May 26, 2006
There will be a training camp from Saturday June 10th through Sunday June 18th held in conjunction
with the U.S. Nationals and the FIBARK race. The camp is being organized by Doug Ritchie, vice chairman
of the USA Wildwater Committee and former national team member.
The training camp is open to racers of all skill levels and abilities who have an interest in Wildwater.
We are going to focus on the following things:
- How to learn a course.
- Breaking a race course down into sections.
- Pacing during a race.
- Boat handling skills.
- Forward stroke technique.
Depending upon the number of participants we may break into groups. Though the schedule calls for
training every day, each racer should feel free to skip workouts depending on their own level of
fatigue. It can be HOT in Colorado and unless things have really changed a lot from last year it
WILL be over 7,000 feet elevation. The heat and altitude can be a problem for people from, say,
Seattle, where June temperatures are in the low 70’s and the altitude is a constant 400 feet.
Saturday June 10th; 9:00 A.M. two full runs classic course.
Saturday June 10th ; 3:00 P.M. practice on sprint course.
Sunday June 11th; 9:00 A.M. Bottom ½ classic course for time.
Sunday June 11th, 3:00 P.M. Top ½ classic course for time and one full run easy.
Monday June 12th, 9:00 A.M. Two runs, 2nd quarter and 4th quarter for time. 1st quarter and 3rd
quarter for time.
Monday June 12th, 3:00 P.M. technique work on the classic course, 1 or 2 runs.
Tuesday June 13th, 10:00 A.M. Practice on the Sprint course.
Tuesday June 13th, 3:00 P.M. technique work on the classic course.
Wednesday June 14th, 9:00 A.M. 2 runs classic course, 2nd and 4th quarters then 1st and 3rd quarters.
Wednesday 3:00 P.M. practice on the sprint course.
Thursday June 15th 9:00 A.M. easy technique work on classic course. One run.
Thursday June 15th P.M. easy practice on sprint course.
Friday June 16th race day for sprint.
Saturday June 17th race day for classic.
Sunday June 18th race day for the FIBARK.
During the training camp week we are going to have group meetings and lunches during which we’ll be
able to discuss lines on the river and race technique. When and where we hold these will depend on
what the group wants to do.
The put in for the classic course is one block upstream of the F street bridge in downtown Salida.
If crowds and parking are an issue we may decide to use a different put in but we will discuss that
option when and if it is needed.
The sprint course is in a different location from last year. It will probably be held in the
Cottonwood canyon section of the river. We will discuss this and get everyone directions.
We are working on having video or paddlers. No promises here, it’s hard to get people to volunteer
to stand on the shore waiting for Wildwater boats to zoom by, but we’ll see what we can do.
Feel free to email me at
dritchie@hammerheadkayak.com if you have any questions.
