News
Allegedly, #DickTonks once said: the crew who can row 20K at rate 20 and achieve an average of 80% of predictive time will win the Olympics (or any other race).
You don’t find out if you do not try. First step today - final test early February
The perfect conditions on #JordanLake really helped …
The mother-of-3-perfectionist working on consistency:
The fat-old-guy working on reverse splits …
Welcome Abigail “Abby” Rose - congratulations to the proud parents (and our dearly missed cox)!
Claire, the 12 year old videographer, made today’s video and technique feedback session a big success - and provided helpful insights for every rower who braved the stiff northeaster.
Thank you very much!
This weekend marked the 6th session of our “Get wet=>Relax=>Row Fast” program to transition our big boat aficionados into proficient 1x scullers.
And that meant: Race day - into a stiff headwind and with the typical race chop.
Two races each day - the first over 750 meters, the second over 1250 meters.
The winners are: the novices!
They beat the experienced scullers in all 4 races - not always by playing by the books (steering is still an issue)- but always by showing tenacity and ambition.
The Female Category C novice (hitting a water ski wake):
The Male Category D experienced rower who should be at Masters Nationals about now if it weren’t for Covid-19 (hitting the same wake):
Program seems to work.
Next installment: Wednesday 6 PM - you are welcome to join!
Ready for a “field” trip
Our old dock found a new home on a tributary to Pamlico Sound, NC.
The new owner promises us that instead of doing a 52K night marathon, we could row to Ocracoke from her dock - for sure something to dream about.
The dock has an attached guest cabin (not only for rowers) that can be booked through Vlance1980@gmail.com.
We are looking forward to our first field trip there next year.
A rower’s dream - and fresh shrimp for breakfast, lunch, and dinner
What to do when CHaOS’ birthday falls on a full moon, on a public holiday, and the US Rowing restriction that we have to row in 1x for physical - not social - distance?
How about attempting to row a night marathon on Jordan Lake?
We started our attempt at around 9PM on July 3rd, after the last wake boarder finally went to a bar.
We= Jason G. (personal goal: solid half marathon), Tracy (more than 27K), Will (everything beyond 27 is uncharted territory), Becca and Judith sharing a 1x (going for the entire 42.2K), and Felix (full marathon, at least).
By 2:02 AM on July 4th the last rower arrived safely at the dock (after hitting one more buoy without flipping).
Everybody achieved his or her goal and was rewarded by Will’s outstanding Bratwurst and Sauerkraut. As with every CHaOS event, good food also crowned the marathon.
Proof:
According to NK Speedcoach GPS:
The same row according to Google MyTracks:
Google reports one hour and 10K more than the NK Speedcoach
Felix’ rear and Swiss watch agree with Google. He will henceforth claim that he sat/suffered more than 5 hours on a Fillippi seat and rowed more than 50K in the same night.
Thank you Reid and Bentha for serving as safety marshals. Thank you JLRC for letting us use your launch (forgot to take a picture with all the fancy lights on, sorry, Glenn). Big thanks to the participating rowers for putting safety first (the new PFD looks good on you, Tracy).
We had fun! We will do another marathon after more of our rowers become champion 1x scullers thanks to the Covid-19 restrictions.
Happy Birthday CHaOS! Happy Birthday USA - may you become open, inclusive, and kind, soon!
Singles Flotilla
With the @USRowing guidelines, we are restricted to singles rowing.
Three more singles on the way so that we can turn all interested members int championship 1x rowers.
It will ultimately make as a faster, better club.
You are welcome to row your single with us any time (bring your own slings and oars)! Hope to see you soon.
Old and new, side by side (pictures courtesy of Jason G.)
The first thing “rowing” we established at Crosswinds was a dock. William insisted on Connect-a-Dock because of its quality and longevity (“that is what we have been using at the Hooch for years”). So, one cold November Saturday almost 8 years ago, we put in the dock – and faced a maintenance challenge ever since. It cost Felix many sleepless night (and an obscene amount of money). One stormy winter afternoon Richard S. had to interrupt his cake baking to rush to the lake to prevent the dock from floating away. Some more hardware thefts got it to the brink of floating away several times. The UNC sailing club aiming to land their sailboats onto the dock and some rednecks doing the same with their 450 HP bass boats did not contribute to the longevity of the dock. We since have learned that placing inner-tubes under the floats and then inflating them to the right volume (depending on water temperature) is the most sustainable way to keep a Connect-a-Dock afloat in a commercial marina.
