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Published November 29, 2011 | 
Did you know that Canoecopia tickets are already available for 2012? Ticket prices went up for 2012, but if you get on your horse you can save a bit by purchasing yours online right away. I’m assuming you already know that Canoecopia is the countries largest paddle sports expo and is held each year in Madison, Wisconsin. This year’s dates are March 9th – 11th. I’ll see you there.. somewhere…
Meanwhile 45 miles to the north of Madison, I spend my Thanksgiving day paddling around Devil’s Lake… Surprise, Surprise!! That marked day 27 leaving me only 7 days to go to hit my 100 mile goal. Now I’m actually dragging my heels to get my last day in as near to the end of the year as possible. I think it would be sweet to wrap up on New Year’s eve day… It’s all up to old man winter at this point. I posted a small gallery of pics from Thanksgiving day over on Flickr. (Click Here) Nice moody day, Canada Geese, Bald Eagle… great day to be on the water!
Posted in Events & Symposia, My Paddling, Paddling | 
canoecopia, devils lake, wisconsin | 
Leave a commentYe Olde Kayak Emporium
Published March 18, 2011 | 
Another party’s over / And I’m left cold sober
My baby left me for somebody new
I don’t wanna talk about it / Want to forget about it
Wanna be intoxicated with that special brew – queen
Yesterday I was down in Madison to visit with Darrin Kimbler who will be leaving for the west coast in a couple weeks to begin his “Canoe Across America” expedition. This is a 5,200 mile trip that will keep him away from home until sometime in December. Well, at least he’ll have his dog with him!
From Darrin’s domicile, I drove over to Rutabaga which if you don’t know by now, is one of the country’s biggest, finest, and most well-loved paddle sports shops. (Did I say that right Boss??) I don’t know why… I mean what kind of legitimate kayak shop wouldn’t give out free chocolate chip cookies at the door? Shame, really. Be that as it may, I rolled in on Thursday which is their first day back open to the public after Canoecopia last weekend. Walking in the door right after they opened in the morning reminded me of the old Monty Python cheese shop sketch.. “It’s certainly uncontaminated by cheese.“. The shop was certainly uncontaminated by anything related to boating! That’s because all the stock was still ’round back in the trailers. That’s what happens when you host the worlds biggest paddle sports show each year. Heck even the back lot which is usually packed full of kayaks was hauntingly empty. Of course all that will change very quickly. The staff is going to be on their toes for the next few days. That means the store will be once again brimming with paddle candy right about the time the ice melts on the pond behind the store… which may be only a day or two the way things are going.
On a side note, someone asked me on my Quixotica Twitter account if Rutabaga has their own Twitter…. I think they hide it at @RutabagaPaddler…
***Full Disclosure: I am a paddling instructor at Rutabaga. This means anything I say is probably bias, and occasionally puts me at risk of losing my meager status as occasional hired goon.
**** What is it with all the food references in this post? I must be on a diet again.. Bah!
The Red Balloon
Published March 15, 2011 | 
A balloon is an inflatable flexible bag filled with a gas, such as helium, hydrogen, nitrous oxide, oxygen, Jazmine’s Raves, or air. – wikipedia
So there I was walking through crowded aisle at Canoecopia when somewhere in the din, my mind focused on a nearby voice. “Under the red balloon. ” the male voice said. “It’s under the red balloon. But, where’s the red balloon?” I looked over and found a man walking just a few feet away holding a yellow bit of paper in his hand and staring out over the crowed hall. With hardly a thought I looked ahead and continued on. A few moments later I heard the voice again, closer and coming from behind, and moving along side me. “Hmmm, big red balloon…” he said again. As his stride met mine, I spoke without looking in his direction, “If it’s where it has always been, just keep walking until until you can’t go any further, then turn right. Paddling.net is against that back wall.” The man paused as I continued on. I heard a voice fading off behind me ask, “Oh, you heard me?”
“Yep.” I thought to myself.. “Sure did.”
I smiled for a moment and just kept walking.
philosophical epiphany?
Published March 14, 2011 | 
“When I grow up…. I’m gonna kick his a**!”
The day after Canoecopia is a bit of a hangover day. It takes time to assess the weekend and figure out what happened and what it all meant. (If anything…) I’m sure there was a philosophical epiphany hidden in the weekend somewhere if you look hard enough. In fact, maybe the picture above says it all. I mean, in the big picture this is what it’s all about isn’t it? We’ll talk about that, share some news, look at some kit, randomly opine and more in the coming days. For the moment I simply posted about 90 photos from Canoecopia 2011 over on my Flickr with little to no narrative. Heck, I’m only on the day’s second pot of coffee…
Whoomp There It Is…
Published March 13, 2011 | 
Upside down and inside out
I’m about to show all you folks
What’s it’s all about.
-tag team
Today at Canoecopia in Madison, WI., Danny Mongo of Werner Paddles was demonstrating… well… I’m not sure actually what he was demonstrating, but I think it was something about paddles. I hope it was about paddles. Either that or he’s making a topical observation on current state of Wisconsin politics… I’ll just be done now, other than to say you can listen to Danny talk about selecting your perfect paddle on this podcast.
Canoecopia Saturday ReTwit
Published March 13, 2011 | 
The upside of smart phones is that you can quickly take photos, write a bit of text and instantly serve it up online. The downside is that you can quickly take photos, write a bit of text and instantly serve it up online… The camera sorta sucks a lot, and the typos… well, I’m famous for typos! I blasted off the shot above as a was strolling through the atrium of the Alliant Energy Center yesterday. The Coastguard auxiliary seemed to be reaching out to the next generation (Or going through a second childhood!). Continue reading
10 Useless Tips For Canoecopia
Published March 9, 2011 | 
There’s a brand new shopping center seven storys high
There’s bound to be a sale or two–something we can buy
There’s four floors of parking and we’re sure to find a space
We’ll spend all the money that the government doesn’t take
– warren zevon
It’s hardly worth me adding to the din surrounding Canoecopia in Madison, Wisconsin this weekend. Still, after working the show for years, maybe I can give you a little useless advice… You know what they say about experts…
1. Don’t Buy A Kayak… Unless..
The folks at Rutabaga will tell you the same thing (I hope!). Don’t buy a kayak unless you’ve paddled it before. Your butt is not a good tool for testing kayaks. Yeah, there are great prices and the sales ppl will get you all buzzed up for sure. Walk away.. go sit in your car and get really cold for awhile. Then, if you still need to buy a boat that you’ve never paddled before.. go back in. Put money down on the kayak, then test paddle it at Rutabaga once the snow melts. Yeah, you can do that. Well, you used to anyway. Ask! Oh, and by the way.. Plastic kayaks are OK… really. (*See darren’s comment below!) Continue reading
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