Progress Report Wednesday evening

Late Update: estimated arrival at Franklin Island 11:15, camp at Taylor's Landing at 1:15am. They'll reach Jeff City tomorrow and, internet permitting, Bryan should be able to give an update live from the field.

Bryan called in at 6:45. Our heroes stopped at Dalton Bottoms for lunch at 2:50 and took a 40 minute break. They reached Glasgow at 5:40pm. They hit the Lisbon Bottoms right around 6:45, which is good since it's reportedly the toughest part of the river to negotiate and they'd obviously much rather do that during day light hours. Bryan was expecting them at Coors Landing by 7:45.

The plan is to stop for dinner at Franklin Island at 9:30, then aim for camp at Taylor's Landing by 12:30 am. Bryan sounded tired on the phone, so I can only hope that Patrick and Mike are in a stage of happy delirium on the river. They're making good time so far.

A Quick Day 2 update

The guys made it to the Waverly checkpoint around 9:50 last night with 40 minutes to spare before it closed. That relieved a lot of time pressure. The next checkpoint in Miami is open until noon today so they could paddle on to camp, get some sleep and coast in there with time to spare. Now they start banking hours.

They did another 22 miles before stopping to camp at Hill's Island, just past the quarter point of the race, our day one minimum requirement. Jeff and I were camped at Grand Pass, (my old nemesis) just 11 more miles away, but that would be another 2 hours minimum and the fog was starting to settle in.

They got a good 5 hours sleep and cruised the 11 miles to us. We pulled them in at 8:20 and gave them a hot breakfast of corned beef hash and some coffee and fruit and sent them on their way. I'll see them at Dalton Bottoms around 2:45 for lunch. Jeff headed out to take a shower with some truck drivers. Sounds like a redneck turkish spa to me, but I may have to give it a go before this is all over.

I'm going to do some grocery shopping and then head to Dalton Bottoms to hang their wet things out to dry and do the breakfast dishes. Camping is a lot like being at home except every basic task becomes a huge pain in the ass.

Here is some more wildlife.

I know you want video and stuff but you'll have to be patient. I might get a chance to do some editing today.

Psychic support for Mike and Patrick

Also known as, Bryan is hating giving me access to the blog and will probably delete this as soon as he sees it and revoke my privileges. :)

As noted in an earlier comment, the riverside entertainment at Berkeley park featured a one man band (keyboardist) in charge of playing inspirational music. This was one of those songs.

MR340 Progress Report

See 9:20pm updates below.

Bryan just called in. Our noble paddlers are maintaining their expected speed of about 6 mph. They made it to Cooley Lake at 1:50, where they were "fine" but hot. Bryan is waiting at the hot, noisy, crowded, cluster(bad word) checkpoint at Lexington (mile marker 316.5) with all the other ground crews. He estimates that Mike and Patrick will check in there by 6.

Jeff has traveled ahead to Grand Pass where he claims to have found a suitable site for camping and putting in.

After Lexington, the boys next check in is at mile marker 293.5 in Waverly. Bryan estimates they'll arrive there by 10:30, assuming a lessening pace. Bryan expects team paddlephiles to make camp at Grand Pass by 2:30am, but he's not real sure yet where Jeff has made camp so that's an even rougher estimate than the others. Grand Pass' mile marker is 272.

In brief, confirmed sightings:

Kaw Point (367.5) at 9:30am tuesday morning.
Cooley Lake (341.5) at 1:50 tuesday afternoon.
UPDATE: Lexington (316.5) at 6:00pm tuesday. (expected at Waverly by 10:10)

I'll update with more info as I receive it. Bryan will expand the trip report with video and pathos at a later date (Lexington McD's had no wifi). He's getting some great footage.

UPDATE: explanation regarding "7th from last." This earlier description was apparently misleading. Sorry. They were only 5-10 minutes behind the leaders and it had more to do with when and where they put in, not that they were falling behind due to some canoeing deficit. The only reason I mentioned it was out of latent guilt for the number of green canoes Julie and I pointed at saying "oh, that's them, right? woo hoo!", then realizing we were wooing at the wrong folks, before we finally saw them.

The view from Berkeley Park

Julie and I arrived on time (as it turned out, two hours early) at the designated viewing spot at Berkeley Riverfront Park. It was a long wait, but we had appropriate rain gear and a nice flat rock to sit on. It was also well worth it, because from the first sight of all the boats in the distance it was pretty cool. T-Mobile appears to be holding most of my pictures hostage, but here's a shot from the hobo habitat that we invaded to get closer to the river.

The boys were in 7th to last place and good spirits as they passed by.

The MR 340, Part One

Tuesday, 5:30 am: I want to go back to bed.

Thunder, Lightning and rain. Great. Looks like the Paddlephile luck is holding out. We get a good breakfast in us, (thanks Julie!) and roll out to Kaw Point to get the boat in line.

Tuesday, 6:15 am: Yep, that's a line alright.

Apparently everyone thought this would be a good time to show up. It's pouring, the wind is howling and there's lightning everywhere. The ramp, and every other square inch of ground is covered in canoes and kayaks of every variation. We're lucky to find a parking spot at all, it's gonna be a bit of a walk with the gear.

Tuesday, 7:00 am: I guess I could have gone back to bed after all.

Patrick checked in with Scott, the start is delayed for at least an hour. We're sitting in the truck flipping through AM radio stations and trying to stay dry. I'm sure the canoe will be full to the brim with water when we get back to it.

Tuesday, 8:00 am: Hurry up and wait

Things are looking better and people are starting to put in. With 272 boats and one ramp, the start time is now 9:30. The boys are in line and I'm scouting for a good place to watch the start.

Tuesday, 9:30 am: And they're off!

I found a great spot to watch the start. It also would have been a great spot to put in. No line. Seems like a handful of more experienced racers already knew about this spot. Oh well, next year that will be us.

Tuesday, 10:30 am: Taking advantage of city life while I still can

Turns out my ATT internet service gets me free wi-fi not only at Starbucks, but McDonald's too! w00t! First time McDonalds has been good for anything in my life. So here's a post for you. Laura will try to keep you up to date here while I'm out of range. Meanwhile, here are some photos from the start. See you soon!

Nice day.

The Queue

How many Paddlephiles can you spot in this picture?

Where they should have put in.

The biggest boat in the race

Where they shouldn't have put in, but did

...and the rocket's red glaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaarre...

And we're off!!

Video of the start to come later! Laura is in charge until I get back!

The Meeting

It's amazing how 4 months of planning and preparation all comes down to a last minute scramble to get our shit together. No matter, we're as ready as we're going to get with 10 hours to spare. I hope my paddlers get some sleep but I know they probably won't.

Earlier this evening was the race check in and mandatory safety meeting. We didn't learn anything new. That's good, it means we're ready. I've got to be up at 5 so forgive me if I don't put my usual exhausting effort in to this post. The next one you see here will be actual race coverage.

I will do my best to update the blog throughout the race but you can probably get more up to the minute information on how the guys are doing here. Look for boat number 1123.

We'll see you on the river!