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April 24, 2006
COLLEGIATE KAYAKERS CONQUER THE TRUCKEE
National Collegiate Whitewater Kayaking Competition in Reno
Kayaker challenges the Truckee River
It's all captured for television
Last Saturday, I ventured to downtown Reno to catch the collegiate national whitewater kayaking championship, being held at the Truckee River Whitewater Park.
Despite the overcast skies, the event attracted a good crowd, all interested in seeing some of the best college kayakers in the country battle the Truckee's waters. During the time I watched, it was the women's freestyle qualifying matches, which featured the top college female paddlers.
The Truckee is running high at this time of year so there was plenty of water and a powerful current to challenge the kayakers. While I don't pretend to know what the participants were required to do in the competition, I did see some stellar paddling and tight rolls. On the latter, the participants would paddle to the center of the course, where there's a lot of roiling water and a kind of waterfall, and purposely flip their kayaks upside down, then right them, without losing control.
The whole time the competitors are going through their maneuvers, I found myself fascinated by this guy with a big television camera on a crane-like contraption that swung around over the heads of the paddlers. As the kayakers flipped upside down and fought against the current, the camera floated overhead, catching every bit of agony and exertion. He was there because the competition was being filmed by College Sports TV, which will plans to broadcast highlights of the competition in May.
In addition to the whitewater kayaking competition, the Collegiate Nationals, held throughout the Reno area on April 20-23, included the collegiate national wakeboard competition at the Sparks Marina, the national beach volleyball tournament at Harrah's Plaza, a triathlon, and snowboarding championships at Northstar-At-Tahoe.
While I only watched the kayaking portion, I was rewarded with some dazzling paddle-work. And as I stood there taking it all in, I overheard a young guy in his mid-20s remark that he never thought he'd see the day when competitors from colleges from around the country would flock to Reno for kayaking.
Reno's image is changing my friends.----Richard Moreno
Posted by Rich Moreno at 12:19 PM | Comments (0)
3rd at the American River Festival
The Reno-Tahoe Blog will occasionally feature entries from athletes sponsored by Reno-Tahoe, America's Adventure Place. Jay Kincaid, professional kayaker, has been paddling over half of his lifetime, and is back to blog about his life as a professional kayaker living in Reno, NV. As 2003 Freestyle Kayaking World Champion, 2001 U.S. National Champion and three-time U.S. Point Series Champion, Jay is the most proud of the many first descents he's done on rivers and waterfalls in his native Oregon and in California.
I left for the American River Festival last Thursdays morning. Lisa and I arrived at around noon, met up with the Jackson's and headed up the river to the feature that we thought the freestyle competition would be. It was a hole just upstream of a rapid called Miya, and it was really good. We played there for a couple of hours timing rides and generally getting ready for the competition.
The next morning we got the word that the location for the event had been changed, so we headed just down river to that small hole and again practiced for the event. This hole was really small but we stayed positive about it, and everyone seemed to be doing a lot with what we had.
That night we went to the party at the River Store were we got the new update about the locations for the competition. It was to now be a freestyle through the rapid at Trouble Maker Rapid. So, the morning of the event we were all out practicing when we found a small breaking wave with eddy access just above the rapid. As a group we decided that this was the best option, so the event was now for sure going to be there.
In prelims I had good rides and ended up going to finals in first place.
Steven Wright was in second and EJ was in third. Finals were really close, but Steven was able to pull of a great McNasty on the small wave and won. EJ had a ride much like mine only he was able to get a little more pop on his moves, so he finished second, and for the second weekend in a row I finished third.
I was really upset to not have won, but I know that I am paddling well and am looking forward to the next event.
I am back in Reno now and will be until Friday when Steven and I drive to Portland and then Bend to do a couple of clinics.
Posted by Nadia at 10:10 AM | Comments (0)
April 20, 2006
U.S. 50'S OLD SHOE TREE
An RVer stops to check out the Old Shoe Tree on U.S. 50, east of Reno
Recently, we decided to take a little road trip out U.S. 50, the so-called "Loneliest Road in America."
After we passed through the farming town of Fallon (an hour east of Reno), we entered the area that's been described as the Nevada Outback. Our drive took us through white-bleached alkali flats, past the giant 600-foot-high mound known as Sand Mountain (a popular off-roading spot), and miles of wide, open spaces.
About 15 miles east of Sand Mountain, near a place called Middlegate, we spotted a most unusual sight---a giant cottonwood tree beside the highway that was filled with hanging shoes. Hundreds of pairs of shoes, along with a few umbrellas, a couple of brassieres, and other items, have been tossed into the branches of the 70-foot tree.
Naturally, we pulled over to look at this Shoe Tree, snapped a couple of photos, and wondering why it had become burdened by so much footwear. I mean, what's the story here?
Once we returned, I began researching the story of the Old Shoe Tree, as it's called. While there seem to be several versions of the story, most agree that it all began about a decade ago when a newly married couple was driving along U.S. 50 and began to argue.
The couple apparently stopped under the tree. The new bride threatened to walk home so the husband took her shoes, tied the laces in a knot and threw them up into the tree. The husband drove to a nearby bar in Middlegate, where the bartender told him to go back to his bride and apologize.
