LUNA-TICS TEAM ROOM: Year-round "Looney" fun.

[BAZzy]

So how was the three hours of moonlight madness?

Thx for all the million mark cheers, fellow space cadets.

Other than sitting in a puddle of lake water for three hours, the moonlight paddling was delightful ... in what I now know was an ocean kayak. The moon wasn't quite full, but pretty spectacular ... and there were still some "real" rowers zipping across the water at sunset, along with an armada of ducks and other feathered fowl which Darryl could probably identify.

That would have been spectacular....ocean kayak should be quite stable as well.....Cheers Baz

[Kona2]

And what will this week bring?! Perhaps a Summer Sweeps winner? Row your 5K a day to qualify for the random drawings from Concept2! Here are the weekly rowing totals for the past nine weeks as compared to our efforts in the 2009 rowing year:



Astrogator has taken a few star sightings to get realigned with our destination moon:

Distance to halfway point of our journey = 2,126,184 m

Season meters as of 66/365 = 16,517,274 m (less than 300 rowing days left!)

Total meters on the partial day (reported numbers yesterday evening) = 103,888 m

Oars in space = 17 percent

MILESTONES....Bragging Rights....Celebrations:

Minnie rows half marathon # 45 then throws in another 2K timing effort in which she knocks THIRTY seconds off her 2K time....you rock n row!

ONE Million Meter Watch: Getting closer to the red zone, Bazzy!

Bazzy with (58,019 m) to go!

And thanks to today's crew:

1500 Peter G
5075 AJ
7500 Gina
8010 Dan
10000 Rick (wowzer...on a rowing mission these last few days!)
12345 Peter H..counts the number of actors who have played The Stig??
16361 Bazzy
20000 Kiba (decides that there is money to be made in marketing Kiba pizzas !)
23097 Chris

[nl07695]

12345 Peter H..counts the number of actors who have played The Stig??

Actually I am trying to make up some of those lost vacation meters. In all the graphs it's showing that the boat missed our contribution badly over the last two weeks.

But you are right there were 5 Stigs:
White Stig

Black Stig

Stig's American cousin aka "Big Stig"

Stig's African cousin

Stig's lorry driving cousin aka "Rig Stig"

[Kiba]

Minnie rows half marathon # 45 then throws in another 2K timing effort in which she knocks THIRTY seconds off her 2K time....you rock n row!

WOW! you knocked 30 seconds off your 2k time? That's AMAZING! I think I'd cry a little if I tried to knock off 3 seconds from my 2k, let alone 30!

[bg]

Minnie rows half marathon # 45 then throws in another 2K timing effort in which she knocks THIRTY seconds off her 2K time....you rock n row!

WOW! you knocked 30 seconds off your 2k time? That's AMAZING! I think I'd cry a little if I tried to knock off 3 seconds from my 2k, let alone 30!

yes...wow chris....btw...what did you have to eat before your row....

[just27]

yes...wow chris....btw...what did you have to eat before your row....

Nah, no BT in the 2000 meters ... Jan was having a low gravity, re-entry moment and likely misread a 9 for an 8. Thx, anyway, for the cheers ... maybe I'll psych myself up for pizza and resulting awesome speed and power ... sometime.

[Kona2]

I'm sure it was oxygen deprivation and not low gravity. Who knew that you just completed these pretty darned fast 2Ks to finish up a movie?! I can't go that fast when it's on purpose! Last I recall, Andrea Cosmin (who hasn't signed in yet this season and it's almost her birthday), Chris and Gina were the speedsters in the 2K. Fast enough that when they are doing ranking pieces, they are in the top five of their classifications. Of course, Kiba might not have done one of those ranking pieces yet....

[BAZzy]

yes...wow chris....btw...what did you have to eat before your row....

Nah, no BT in the 2000 meters ... Jan was having a low gravity, re-entry moment and likely misread a 9 for an 8. Thx, anyway, for the cheers ... maybe I'll psych myself up for pizza and resulting awesome speed and power ... sometime.

This is my favourite distance....only because I guess I'm built for speed rather than distance....and I'm hoping (work in progress) to sub 7 minutes this year. Your post prompted me to have a look at my age group and best time presently is 6:20 ... Kiba, what was on that KIBA PIZZA?? I'll be needing it at some point.... Focus is on the upcoming walk for the moment..only about 8 weeks away..

