and all the WIRA schools. Needless to say, there was much celebration later that afternoon and evening at the Little Knight on 17th street. Almost too much.
In a race warm-up for the upcoming Newport Autumn Rowing Festival, we, the Little Knights, made our 2009-2010 season debut (and debuted our new uniforms, complete with an image of the Little Knight himself embroidered on the right leg) on a beautiful, clear day in Sacramento. We entered the Open VIII, and managed a 4th place finish overall (of 16), behind Cal’s Varsity, JV, and 1st Frosh VIIIs (though we were just 1 second behind the 1st Frosh). This puts us in a good position for NARF, as Stanford will likely not make the trip this year, and we will have a rematch with the Cal freshman on our ‘home’ turf. The lineup at the Head of the American included Tom Graves, who, along with his brother Pete, recently won the Championship Men’s 2x at the Head of the Charles. We hope to have Pete join us as well for the race in Southern California this weekend. For any Indo-Rowers who are interested the race takes place at the Newport Aquatic Center next weekend (on Sunday), and runs for most of the day. Hope to see some of you there!
There are two competitions on the radar that I am currently training for, one rowing and one running. I am gearing up for the Newport Autumn Rowing Festival, coming up on November 1st, which should be a great time, and we are fielding a quite competitive entry in the Men’s Open VIII. The boat will feature the Graves brothers, who most recently represented the US in the Men’s 2x at the 2009 World Rowing Championships in Poznan, Poland, and we will be racing against some of the top programs on the West Coast, including Cal and Stanford, across the 4.5 kilometer course. 
Last Sunday, Zoe and I participated in our first joint competition — the Susan G. Komen Race for the Cure, supporting the fight against breast cancer. The event was very well attended, and both of us were struck by the number of participants wearing pink shirts (indicating that they had survived breast cancer themselves, and were now racing in support of others). It was a 5k run, and marked Zoe’s first ever race, though you wouldn’t have known it from watching her. Not only did she push herself through the course in a very respectable time (just over 30 minutes), she also managed to raise more than $650 in support of the cause. I joined her in the fundraising effort, and managed to raise $350 in my own right. It was an extremely gratifying feeling as Zoe and I crossed the finish line together, knowing that we had accomplished something meaningful together, and I must say I was very proud of her effort as as athlete on the day as well.
The final Open House at the Pacific Rowing Club will be held this weekend, on Saturday morning from 10am-12pm. All are welcome, and most of the coaching staff will be present to greet all new recruits, lead tours of the facilities, and provide a general introduction to the sport of rowing, along with what PRC has to offer. Bob Maclean, the head coach, will be in Seattle, where he has arranged to pick up several new shells to add to the already considerable and up-to-date fleet. However, the Women’s Varsity coach, Matt Lehrer, and the other assistant coaches (myself included) will be present. This year looks to be a strong one, with a large recruiting class already gearing up for the Fall season, and a talented core group returning from last year. It’s a club with a long history of success and I am looking forward very much to becoming a part of that tradition.
