Hope you, are quite prepared to die.
Looks like, we're in for nasty weather....."
--John Fogerty, Bad Moon Rising.
The vengeance was all Mother Nature's actually, as she not only rained on CRASH-Bs return parade but snowed on it, sleeted on it, and blew up a mighty wind. I'd watched the weather forecast and on Thursday emailed my traveling partner PaulG (of the OTW thread) to make sure he was not only still planning to go, but to do the driving. If not, I was prepared to drive down to Waltham, MA on Saturday before the snow started and rent a hotel room less than a 10-minute drive from the Brandeis University venue. He assured me that he'd eschew the chance to make money as a skiing instructor that day in order to experience the exquisite pain of a 2K.
Woke up Sunday morning in West Newbury, MA with 5" of snow on the ground and more coming down. Shoveled no more than a path out to the street in order to conserve energy and waited for Paul to pick me up. At 7 AM we were on our way for a trip that normally takes 54 minutes. We allowed plenty of extra time. Driving was predictably slow, down to 16 MPH on some highway stretches when the snowplows formed an echelon across all lanes. We saw three stuck cars that had slid off the road, and watched as a car ahead of us turned its wheels to exit the highway but slid right into the snow pile beside the exit. Paul's All-Wheel-Drive Volvo did better, and we arrived after an hour and 50 minutes on the road.
Entered the building and there at registration was the familiar presence Diane Bevan of Community Rowing Inc. (CRI) volunteering. Good to see a friendly face. Checked in and made my way to the weigh-in, where PaulG, Tom Phillips and Dave Spector had already made weight. Wearing all my street clothes and carrying my gym bag and bottle of water I tipped the scale at 159 lbs. Made it with 6 pounds to spare, the envy of other lightweights.
Dumped the gear in the bleachers and headed for the Men's Room but detoured to buy one of the snazzy CRASH-Bs T-shirts being sold for a mere $20 (not bad for a regatta shirt). Other CRI friends Theresa Welsh and Andrea Covelli were doing the selling and gave me the hard sell, "They're great!" so what else could I do but buy one. Was glad to see Howie Schmuck on the floor. Howie has been part of CRASH-Bs from the beginning, making it happen and keeping it running smoothly. We have an Eight-person shell at CRI named in honor of Howie for his contributions to the sport.With 20 race machines and 20 warmup machines there were plenty to go around, at least in the morning hours. I did an easy paddle for 11 minutes just to loosen up, then a bit later another 11 minutes a bit harder. Others made their way to the in, and it was great to see Gregory Cook and Arlene Wade all the way from the state of Washington. We'd met many a time at previous CRASH-Bs, and Gregory was happy to know that I now knew his name and didn't refer to him as Fish's husband. Anne Hird was up from Rhode Island with her granddaughter Maggie, and Pete Marston of the Pete Plan was there all the way from England. His first trip back here in 5 or 6 years. After some quick catching up with them it was time for a final warmup to get all cylinders firing in good order.
A bad cable delayed the first heat by some 25 minutes, but we finally got underway at 8:25 AM, and sadly only 7 of the 14 entrants had been able to make it. Robert Lee of Cambridge Boat Club made his first race as an 80-year-old a winning one in 7:44.2. While in the 75-79 Open my CRI Military/Veterans crewmate Scotty was getting the silver medal behind Bob Ajello's 8:06.2.
The second heat fared a bit better with 6 of the 8 contestants ready to rumble. Tom Phillips made his 70-74 lwt debut with a stunning 7:04.8 winning time. Cripes, the guy's faster at 70 than I was at 60! And I thought I was fairly good at 60. Behind him Dave Spector had a good first 1500m and led third place by 4 seconds, but disaster struck in the last 500 had he got overhauled by Leo Dunn's good finishing kick. One of the two guys who wasn't able to beat the weather was my opponent in the 75-79 lwts, but I rowed as if he were there and snagged the Hammer unopposed with a 7:50.7, an improvement of 0.2 second over the time I did in Pittsburgh two weeks ago to win the National Championship in the same division. Chuffed. Bob Sleigh won the 90-94 lwts over George DeMeritt while posting an SB of 9:45.4. Bob's times when he was my age were close to what mine are now, so I watch him with great interest. His path is a good path to follow.