If I might just have a whinge while I'm here, and I preface it by acknowledging where most of you come from it is absolutely freezing in winter.......but it is so cold in the garage when I'm rowing at the moment...bring on summer.. Baz

[Kona2]

Our Captain has been known to transport her erg into the living room or den or something like that during the Idaho winters.....

[Toothdoc]

In Florida we just find the most air conditioned space with fans and that is where the erg is located. No moving season to season. Down here it is mostly all the same. Our winter is like your summer, but our summer is hotter than hades. So it become all AC all the time!!!!!!

Just27,

Showing my ignorance again, what is a BT? Is that like a PB (Personal Best?)

dc

[just27]

Just27; Showing my ignorance again, what is a BT? Is that like a PB (Personal Best?) dc

Yessir, Danno ... sorry, it was a slip back to swimming days. BT is "best time" ... I have to stop and think before using PB instead of BT.

BaZ: How far are you from going sub-7? Just imagine one of those gigantic mutant spiders that lives in your garage is considering you again ... that should both blast you through the 7 minute barrier, and warm you up nicely in the process. ("Bring on summer" ... hasn't winter only just begun?)

[BAZzy]

Just27; Showing my ignorance again, what is a BT? Is that like a PB (Personal Best?) dc

Yessir, Danno ... sorry, it was a slip back to swimming days. BT is "best time" ... I have to stop and think before using PB instead of BT.

BaZ: How far are you from going sub-7? Just imagine one of those gigantic mutant spiders that lives in your garage is considering you again ... that should both blast you through the 7 minute barrier, and warm you up nicely in the process. ("Bring on summer" ... hasn't winter only just begun?)

hhmm..well within around 7-10 seconds (but stil a long way!), but haven't tested recently. I had been following a 2,000m program for about 20 weeks and made a great improvement, but have cycled off it as I prepare for my walk. And yes winter has just started Don't worry, those pesky spiders are always at the fore-front of my mind when rowing....

But I like the Florida approach to rowing!

[DuluthMoose]

Hello Luna-Tics!
I'm just checking in and will be rowing for a few days between canoe adventures. I'm getting gear ready and packing to go on Thursday for my big trip of the year - 9 days in Quetico

Chris - Glad you had a nice time on a nearly full moon paddle. And congratulations on your first million meters for the year!

Baz - My rower in is the basement and in winter that can be down to about 55F. I don't like to row at that temperature, it takes too long to get warmed up. But I have a wood stove in the basement and can easily bring the air temp up to between 65F and 75F. That's the temp for rowing for me.

