I started the competition with practice on Thurday the day before the downriver event.  We ran Husum Falls a few times before surfing.  I had good lines and only went really deep and got swirled around one time.  In surfing practice, I managed to do a spin with my board's nose up, so felt good about that.  Then I did a relaxed run down the race course.  The fact that I was able to go fast, but not all out throughout the course without getting winded had me feeling good for the race the following day.     

    On Friday, we had the earliest event at 8 am.  That meant getting up before 6 to get a meal in and get ready.  I had a pack of tuna for protein and fat, an apple and avocado, and one energy drink  to get just a little caffeine and kick in the fat burning for long term energy, without getting too dehydrated.  I also had plenty of Nuun electrolytes with my water in my hydration pack for the race.    The start of the race was insane.  Imagine 15-20 people in rows of 4 dropping off a twenty foot cliff, with their boards, one row after another.  That's what we did.  I was told me and another boarder had the closest call as he landed just beside me.     

    The race was on, my heart was pounding, and I was breathing like a freight train trying to make up ground after jumping in the second row, having been seeded fifth according to points from other events this year.  The first ¼ mile of the race is one of the fastest, and I got a good jump once the rapids started.  It was fun mixing it up with all the other boarders when some of us were all in close, and I managed to make it up to second place and felt I was gaining on first, until I hit Maytag Rapid.  I got surfed for just a few seconds in the meat in the center before getting to the line on the right, but it was long enough for me to lose two positions.  There were a few minutes when I still thought I could make up the distance again and contend for a top position, and also someone behind me pushing hard for a while.  Then I saw the that the top three were breaking away from me and I was giving it my all and still powerless to catch up or even maintain the distance.  At the same time, other racers behind me were falling back, putting me on a little island in 4th place, all alone.     

    Although I had loved the start of the race when positions were changing constantly, now it was boring with me out of contention on the first three racers and no one really driving hard behind me.  I was tempted to simply slack off and take 4th place, but I've always done my best to pursue excellence in everything I do, and also wanted to push myself in order to be in better condition for the shorter races later on.  This continued for most of the race and then I neared Husum Falls, and it was amazing to see all the spectators lined up on the bridge cheering all of us on.     

    Remember that I said I'd had good lines at Husum the day before?  Not today!  I went very deep this time, bottomed out, and found a rock at the bottom, getting shot out of my board ejector seat style.  Seeing as how I ride a European style board and am locked in really tight, it must have been one strong combination of hitting the rock and having the current still pushing on my body to separate me from my board.  I came up way downstream of my board, but knew I still had a good distance between me and the next boarder, so I smiled and waveed, then swam defensively over some small ledges until I could swim aggressively upstream to get back on my board to finish the last few yards to the second bridge.     

    That afternoon we had individual sprint time trails to determine our seeding in the boarder cross.  I had a decent first run and held the top time for a moment or two until it was beaten.  That showed me that it was possible to go faster and I made my second run looking to improve my time (both times were combined to see who was the fastest, so you had to be consistent and couldn't rely on a single fast run).  I came out of my board during the cliff jump which caused me to lose time and my second run was 9 seconds worse than the first.  This event didn't go my way.     

    Saturday was our off day, and I rested and practiced surfing again.  I couldn't repeat my spin, but learned to go with no hands.     

    On Sunday morning we had a surfing competition.  By a combination of bouncing high in the hole, cutting hard back and forth, and some no handed riding, I managed to make the first cut of 8 and get in the semi-finals.  I thought I had finally figured out the mechanics for a front flip by employing a bunny hop motion from BMX, but the hole was still too flushy and I also couldn't  repeat my spin.  The bodyboard surfing specialists were doing well, but couldn't pull off all of their tricks in the hole at Rattlesnake either.  My entry moves of a toe grab and 180 were also not enough to compete with the board throws and barrel rolls that others were doing either.  I didn't make the final four, but was pleased with what I did considering the features of the hole.  I was great to watch Levi's thrilling combo of board and body varials and riding on his knees, Morgan's ability to sit on his board, and Justin's entry moves and good overall riding.     

    Sunday afternoon was our final event: boardercross.  This is up to four riverboarders racing just like in the downriver race, but on a shorter course, so we can really go all out.  We have heats to work down to the final four boarders.  I did well in my first heat, being right up on the leader, but still missing the line at Maytag and getting second.  I was racing Liz in the first heat and she is fun to race with because having hung out together around some East Coast rivers before she moved out to the Hood River area we have a good mixture of camaraderie and competition.  She really does bring out my best racing, almost as if she's Superman to my Batman.  Maybe it's just because she is a local and knows the lines, so it's easy for me to follow her and move quickly.  Then I got a late jump in my semi-final heat and was in third (fastest two advance) before Maytag, which I missed again, and got eliminated.  Maytag really was my nemesis and cost me placings in the downriver and boardercross events, but if it were all easy and there wasn't a rapid where you could screw it all up, then it wouldn't be competitive and fun.  I just didn't ever get the river right line down pat.     

    So there you have it.  It was great to get so many friends, teammates, and fellow boarders together for a huge event.  We also brain-stormed how we could make the US riverboarding competition scene better next year.  I didn't do as well as I hoped (thought I could place in at least the top three in an event or two), but I know I gave my all despite some mistakes in the rapids.  That letdown is going to be fuel for training for next year, which in my philosophy of pursuing excellence, excellence never takes a day off (even if I do take rest days for recovery when needed), so next year's training starts now.   I plan to get to the area an entire week early next year to really get the lines down pat and prepare physically, and if I have the time and funds to up to super high altitudes a week before that, then I'll do that too.