The couple made up and drove away. A year later they stopped by to show off their first child, whose first pair of shoes are said to hang in the tree.
Over time, others saw the shoes in the cottonwood and began tossing their own footwear into its branches. These days, there are dozens of leather and canvas sneakers, oxfords, pumps, cowboy boots, wingtips, slippers, sandals, and other foot items hanging from the Old Shoe Tree.
In fact, you might say it's a tree with plenty of sole----Richard Moreno
Posted by Rich Moreno at 10:22 AM | Comments (1)
April 18, 2006
Kaweah & Brush Creek Extreme Race
The Reno-Tahoe Blog will occasionally feature entries from athletes sponsored by Reno-Tahoe, America's Adventure Place. Jay Kincaid, professional kayaker, has been paddling over half of his lifetime, and is back to blog about his life as a professional kayaker living in Reno, NV. As 2003 Freestyle Kayaking World Champion, 2001 U.S. National Champion and three-time U.S. Point Series Champion, Jay is the most proud of the many first descents he's done on rivers and waterfalls in his native Oregon and in California.
I left last Wednesday for the East fork of the Kaweah, in the Southern Sierra. Thursday morning we put on the river at the highest flow that most of had done it. We had an excellent group of people and it turned out to be a great day on one of my favorite day runs in the world. We had to walk the best water fall rapid on the river because the river was simply to high, but other then that everything was as run able, or not run able, as usual.
That night I drove the three hours south to Kernville. The next morning I met up with the Jackson's and we did a few practice runs on Brush creek, the location of the extreme race the next day. The water was a lot higher then I had ever seen on that creek and it only made it that much better.
Saturday was the Brush Creek Extreme Race, and with lots of water and lots of competitors it was sure to be a great race. It seemed as if everyone was there. There were Olympians, World Champions, Extreme racing Champions, expedition kayakers, and everyone in between. Eric Jackson came out hard and won the race. Dave Garinger finished second, and I finished third. I always compete to win, and that is always the goal, but I didn't feel bad about finishing third. I have high expectations for the races that I am going to be in this year.
Saturday night I went out on the Slalom course and did a work out in the new Jackson Kayak Ricochet. I had Eric on the bank giving me instruction, and that was awesome. It was the first time that I had been in one of the new slalom boats and it is definitely something that I am going to do more of.
Sunday Morning I met my group of people who had signed up for my play boating clinic. We headed up the river to a small wave and I spent the next couple of hours helping everyone to learn and refine their play boating skills. I think that everyone had a great time and I know that it was fun for me to see everyone learning.
When I left Kernville to drive home it was 75 degrees. Four hours latter it was 25 degrees and snowing like crazy. Last night it snowed 3 inches here in Reno, but seems to be melting off pretty quick. I am hoping that it gets warm fast because I am meeting Jason Craig in two hours at the white water park. I cant tell you how ready for summer I am!
The American River Festival is this next weekend, so I will heading back over the mountain in a couple of days.
Posted by Nadia at 11:33 AM | Comments (0)
April 12, 2006
Speed Bumps On The Road To Italy
The Reno-Tahoe blog will occasionally feature entries from athletes sponsored by Reno-Tahoe, America’s Adventure Place. Bobby Julich, professional cyclist, trains in the Reno-Tahoe area and has been cycling since before he entered and won his first Race, the Red Zinger Mini Classic, at the age of 13. Highlights of his professional career include a third place podium finish in the 1998 Tour de France riding for Cofidis, a Bronze medal at the 2004 Athens Olympics and a victory in the week long Paris-Nice race in 2005 with Team CSC.
In the last six weeks, I have been through quite the gamut of experiences and emotions. After a great Winter of training in the Reno/Tahoe area, I had a brief training camp in Italy, followed by more training back home.
My first race of the year was the Amgen Tour of California, where I placed 3rd overall. I had a great time racing back in the States especially in a race of this caliber. It really elevates racing in America to a new level and one which I hope other American races will emulate.
Directly after the race I headed back to Europe to begin my Spring campaign, where I started off with a win in the prologue of Paris-Nice. This was a terrific victory for myself and the team, but a little unexpected as it was not one of my objectives for this year.
Although at my age, I will take any victories wherever and whenever they come ! Unfortunately, during the second to last stage of the race I crashed hard and cracking three of my ribs and forcing me to retire from the race.
In the week immediately following Paris-Nice, I my goal has been to recover and get some physical therapy and heal my wounds. However, the rest days and a mild training schedule was not very good preparation for my next race, the Criterium International, where I was the defending champion from the previous year. Although defending the title was not a personal objective of mine, it was for my team. My teammate, Ivan Basso, ended up winning the race, which was great for our team morale. Unfortunately, because of the effort that I had to make to help the team, I ended up getting a head cold. Just another speed bump in the road on my return to racing in Europe.
So, the season has barely begun and my real racing hasn't even started yet! Right now, my first priority is to get better and start firing on all cylinders to be ready for the Tour of Italy in May.
Until the next time, keep the rubber side down and the wind at your back.
