Active Weekend

Well, this was certainly an active weekend. Saturday morning Valerie and I did our monthly 5K. This month’s event was held in conjunction with the Arlington County Fair and the course was primarily several laps around the fairgrounds. We both expected a fairly easy course, since the race was held at 8 AM and the weather forecast didn’t call for extreme heat. Unfortunately, the morning was humid and the temperature climbed quickly as the sun rose in the sky, so it would up being a slow, sticky slog with some significant hills. Still, as I walked from the car to the packet pick-up I enjoyed the unusual sight of people watering livestock in the TJ Center parking lot. Cows at TJ. Cool.

Valerie crossing the finish line

Sunday morning we were out the door early again, this time to go paddle boarding with Ted at Key Bridge Boathouse (nee Jack’s). My limited experience with paddleboards has taught me that they’re more stable than they seem, and so one of the big considerations is the mental game of getting over your feelings of wobbliness. At first it looked like Valerie wasn’t going to make that mental leap and was going to be stuck just sitting on the board, but she pushed through, stood up on the board, and did a really good job! By the end of the trip she was moving at a pretty good pace and even said she’d do it again. Ted, of course, showed off his mad SUP skills..

Huh. Who'd have thunk it?

Mother and child reunion

Sunday afternoon I had signed up to go on a bike ride with the NOVA Casual Bike Meetup Group; however, that ride got cancelled at the last minute. It’s a good thing I checked my email since I could easily have missed the cancellation and shown up and waited at the Shirlington departure point. Instead I just rode by myself. Home, up over Chain Bridge, down the C&O towpath and Captial Crescent into Georgetown, followed the river down, crossed back into Virginia over Memorial Bridge, connected to the Mt. Vernon Trail by scurrying across the GW Parkway like Frogger with a bicycle (there must be a better way to do this!), then up to Rosslyn and out the Custis Trail to home.

SUP'ing in the Park with Ted

Another SUP outing with Ted today. We made from Key Bridge Boathouse up to Fletcher's Cove. The roughly two mile trip took us about and hour, at least twice as long as it would have by kayak. Admittedly, it was into the wind and only my third time on a Stand-Up Paddleboard, but still ...

Ted has been doing a lot of SUP-ing this summer and definitely showed me up in terms of speed, balance and skills.

I still feel that stand-up paddleboards would make sense only in a world where canoes, rowing craft and kayaks hadn't been invented, but they sure are popular! While there was no wait at KBB for kayaks, we had to wait on line for paddleboards, as the whole fleet was in use. The line was even worse by the time we got back - I'm glad we went early.

Well, even on a goofy non-kayak watercraft it was a nice outing on a beautiful summer day. Eighty degree August days is a kind of climate change I could get into!

SUP Experiment in Georgetown

So, I've been meaning for some time to try SUP. "What's SUP?" you say? Nothing much, what's SUP with you?

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SUP is stand-up paddle boarding, and it's been all the rage for the last couple of years. A lot of people who would have been casual kayakers in years past are now up SUP-ing instead. It's never seemed very appealing to me, to tell you the truth. You're paddling along standing up on a wide surf board. It's supposed to be a good workout, but it seems rather uncomfortable and limiting. 

Anyway, one Sunday Ted and I headed into Georgetown to try SUP rental, but it was so crowded and hard to park that I just gave up and went home. I hate to be thwarted, so the next day, my telework day, I planned for a long lunch break and headed for Key Bridge Boathouse. I was there and parked in under 15 minutes, as opposed to 40+ just to get there on Sunday. 

KBB is, unfortunately, no longer Jack's. It's like running into someone you know after the zombies or the Borg have gotten to them. Yes, it's still recognizable by sight, but its spirit different. The old school connection to the river is gone. Frank Baxter and the various river rat hobos who worked the place (or just spent time there) - all gone, replaced by college kids in matching t-shirts and an impersonal, efficient rental process reminiscent of a fast food restaurant. 

All that notwithstanding, I was soon standing on a paddle board, heading upriver towards the Three Sisters Islands. I was pleasantly surprised to find that I had no problem with balance on the thing. I got up and down from my knees several times without incident. I shouldn't judge first time paddle boarding against kayaking skills honed over the years, but boy, paddle boarding is SLOW. It took me about 30 minutes to cover the short distance from Key Bridge to the islands. I had a little current against me, and every time the wind blew it brought me to a standstill, as when you're on a board you act as a pretty big sail. 

As expected, the trip back downriver was faster as I had the wind and current with me, and I paddled back to Key Bridge Borghouse -- oops, Boathouse -- without incident.

Can you sense a lackluster response on my part to my SUP experiment?

Provisional Verdict: Meh. Better than not being on the river, but much less sensible than a kayak.

Long-term prognosis: I'll likely try it again so as not to make a snap judgement.