New York City Mayor's Cup

Annapolis Canoe and Kayak www.annapoliscanoeandkayak.com was a regional training center for the 2007 Mayor's Cup. I became the representative paddler since you had to qualify by doing a comparably long race to prove you get around Manhattan quick enough before the current reversed direction. Given that the current has been to know to top out above 5 knots, that's plenty of incentive to get yourself our Manhattan quickly For me, it was gonna be a training race, although I was entered in the fast touring division, with a goal of winning. The most competitive division was the open surfski division, with an impressive field of talent, with a number of notable talent still in the US after the World Champs. Our division had enough good paddlers to make it a challenging race. Apparently not everyone including me wanted to risk experiencing a swim off a surfski in Harlem. Some of us thought better about doing that, and chose instead to have a skirt and deck protecting us from what lurked below the surface. The race drew racers from 7 countries.
As a lead up to USARA Nationals, my wife and I took a long due vacation together in New Paltz, NY. We got to run, bike, hike, and paddle everyday. I hit a personal record hours of training that week, while only holding it together by getting lots of sleep, stretching, eating well, and swallowing recover-ease and energ-ease religiously. We had an enjoyable time together, catching up on our lives. As two working physicians, we tend to cross paths most often in the hospital, not at home. That's the life we have chosen, so now and then we have to find time for each other. Every October, we devote one week to just that. It just so happened that the kayak race would be on the way back home where we had planned picking up the kids from our parents.
While up in New Paltz, we stayed at the Mohonk Mountain House. Expensive, but endless trails to train on right out the door. Although it rained nearly everyday, it didn't stop us from spending endless hours on our feet. By the end of the week, I was sufficiently hardened and ready to taper for Nationals, but I had this kayak race to get thru. Little did I know how depleted I was going into this race.
We had a contingent of folks from the Midatlantic area heading to the race. Seemingly everyone had their own concerns, whether it be the potential conditions at Hells Gate, paddling thru Harlem, the 30 mile length of the race, or their nutrition. For me, it was just another long training day and a chance to circumnavigate Manhattan.
Part of the benefit of owning a kayak shop is the ability to demo and see the latest kayaks of the year.
Epic's reworked 18x is a case in point of what's new and great in kayaks. I considered bringing a surfski, but given this was a training day, I figured a sea kayak would make it physiologically closer to paddling a canoe, which we often do in adventure racing.
The race was staged out of Battery Park on the SW tip of Manhattan. One block inland was the site of ground zero. It was a frigid morning in the low 40's as the sun rose behind us, but the views of the Statue of Liberty over the Hudson River warmed all our souls. It was early enough that the only New Yorker's were the early morning juggers. NYC came really be an impressive and beautiful place if you can find a place to escape the crowding and traffing.
What's so interesting about the race is that it's a complete circumnavigation of Manhattan. For me, it was a chance to experience those early days of medical training where I had to drive into NYC day or night to get to the hospital. Looking over the prerace map, all the bridges were labeled to give us an idea where we were along the course. Each of those bridges had a special memory for me. Depending on my rotation in medical school, whether it be ob/gyn, surgery, or pediatrics, I sometimes took a different bridge to get into or out of NYC. So, for me, the paddle around Manhattan became a race full of memories.
Our race start was close to 10am, but we all had to be onsite before 7am because of security and a local MS bike tour. So, there was a few hours of downtime and waiting around, just like the Boston Marathon. I took the opportunity to get in a run, envious of all the runners enjoying the views along the waterfront. l laced up my running shoes and finally started to get warm 30 minutes into the run. I had alot of time and alot of memories running along the Hudson, so I got lost in time and went for a 70-80 minute run. Even then, we all still had alot of waiting around and being cold, but at least I utilized some of it effectively. Although I was faulted by coach Tamela for doing a longish run before a marathon paddle race, at least I was enjoying myself. Little did I know how depleted I really now was. Oh well!
After our race start, we had a group of 5 paddlers doing the brunt of the front work. Unfortunately, I went into a bonk only 45 minutes into the race. Maybe i shouldn't have done that run beforehand? It was then I realized how many hours I had spent training that week. I dropped a few gu's down, seemingly catching up with my lack of glycogen for a few minutes, but then started some mild leg cramping that slowly progressed into full body cramping. I had 6 ecaps tucked away, and consumed all of em at once, downed my bottle of accelerade, trying to play catch up. Since I am not a cramper, it was a new experience. Definitely proved the theory that preexisting electrolyte and glycogen deficits prerace are nearly impossible to reverse during a day. However, I was still within touch of the leaders only a minute back, so was confident I could pull off a win if I could get on top of my nutrition. I knew I had the endurance somewhere, so kept fueling the fire till my stomach couldn't take anymore.
Unfortunately, about 12 miles into the race, I hit the wall, despite my attempts at playing nutritional catchup. We had been averaging 8.4 mph because of the slight current push up the Hudson, so it was only 90 minutes into the race. Ugh! Eventually, my bonking and cramping pulled me from the top 5 front pack. Up till the turn into the Harlem River, I was paddling at a comfortable tempo, confident that I could win the event if I kept ahead of my nutrition. At this point, we had passed the only easy pull out in the race. Once I hit the wall and knowing that the infamous Hell's Gate was around the corner, I trashed my hopes of a top finish for just surviving the dash around the Island. I slowed my pace, put my legs outside the cockpit, stuffed my face with every food I had to help replenish my low glycogen stores, and stretched in the boat. Although Harlem often appeared desolate and vacant, the most friendly homeless people would occasionally rise from their roost to wave us on. This was in stark contrast to the streets in mid and lower Manhattan where the people seemed not to notice all the kayaks going around Manhattan, apparently to busy with their cell phones and blackberries while they walked the East Side walks.
