All For a Good Cause

All the dedicated, hardcore SUPers braved the stormy weather to race in today's first Annual Adler Paddler Fundraiser in Long Beach.  I'm proud to say that I was one of the SUPers that supported the cause.  It was one thing to show up at the event in the cold and rain and another to actual brave the challenging conditions to do the race.

Here's everyone after the race, squeezing in under the canopies like sardines
as we listen for the winning ticket numbers for the many raffle prizes.
Billy Kho was lucky to snag the Ron House board and quicksilver wetsuit!
Go buy a lottery ticket Billy!

It was a beach start.  I have to say that during the line-up while I was having difficulties holding my board still because of the wind, I thought to myself, "What the f*@k am I thinking?"  Good thing I didn't have too much time to contemplate that question because the starting horn blew and before I knew it I was in the water.  The start wasn't too bad with the winds blowing from behind us but it did start to rain.  The rain was the least of my worries.  The water was so choppy, I just didn't want to fall into the cold water especially because I wore my usual attire- bikini, shirt and light jacket (I was freezing!)  After a few minutes, I got into the groove with my new Boga raceboard.  I was feeling confident and passing people one by one.  We hit the first bridge, which by the way, you needed to duck under because it was a low bridge, and I was feeling good.  We hit the second low bridge and I still had my target female elite racer in sight so I knew I was doing okay.  But as soon as we made the first turn the wind hit you smack dab on the face and it was like you hit a wall.  The winds were howling at 25-30mph!  I couldn't allow my board to yaw too much, otherwise, I ended up working harder and slower to get back on line.  I originally was happy to see that the last bridge was tall enough for me to remain standing.  Here's the trick though---  it was like a wind tunnel that held me back enough that it felt like I wasn't moving at all, even when I was paddling with all my strength.  (What an easy way to bring someone's confidence down.) So, it was about a mile upwind which I thought would be the toughest part.  I was wrong.  I made the next turn and had to paddle entirely on the right side because now we were getting a left swell.  I was okay with that until my raceboard starting cruising toward the docked boats, no matter how hard I was pushing on the right side! (Ugh, perhaps a longer fin will do me good next time.)  I lost a lot of time here trying to get back on track, with about four racers that cruised by as I took the long route.

All-in-all, it was a good race.  After all has been said and done, it was a challenging yet fun race and I look forward to supporting the cause again next year.