Canoeing in the big canoe proved to be quite the adventure. There was 82 miles of paddling to do and we did it in just under 19 hours with two full days of paddling, about 3 hours the first day, and only 1 hour on the last day. The big canoe forced everyone to gel into a crew quite nicely. Everyone had to stay in pace with the bowman or there would be clashing paddles - just like in shell rowing. I was the biggest person along and designated the bow carrier on the few carries we had. Only trouble with that was at times my 6' 2" was bearing 125 lbs or more because the canoe would be above the shoulders of the next one or two carriers. It was the plushest canoe trip I've ever been on. We weren't in true wilderness, but in sparsely populated areas. On arrival June 30 we set up camp in the rain and 50F temps in the park in Atikokan, then went to the Quetico Park Reunion Picnic, then snuck a peek at our canoe in the shop where it was painted and decorated, and ended up at a local dance hall with a Reggae band. On Canada Day our cook fixed us a fine breakfast of scrambled eggs, etc, then we broke camp by 8AM, we went for a short tour of the Souris River canoe factory, then back to the park and took our gear down to the boat launch on the Atikokan River. Our canoe arrived by trailer about 9:30 and we loaded it up, launched and had our first experience paddling it about 100 yds to a long meander in the river that served as the staging grounds for Atikokan's Canoe parade. I was thrilled to see Gary and Joanie McGuffin there, well known paddlers and outfitters in the canoeing world. There were 3 other voyager canoes gathered for the parade and maybe 50 tandem canoes and a few solos. The parade of canoes started about 11AM and followed the twisted Atikokan River about 2 miles on its journey to the other side of town. There were numerous bridges and areas close to the town streets where people congregated. We did OK negotiating the sharp turns and a few riffles and rocks to dodge in our 26 foot long canoe. The end of the canoe parade was where the Canada Day festivities were. We had hotdogs and corn on the cob, and cake. They had a voyageur baptism ceremony for us and after about 3 hours in the park we finally were off. We followed the Atikokan River down to Perch Lake (14.3 miles) where we stayed at a Boy Scout camp for the night. We had a leisurely start the next day since we were to arrive around 9:30AM (9 miles) at a resort for a second breakfast. What a feast! Fresh fruit, strawberry crepes with whipped creme, scrambled eggs, bacon, sausage, and potatoes. We left the resort about 11AM and we now on the Seine River. I did take a turn being strernman in some 1 foot waves in a larger lake, and was surprised how well the canoe behaved with all that horsepower ahead of me. We had two power dams to get around, but there were roads to both so a trailer and truck meet us to transport our canoe around. At mile 29.7 for the day we were at our camp in the Seine River First Nations Village. The next day was clear skies and we were on the river by 6:30. We were at the mouth of the Seine just before noon where we meet an escort boat (power boat) and they proceeded to hand out goodies including ice cream! We had a lot of paddling to do yet so off we went and it wasn't long and the wind came up against us. Waves were building and we were in waves up to 2 feet on Rainy Lake in open areas of the lake. Our escort boat was a little concerned, but we said no to a tow but sent 2 of our crew in the powerboat to set up a camp for us on the popular Sandpoint Island Provincial Park. We took on 2 replacement paddlers from our escort, but that did throw off our paddling cadence. We made the 33 miles for the day by about 5PM. The next day we had only 5 miles across Rainy Lake to our destination at Voyager's National Park HQ. We started about 8:15AM and with calm waters and fresh muscles were we at the HQ at 9:15AM. We were part of the Forth of July parade in International Falls and then we said our farewells to the crew and to each other and the canoe. It was a little sad knowing the canoe was to travel another 250 miles and I wasn't going to be along. Great experience!
My pictures are at:
http://outdoors.webshots.com/album/5733 ... t=outdoors
Other info and pictures are at:
http://www.heartofthecontinent.org/

Darryl

[Kona2]

Full Moon Tonight! Great story and photos, Darryl! Glad you are checking in between canoe adventures!

Season meters as of 67/365 = 16,739,669 m

Total meters on the day = 222,395 m

Oars in space = 37 percent (great participation !)

MILESTONES...Bragging Rights....Celebrations:

1.8 MM Wild Bill
Half Marathon # 46 for Minnie (just27)
Half Marathon # 42 for Dan aka Toothdoc
Half Moon with 36,000 m for Wild Bill....the disappearing man!

ONE Million Meter Watch:

Bazzy with (49,964 m) to go! He's in the red zone! Ready to capture 1 MM!

And thanks to today's crew for all the kinds of meters:

Wild Bill 36,000 m
Chris 21,097 m
Dan 21,097 m
Darryl 14,325 m
Barbara 12,526 m
Peter H 12,345 m (who knew what a cultural commentary The Stig was!? Chubby American Stig and Rig Stig in particular!)
Tim 11,563 m
Peter G 10,500 m
Mitch J 10,013 m
Jim 10,000 m
Steven 10,000 m
Kiba 10,000 m
K2 9,000 m
Bazzy 8,055 m
Gina 8,000 m
Mike M 6,439 m
Ted 5,000 m
Tony m
Teresa 3,102 m

Revel in your lunacy! It's a full moon nite! Which reminds me, I am doing a fun bike ride next Saturday called Moonlight Madness....it starts at 10:30 PM and is a closed course ride through the city of Denver...lights and costumes required.....lunar party follows....

[just27]

I'm just checking in and will be rowing for a few days between canoe adventures. I'm getting gear ready and packing to go on Thursday for my big trip of the year - 9 days in Quetico. Darryl

Great pictures and trip notes, Darryl. (I found myself particularly interested in your descriptions of breakfast!)