For all the forum posts, writeups and warnings about Hell's Gate, it was sort of a let down. I kept looking for the 5 ft standing waves and wicked eddies, but never found them. Another paddler in a surfski was beside me and asked "where's this Hell's Gate." I told him, "according to my map, we have already gone thru it."
From here on out, the confluence of the Harlem and East River created a wonderful push from behind. Even though my body was in bonk hibernation mode , I was still averaging 8.5-9 mph on my gps. Just the coolest feeling. Even though I was in dire straits physically, the buildings were ripping by while we paddled downriver. Before I knew it, I was seeing signs for the Brooklyn Bridge, then 34th street, and realizing the finish was fast approaching. I never stopped to actually get the current speed since it was too rough on the water to stop moving, but I estimate that we had 2-3 knots in certain locations.
The East River narrowed farther along, as the bulk of Manhattan projected it's concrete skywards.
Hell's Gate ended up being the easy section, with all the numerous large powerboat craft, transit ferries, and neighboring poker boat rally churning the East River into a washing machine. I estimated several instances of 5 ft waves, occasionally coming at every direction, but as quick as they appeared, they would dissipate. Several times I launched off a wave, airborne for a few seconds. Other times I was engulfed by opposite approaching waves putting me completely underwater, somehow staying upright and moving through all this. Although my arms, back, and legs were cramping, I had to ignore what was going on in my body to remain alert to the water around me. At times the pain in my buttocks was unbearable (well, I only had the boat for 2 weeks), but the finish and the years of adventure racing kept willing me forward.
By mile 28 in the paddle, the East River started opening up to the South and the wind piped up to 20knots. The washing machine effect gave way to a more predictable 2 ft wind driven chop. It was easier to now relax and enjoy the views. Eventually, the Statue of Liberty came into view, which was as welcoming as any finish line banner I have come across. At this point, I had started to recover, so pulled hard with each stroke, now passing everyone who had gotten by me in the last 2 hours. I passed nearly a dozen boats, but it was too late to salvage a top 5 finish position. Ended up finishing the day in 4+ hrs, about 20 minutes off the lead boat. After the race, Greg Barton was relating his story how he lost the race in the final 100 yrds when he got entangled in a fishing line. The race had a several thousand dollar prize, so that was one costly accident.
I hit the dock partly recovered, but still physically empty from the long week. The icing on the cake was having friends and family there to greet me. My daughter quickly grabbed my finishing medal and threw it around her neck then grabbed my camelback to take a few swigs of the fluid herself. Although I didn't finish remotely within my goal, the look on my wife's face made me realize how proud she was to have the kids watch Daddy do something crazy again. Although I staggered back to the staging area, having my family at my side erased all the pain.
The race staff was phenomenal. We had coast guard and water support along the entire stretch of the race. All the volunteers were available to carry our boats back to the staging area since most of us were too tired to do so, and they had 3 tables of food awaiting the finishers.
My recovery regimen kicked into overdrive. As Tamela always tells me, if you bonk or cramp in a race, the recovery time goes up. She hit that right on, since it took me a full week to recover to the point where I could grab a paddle or sitdown comfortable. Although it wasn't a hard effort, the prolonged bonking and cramping took a surprisingy toll. I was planning on doing the Yukon River Race, but the buttock pain made me have second thoughts.
Luckily as multisport goes, there's always another event to focus on, so I spent the week in my trail shoes.
After a week of paddling rest, I was good to go and feeling even stronger than ever. Stress and recovery, the recipe for a successful life.
Alot of people asked me about the water quality. I would say that the race is stationed with a perfect start time and place, allowing moderately fit paddlers to get around Manhattan before the current turns. It would be one brutal day if you couldn't maintain close to a 6mph pace in a sea kayak for 16 miles into the East River confluence, since if the current reversed direction, it would be one long day. For the race, the water was surprisingly clear and clean. The Hudson River was flowing upstream with fresh Ocean water, and the East River was flowing Southerly with fresh Long island sound flow. Turns out, the only area of the race that had less than desirable water, was in the Harlem river. Occasionally my paddle hit submerged objects with a thud during that section, each time making me wonder if there were really submerged bodies floating around Manhattan....
I was fortunate to be able to trial a new rudder prototype being developed by Epic for the 18x. It was most helpful in the washing machine condition on the lower East River. New rudder or not, the new Epic 18x is an amazing boat. Comfortable seat if you have enough cushion and time in the boat, wickedly light in the ultra layup, narrow deck shaping for an efficient wing stroke, and an efficient hull shape. The top boats in our division included the West Side Boat Shop EFT, Epic 18x, and the new dazzling Vampire nemo, but the Epic 18x taking 2 of the top 5 spots, and a first overall by a well known surfski paddler. The Vampire nemo and 18x are nearly identical boats based on dimension, both designed to maximize the fast touring rule. The epic 18x is stable enough for long touring, has an adjustable seat to balance the waterline, and the new boats coming from Asia exhibit no signs of the workmanship flaws present in South African boats of last few years. The ultra layup is very light, with the total kayak weight with hatches and lines in the mid 30#'s. It's such an enjoyable boat that it will undoubtedly become my staple training and racing boat for paddle and multisport racing. The honeycomb and carbon rib layup might not withstand typical touring conditions and comes with a disclaimer, but traveling 600 miles on the car, paddling a few shallow rivers in NY, and 30 miles around Manhattan in steep waves, it held up just fine.

Bill