After catching my breath, I sat behind PaulG for his 65-69 lwt race. He was one of 10 to make it out of the 13 scheduled to row in various divisions. Paul rowed according to plan with slightly negative splits, but a guy named Chris Rounds of CRI was doing much the same, only slightly better. Chris 7:42.8 for Gold, Paul 7:43.2 for Sliver. My crew captain Franklin Schwarzer was in the next heat, and I offered to cox him, but he apparently didn't want someone who could only deliver a Silver Medal for his rower. I slunk off to the practice machines for an easy cooldown row instead. Franklin rowed a 7:19.4 without my interference.
Heat #5 had Gregory Cook on machine #1, and his wife Arlene Wade down the line. Gregory lived up to his machine number and had the fastest time of the day up to that point at 7:02.0 in winning the 55-59 lwts. Arlene likewise won, in the Women's 60-64 lwts, with 7:57.5. In the row behind them I was back in the coxing seat for Anne Hird's race. We former runners (Gregory, Arlene, Anne, and me) like to support one another. Anne's steady pace yielded an 8:40.7 winning time. Hammers for all the runners. Franklin might have had second thoughts about my coxing. Unfortunately, the two most senior ladies, Barbara Hogan (of Rowing News fame) and Shirley Fargen were unable to get to the venue. Two weeks ago they won the National Championships for 80-84 lwts and 85-89 lwts respectively in Pittsburgh.
The last of the Oldies heats featured the Carla Division, Carla Dropo and Carla Stein, who have been battling it out for a long time. Stein has been also battling a bad hip, but it wasn't bad enough to deny her from enjoying her favorite part of these races. After Dropo won 7:45.7 to 7:51.7 in the 65-69 Open, Stein basked in the glow of "having erged," and looked forward to going out to eat. Winne Stopps of the host Gentle Giant Rowing Club won the 70-74 Women's Open with a surge that carried her past the leader in the final 4 or 5 strokes. Winnie rowed an 8:52.7 After collecting Hammers and medals several of us headed down the street to the 99 Restaurant to eat mass quantities.
In the afternoon races one of my favorite rowers was in action. I'd first seen Ivan Milan at Atlantic City two years ago doing multiple events at the National Championships and killing it every time. Today was no exception. He'd decided to enter both the Open 2K and 43-49 division 2K as well as the Open 500m. To his chagrin the 2Ks were consecutively scheduled. Undaunted, he reeled off a fast 6:17.5 in the Open to place second to the 6:13.5 of Jack Fiala. Less than 10 minutes after putting the handle back down from that one Milan clocked 6:38.7 to place 4th in the 43-49 race. A little further down the placings Pete Marston rowed a 7:04.6, and one of my old running friends, Marc Blandin made his erging debut with 7:30.1. After about an hour of rest Ivan completed his day with a 1:23.7 500m behind the giant Anton Bondarenko, who did an eye-popping 1:17.4. Marc Blandin was a glutton for punishment in his initiation ergatta by doubling up at 1:38.7. Anne Hird similarly couldn't get enough and won the women's 500m.
Alex Twist of Riverside Boat Club on the Charles River won the Open Lightweight at 6:27.9, improving a bit on his National Championship win in Pittsburgh.
It was darn good to be back, and I hope that Commodore Rich Whelan and his CRASH-Bs crew can return us to those thrilling days of yesteryear when this event was the best that erging had to offer. All other erg races across the globe owe a debt of gratitude to Tiff Wood and the others of the Charles River Association of Sculling Has-Beens (aka Charles River All-Star Has-Beens) for having the vision to see that this could be a sport and getting it started. I for one intend to keep honoring that foresight with my annual participation in this great event. Hope to see y'all next year.
Renegade Rick Bayko,
Cub Reporter.
P.S. There was of course much more to the day, and I hope that others who were there will fill in the gaps that I've missed.
