Take it when you can

The sun goes down every day. How many days do you watch it? I can say, it wouldn't be a waste of time to watch it EVERY TIME.

Sometimes just the lines and angles of the water, grass, clouds is art in itself.

The water is warm, soft, and pleasant, and the air is benign.

Even if you just have an hour after a long day's work, enjoy it!

Cadence

I discovered a few things tonight that carry over from the bike to the kayak.

One is core stability. I've been focusing on that with Pilates, and presumably benefiting on the bike although I'm not exactly aware of it. While paddling the kayak if you really focus, you can find that power in the core muscles.

Another is form. There are times I focus on form on the bike -- when I'm working hard and trying to distract myself; when I'm doing a light effort and can spend extra energy on perfect form; when I'm going up a hill and need to use the muscles in concert and entirety. Focus on paddling form, and you get the same benefits.

The third is cadence. All my paddling has been light lately - recreational - just out enjoying the water. I've been expending my aerobic energy running and cycling. Tonight I had a little to spare, and somehow I found my rhythm. The cadence that's in my head threads from bike to run to paddle, and when I get on it, I hit a zone that smoothes all irregularities and just feels right. I heard it and felt it, and the wind and water gave me no resistance as I built that momentum gliding on the water.

Pictures of the sunset with kayak, and Graveline boat ramp after sunset.

Longleaf Trace - 81 miles

Last Saturday I rode the entire Longleaf Trace, just over 40 miles out and 40 miles back, all the way from USM gateway to Prentiss. That was an all-time mileage record for me. The miles were not hard - I could have done another 20 pretty easily, so I'm confident I'll do a few centuries this year. The rain was a bit of a challenge. We got soaked several times. This was a club ride so I was one of many in a pack of red jerseys. We made pretty good time but stopped many times for breaks, flats, etc. I really enjoyed the ride and intend to go back again next month. It's a very pleasant and painless way to get 80 miles in, and the scenery is great.

Longleaf Trace - USM to Sumrall

Apparently I spelled Sumrall wrong last time we went (Sumrall, not Summerall). It was 2006 - how did we go 3 years without riding the trace? Especially as much as I've been riding the bike lately. Dale and Tyler did great, putting in over 30 miles.

I did a couple of runs ahead for a few miles to see how it would be to ride 18-22 mph for a long way. I think it would be a nice ride. The pavement is a little bumpy, but not enough to be troublesome. The traffic crossings are few. We almost had the whole thing to ourselves today with it being a weekday. It was windy today but most of the time the trail is protected. Beautiful weather, overall, about 70 degrees and sunny.

I used the Garmin 705 as I always do these days on rides. I can look at the graphs for speed, heart rate, elevation, and cadence. For this ride, heart rate and speed are closely correlated, because there are no steep grades on this former railroad track. The elevation does change from 200 to almost 400 ft, but everything is gradual. I captured the track picture from Garmin Connect.

Saw three snakes - a black racer, a beautiful yellow and green specked king snake, and a baby grey rat snake. One turtle on the trail and many on the logs at the beaver pond (in the picture).

Oh yeah, and I mastered "riding with no hands" today! It's a great place to practice.

Must go back soon.

New fins for Hobie

The Hobie Revolution comes with a standard set of fins, but you can get turbo fins that replace them. Dale wanted more power in the pedal stroke to go faster at high power, or cruise with less movement when fishing. We tried them out today and he says they're exactly what he wanted.

Our dog loves riding in the back of the Hobie. My mom & stepdad's handsome lab Molly is waiting on the dock.

The morning was sunny and nice for a bike ride. Afternoon overcast and cool with a slight breeze, but nice for kayaking. Dale went in early because it was way too cool to be out there without a jacket (and you get splashed more in the sit-on-top than in mine with a cockpit), so I went across the bay and around the south side, then over to the otter home. Not much to see today except a crowd of Buffleheads. It was nice and quiet, just the tiny sound of water ripples from the breeze. Oh yeah, and dogs barking. I swear sometimes on that bay you can hear every dog in St. Andrews!

No really, it's January

Paddled the 7 or 8 miles to the gulf and back with Mom, short sleeves the whole time. Just a little breeze, nice sun, pleasant air. But the water temperature reminds you that it's winter.

Nice paddle, nothing spectacular to see, but it was nice to see summery clould such as this thunderhead north of us.

My pictures from today came out terrible. Turns out my lens was dirty, with a film over the entire thing that made the pictures hazy, and for some reason, colorless. These two are from Mom's new camera.

I love the way the Riot Regency looks in the water!

I had pain in my right shoulder trouble today, but it eased up a bit when I paddled as Paul taught me, with a paddler's box of keeping the arms straight and pulling with the torso, rather than pulling with the arms. Luckily there are a lot of different movements that get the job done.

We noted the southern position of the sun and how far it moves from summer to winter. 60 degrees? That would be 2 hours on a clock. It may even be more than that. Something to research...

December evening paddle

There is absolutely no better way to reset the brain and relax than solo kayaking. I did the 7-mile trip to the gulf and back this afternoon and timed it just right. The sun was low in the sky when I started out, and as I got to the gulf at the mouth of the bayou, it was just going down. A guy had come out on the beach on a 4-wheeler and was fishing from the beach. “Is this a good time to fish?” “Sometimes. Just came to watch the sunset.”

The winter birds are out now like they were in my previous post that had so many pictures of them in one day. They have a sense of entitlement in the winter that they don’t have in the summer. They rule, in the winter.

Concentrating on the paddle stroke engages different muscles. It’s like walking. There’s lazy walking, and disciplined, top-form walking. They use different muscles. Paddling in top form uses a larger group of muscles than idle paddling.

Although I feel very secure in the boat, I thought through scenarios of “What if I flipped out of this thing in the middle of the bay?” I can get out of it with no problem, flip the boat back over, get back in it, get the water out, and paddle back. Temperatures in the 60s – uncomfortable, but not dangerous. But then I thought more specifically about getting back in the boat. First of all, I realized I’ve never done it with THIS boat, and the cockpit is definitely smaller than the Millennium. I need to practice with this one in friendly water. I’d really love to learn to roll one. Second, I didn’t take a paddle float and haven’t been carrying one at all lately. When solo and not near any land, I depend on this to get back on and into the boat. Today I brought the bilge pump with me, but not the paddle float. When you go so long not using something, it begins to slip your mind after a while. But I need it. I need to make a basic checklist for both kayak and bike.

I’ve got the Riot Regency seat adjusted much better now but still have not put the thigh braces exactly where I want them. I need to fine-tune the thing for the optimum fit.

Coming back, although I got back before 6pm, it was dark and actually quite a while after sunset. There was no boat traffic. But the sky stays lit up for a long time. When that light started to face, I saw the planet twins Venus and Jupiter, who have been playing together lately, and caught sight of a white light whizzing along beside me off my left paddle, which turned out to be the moon directly overhead. I love how when the light is dim your eyes are wide open. So much of the time we spend squinting, shielding our eyes from too much input. At night there is so much space and so much light, the water reflects the deepening red-blue hues of the sky, and the eyes welcome all of it.

So, I got in some exercise today… but my legs are still fresh and ready for tomorrow’s bike ride.