Posted by Nadia at 08:59 AM | Comments (0)
April 11, 2006
GREAT YEAR FOR SNOW PHOTOS
(Photo by Hank Moreno)
It's April and there's still plenty of snow in the mountains around Reno. So, last weekend we decided to head up to the higher elevations to shoot a few photos. My son, Hank, got a new digital camera last Christmas and he's been eager to try to fill up a few memory cards with shots.
We drove up the Mount Rose Highway toward Lake Tahoe. As we climbed out of the Truckee Meadows, we could see some recent snow, which this year just seems to keep falling. The mountainsides were blanketed with the white stuff and only the top portions of the trees poked up through the snow.
As the road zigzagged up the mountain, we could see that the high peaks were thickly layered with snow. In most years, only the mountaintops are covered and you can see plenty of craggy rock walls and cliffs. But this year, the snow is so thick that hardly any rock is able to break through the covering.
We continued past Sky Tavern, a city of Reno ski facility for local kids, and the new Mt. Rose Visitor Center, which serves as the trailhead for the Mt. Rose Trail (we'll hit that beautiful stretch of trail after the weather warms up in either the Spring or Summer).
Just ahead, my son asks me to stop because he's spotted a snow-covered tree that he thinks might make a good photo. We pull over, climb out of the car and begin our slog through the deep snow. As we trudge closer, we see that the tree is barely alive with part of its trunk exposed and largely devoid of bark. Frankly, it's a scrawny thing. But despite its scarecrow appearance there is something strong and proud in the way it just stands there in the snow defying everything that Mother Nature has thrown at it.
After my son snaps his shot, we head back to the car to look for other winter scenes. I have no doubt that he's going to quickly fill up his camera's memory card.----Richard Moreno
Posted by Rich Moreno at 09:51 AM | Comments (0)
April 05, 2006
HOW DID RENO BECOME RENO?
Cool Native American Baskets
Lighting up the Neon Desert
Reuel Gridley's Famous Sack of Flour
Recently, my daughter had to write a report on how Reno got its name. She'd heard two versions of the story; one was that Reno was named after the guy who didn't show up in time to rescue Custer at the Battle of Little Big Horn, and the other was that the city was named after a Civil War hero.
So, I told her we'd check out the Nevada Historical Society, located at the north end of the University of Nevada, Reno campus, to see if we could find anything about Mr. Reno.
We wandered into the Historic Society and discovered it's actually a combination research library and small Nevada history museum. My daughter was immediately attracted to the society's large display of prehistoric Native American artifacts, including rows of handmade Paiute, Washo, and Shoshone Indian baskets and cradleboards.
Many of the baskets are the work of a legendary Washo artist, Dat-so-la-lee, who, in the 19th century, created dozens of magnificent grass baskets with intricate weaves and designs. Because of their quality, some Dat-so-la-lee baskets have been valued at tens of thousands of dollars.
Impressed by all the stuff on display, we continued to explore. We found a replica of a Native American grass dwelling as well as exhibits describing Nevada's mining history.
My daughter found a number of vintage gambling devices that didn't look like anything she'd ever seen before---strange, mechanical card devices, wooden slot machines, and a big wheel with pictures of dice.
In one corner, we found a couple of antique bicycles with wooden wheels and handle-grips and the most uncomfortable-looking wooden seats.
I told her the story about one thing I recognized, which was an old, stained sack of flour sitting in a display case. The 50-pound sack was originally owned by Austin, Nevada shop owner Reuel Gridley, who, in 1864, lost an election bet and had to carry it through the town.
Following his walk, he auctioned the sack with the proceeds donated to the Sanitary Fund (precursor to the Red Cross). The sack was resold several times that day, generating some $5,000 for charity. Gridley was later asked to repeat the auction in other Western towns and eventually raised nearly a quarter-of-a-million dollars for the Sanitary Fund.
Other displays included a large neon sign from an old Reno bar ("The Phone Booth") as well as maps, photos and paintings depicting early Nevada, vintage clothing, and beautiful leather saddles and boots.
Oh, and we discovered that Reno is named by the Central Pacific Railroad in honor of General Jesse L. Reno, a Union officer killed in the battle of South Mountain, Maryland in 1862.---Richard Moreno
Posted by Rich Moreno at 12:55 PM | Comments (0)
April 04, 2006
Winter skiing in April
Every weekend I tell my hubby "this is the last weekend of skiing for us" because I am 100% convinced that it'll warm up during the following week and the snow will be too hard for me and the belly... But it keeps snowing!
So this was another backcountry weekend, and we had to take advantage of it! How can you resist all that powder?? You simply can't! We went to the Tahoe Meadows on Saturday and couldn't believe how awesome the snow was. Sunday we skinned up at the bend on the road on Mt Rose Highway and went up pass Mt Rose ski resort, while it never stopped snowing. The snow was getting to be a bit more slush/mash but still soft enough for a pregnant woman.
Here's me deciding if I should turn or not -- the snow is getting heavier
Losing my balance due to baby weight (or at least that sounds like a good excuse!)
Posted by tele girl at 12:42 PM | Comments (0)