Attention...Go!!!!!

Race season is upon us. This is what I live for:  that moment when you get to the starting line and you know you have done everything possible to have a great race and then you go out and do it!  Racing makes all of the training, all of the sweat, all of the eating regimes worth it. No one is without their ups and downs and this fall has been no exception for me. I had to sit on the sidelines of the start of the head season due to a broken rib. It was great being able to cheer on my team and help everyone out at the race...but that is still not as fun as actually racing. Sorry guys, I would rather be carrying my own boat.On the last weekend of September, we loaded everyone up, 11 racers in all, for the Green Mountain Head regatta. It was quite a rainy occasion, but that did not scare off Craftsbury.  Judy Geer represented us well by wining the Women's single in her age group (55-64) finishing at 23:31.The remainder of Craftsbury’s women’s single scullers were in the 19-35 age group:  Judy’s daughters, Hannah and Emily Dreissigacker; Ann Holmes, a coach from the Sculling Center; and Lauren Jacobs, a Nordic skier and recent sculling convert. Ann led the Craftsbury affiliated finishers with a third place at 21:33, followed by Emily in sixth at 21:55, Hannah – eleventh at 22:38, and Lauren’s first sculling race netting her 19th in 25:27.As for the men, Taylor Washburn, who just came back from the world championships in Poland, placed 3rd finishing at 20 min even and the first lightweight, and Erick Winstead placed 17th, crossing the line in 20:59. Both Taylor and Erick were in the 19-34 year old age group.Boat house manager Troy Howell ended up seventh in 21:08 for the men’s 35-44 year old age category. Dick Dreissigacker placed 12th in the 55-64 age bracket finishing at 22:08.Immediately after the singles races Taylor and Erick along with Emily and Ann had to jump into a double to race again. Emily and Ann had an amazing turn around winning the women's open double with a finishing time of 20:10.  Taylor and Erick came in fourth with a finishing time of 19:19.Our next big race was the Head of the Charles Regatta (HOCR) in Boston, a 5000 meter race. The race conditions were crazy, we had 10+ mile per hour winds, at one point they clocked 24mi per hour winds, so the starting basin was a mix of over-your-boat waves and capsizing wind. Saturday there was wind and Sunday there was rain and snow!  Did you catch that?  SNOW!  Fortunately, all of our crews stayed afloat and no one went swimming in the frigid waters.At a regatta like the Charles, it’s virtually impossible to cover all the racing that features some Craftsbury connections. It’s a big regatta, and Craftsbury alums are everywhere. But here’s a bit of a rundown of some our SBTC related finishers. Taylor and Erick both raced in alumni/pick-up eights. Congrats to Taylor who took home a HOCR gold medal, racing in the lightweight 8+ for NYAC.  Eric Raced in a Holy Cross alumni boat that ended up 23rd.Troy Howell raced in the masters single - men, placing 18th with a finishing time of 20:07.  Larry Gluckman and Dick Dreissigacker raced in a senior-master eight, the Motley Rowing Club, finishing 12th. The Motley Crew is an eight that has been racing for 30 years compiled of men who all raced together on the national team at that time, way awesome!   Judy Geer raced the 1980 Rowing Club's national team alumni eight to a third place finish. Emily Dreissigacker raced the Dartmouth Varsity eight to 18th in the Champ 8+'s.And me? I placed 7th in the women's club single after two buoy penalties. One thing I openly admit to is my need to better my steering. Take away the penalties and I move up to fifth.But probably the high-light of the weekend was watching the Graves brothers destroy the men's championship double. Double congrats to Thomas and Peter Graves for their gold medal finish. Two of our SBTC alums, Spencer Crim and Johnny Hood also did quite well in the men’s Champ single, with 36th and 26th places respectively. Way to go boys!Just the next weekend the team loaded up the van and headed to Saratoga Springs for the Head of the Fish (Oct 24th, 2009). This time our team was a little smaller, just consisting of Erick, Taylor, and myself. And oh yeah – big surprise - the weather in New York was terrible. I am starting to get the sense that racing in the east this year means that I need to be prepared for the coldest, wettest, windiest conditions imaginable; it builds mental toughness I have concluded.  It was cold, rainy, and windy AGAIN!  Nothing like the 65 degree sunny weather my home team, UC Berkeley, enjoyed at the Head of the American in Sacramento - GO BEARS!  No, we enjoyed a soaking and freezing experience at the lovely Fish River. The weather was so bad that they postponed our race by 2 hours due to lightning. When we did get onto the water, it seemed like the sky just opened up and dropped all the water it had accumulated over the year onto us. Erick raced first, then Taylor, then me, only 10 min apart on launch times. The race was 3500 meters. Luckily, as soon as my race started the rain subsided some and I was able to just focus on rowing.  I won the event in the Womens single. Taylor and Erick came in third in the light-single and open single respectively.In the end it was a really fun race and a great experience, mostly because I love winning, more than chocolate. Also a great weekend because the course was relatively straight which meant my already mentioned terrible steering problem was kept to a minimum. Bonus point was when we were driving home and Miley Cyrus came on the radio and I knew who it was and the boys were convinced it was not Miley, but I was right, because the radio announced it - double YES!I know the cliché- what doesn't kill you makes you stronger- is overused but it is just so appropriate for these past couple races where the conditions pushed us to the edge.  This whole head race season has been another amazing experience while living the dream. Looking back (from a nice, warm, comfortable chair), all of the races were that much cooler because of how intense the conditions were.Erick and I are both now preparing for some National Team selection erg and water racing which starts in November.  This week we are back to building strength and endurance for our upcoming events.  These are the days that we have to reminisce about all of the wonderful feelings we had while we were winning because the pain-train has just left the station and will not let us off for another 4 weeks.