2004-08-06 Hoigaards with Todd Ellison 62:24 1st place finish

Todd Ellison had been racing a kayak for most of the season, but I asked him to race with me and he agreed.  It would be my fault if we didn’t win because he’s a very strong and smart racer.  He has won a lot of races, but there were several very good teams so it would be another exciting race. 

Four teams rounded the first buoy across Calhoun after the start.  Todd and I, RoseAnne Joa and Jason Larsen, Ed Arenz and Brett Arenz, Ryan Peterson and Al Dubois were side by side heading for the narrow bridge channel.  I tried to signal Todd into sprinting away, but he didn’t respond.  Once we got closer, he took off paddling faster and we pulled ahead of everyone but RoseAnne and Jason.   Jason knows how to stay on a ride no matter who he has with him.  RoseAnne has only been racing for 2 or 3 years and she’s really coming on strong.  Besides that, she has bigger biceps than I do.   Even so, it takes most new racers more than 3 years of racing to win in the racing division at Hoigaards. 

Todd was frustrated with me when RoseAnne and Jason pulled up on our side wake on Lake of the Isles.  I hadn’t warned him they were making their move to pull up.  I should have sprinted to keep them from getting over our stern wake.  Then Ed and Brett pulled up between us and Todd was even more unhappy with me.  I pulled us over to the shoreline because I thought we could pop it up and gain a length on those two canoes, but Todd didn’t sprint.  Instead, he said “See what’s happening … they’re gaining on us.”   OK… I pulled us back over to their stern wakes. 

Coming out of the buoy turn at the north end of Lake of the Isles, RoseAnne and Jason took the inside and we turned behind them.  Ed and Brett were on our outside and Todd took a wide turn and headed for the shoreline.  Ed yelled “You’re pushing us into the shore!” and started jabbing his paddle into our canoe.  Even though I know we shouldn’t have run them into the shore, I said “You do that again and I’ll break your paddle!”   Meanwhile, RoseAnne and Jason were pulling away while we were arguing.  

We caught back on their side wake and rode them through the channel to Cedar Lake.  Since RoseAnne and Jason were on our left side, Todd dropped back to their stern wake just before the buoy turn.  Jason said we should have stayed alongside us. Todd said we needed to keep our speed up. They did a great turn with RoseAnne doing a crossbow and Todd dug a crossbow in right behind them.  I couldn’t keep the momentum going because our canoe almost hit theirs.  We were still on their stern wake coming out of the turn. 

We sprinted up to their side wake on the left.  I had a problem controlling the canoe with Todd’s strong paddles and he pushed us over to crowd them against the side.  Jason said “Come ON Todd!” and they stayed on our side wake.  As we came to the railroad trestle bridge we slowed up and our canoe dropped.  Todd hollered “Come ON Rick!” as RoseAnne and Jason zoomed past our canoe as it dogged down off it’s own wake.  We stayed on their stern wake all the way back through Lake of the Isles.

We sprinted as we passed the island and got on their side wake again.  Not without having to work for it though.  Jason said “You can either pull us or let the teams behind us catch us.”  So Todd and I started pushing it.  Coming into Calhoun again, Todd said “Keep the canoe level!” because I was flopping around.  Then he said, “Hit with me!” to remind me to stay in sync.  I had gotten sloppy because I was tired.  “There!” he said as I again matched his stroke timing.  It’s tough paddling with the top paddlers when you’re still not quite at their level. 

After the last buoy turn on Calhoun, we were on their side wake, but the cross wind kept pulling the canoe so it pointed into theirs.  I couldn’t switch sides and had to paddle on the left side all the way across Calhoun.  Finally I hollered to Todd that I couldn’t keep it straight and we needed to pull away and sprint on our own.  When we got off their side wake, I was able to focus on putting more force on each stroke.  Todd went into a hard and fast sprint.  I heard Jason remind RoseAnne to “Relax!” and they stayed right alongside us.  At the finish line, we barely pulled ahead of them to squeak out 1^st place with a time of 62:24.   Both teams got blue ribbons because we were in Men’s Racing and they were in Mixed Racing and both teams earned their ribbons.