Over the years there were many big and full-mouthed announcements and promises to replace our dock with a safer and more stable alternative. None came to fruition. Under the Walker/Look leadership, the Juniors even launched 8’s off it. Every safety conscious person had a heart attack just by watching tiny kids trying to balance an 8 over-head on a wabbly dock that is 15 feet too short.
When JLRC re-launched under new leadership, we made it our priority to join forces with them and get a safer dock in place. First dream was to move the “Cane Creek Dock” (donated to the Juniors by Carolina Masters) to Crosswinds. However, it became apparent that the dock was no longer structurally sound enough to risk the transport.
Funds for a new dock therefore needed to be raised. Selling dock planks with naming rights proved to be a success - both the JLRC and the CHaOS section were pledged quickly. Thank you very much for your generosity!!!
Promising himself that this would be his last time worrying about a dock, Felix spend 2 weekends making sure we chose the right design and Richard S. ordered related hardware at the most effective cost. Paul K. of JLRC ordered the lumber and finally got it delivered to Crosswinds.
Master carpenter Joe, carpenter Jason with helpers Felix and Bob then built the first section of the new dock (learning many lessons) and floated it just in time for May Day rows. Joe, Jason, Dan(e), Felix, and Bob then also built the second section in record time. Maybe we should start a business.
We hope that the new dock marks the beginning of a new era. It is the first piece of rowing infrastructure JLRC and CHaOS own jointly. UNC Sailing Club also has (somewhat) committed to contribute its share in their next fiscal year.
With the floats sheltered by a heavy wood frame, we hope the dock will never need inner-tubes to keep afloat - and pray it is more forgiving to abuse from enthusiastic students and sloppy rednecks. We are convinced that it is a more stable construction and therefore safer to use. Still too short for an 8 - it should allow to safely launch two 4s at the same time.
It is therefore time for Felix (and his wallet) to retire from his dockmaster duties –being almost certain that this dock will easily survive him. Time for the youngsters to step up.
Felix says goodbye
According to a paper of British Rowing, loss of flexibility is what limits the success of us masters rowers the most. Weak core muscles are responsible for injuries, poorly set boats, and poor posture resulting in sloppy catches. In a test, less than half of our members could hold a 4 minute plank.
We therefore established Yoga for Rowers
The classes are specifically designed to address the needs of us rowers.
The classes are taught by Laura Terry who is also a physiotherapist and in that capacity had to rehabilitate many a rower. With these Yoga for Rowers classes, she now offers prevention rather than cure.
Thanks to the wonders of Zoom meeting, you can follow the exercises in the privacy of your home. Means: being ashamed of the beer belly is no longer an excuse (your crew mates will be eternally thankful).
Please join us every Tuesday evening from 6 to 7 PM EST!
Classes are free in May and June - thanks to the generosity of 10 CHaOS members who sponsor one class each.
If you want to participate, please send mail to row@chaosrowing.org - everybody is welcome.
Would be great if you could join us!
The board has asked our team doctors Tim and Rob for advise how to best proceed.
They have advised to cancel all team practices.
All team practices are cancelled!
What is still allowed:
take out your single (with all other rowers at least 6 feet away at all times)
take out Hal’s or my single with skill based permission (yes Brad, you will fit)
take out the “new” Alden Star recreational shell (Richard S is working hard to get it to the lake as soon as possible).
Please wipe all contact surfaces down before you take the boat out and after you have rowed it. Soap is better than alcohol – see below. I will try to get soap buckets to lake.
Wash your hands, wash your hands, wash your hands.
Whether you want to take the risk of taking out a 2x is your personal decision.
However, the team doctors want all of you to be aware of the following facts:
the virus is very easily transmitted
the virus can be transmitted by persons that have NO symptoms (NO coughing, NO fever)
You can already be a carrier without knowing it – you can pass it on to everybody around you who is closer than 6 feet and/or touches the same surface
Just because you tested negative 4 days ago does not mean you are not carrying the virus today.
It is our civic duty to slow the spread of the virus as much as possible. The slower the virus spreads, the more likely the medical infrastructure can keep up.
When the hospitals get overwhelmed by Covid 19 pneumonia cases, the hospitals do not have the capacity to treat your kid’s accident, your partner’s breast cancer or heart attack, or your flu (against which you refused to get a flu shot).
By staying healthy as long as you can, you will save lives – your solidarity in this is most appreciated.
Here is what convinced Brad: https://www.washingtonpost.com/graphics/2020/world/corona-simulator
Please help to slow the virus down!
Regards
Rob (MD), Tim (MD), Brad, Richard S, Felix (mere mortals)
Tim on alcohol vs. soap:
Soap and water works better than alcohol wipe. But 60% alcohol ok if no soap around.
How ordinary soap kills Covid 19
