Stroke the Slough - Part 1

This last Sunday, July 14th, Joel and Jhacoli participated in a Stand Up Paddling Race!

This was the second year that they entered Stroke the Slough (as well as the second year it's been in existence) as a father/daughter tandem team. Last year, they were the only ones competing tandem, but this year there were several other teams.

We were also happy to see several kids competing solo in the "recreational" race, and one, Jhacoli's 11 year old friend Josie, competing in the "elite" race - that's quite an accomplishment! Joel and Jhacoli were still the only tandem team in the "elite" race, which was 7.75 miles, part of it upstream. The race started in Redmond at Luke McRedmond Park, and ended downstream at Red Hook Brewery in Woodinville, where they had an after-party including BBQ and beer.

One thing about having a race on a river: the start is a little awkward. The seasoned racers were out in front, and you can see here that they were going for it as soon as they heard the starting sound. The racers in back, however, had to wait a bit until there was enough room for them to really get going. Passing wasn't really an option until further down river.

While Joel and Jhacoli "power-punched" their way from the rear to the middle of the pack, I was racing along side the river on my bike so that I could get a few shots from one of the bridges along the course. This was fairly early in the race, but I was happy to see that Jhacoli was standing and keeping a good cadence with dad - last year she sat down for some of the race, but this year she stood and paddled the entire time, excepting a few moments at the buoy turn, where she fell after Joel accidentally smacked her with the paddle trying to get his board (with an experimental fin set-up) to make the tight turn. She didn't fall in the water, but stayed sitting on the board for several minutes, recovering. Then she popped back up and set the pace for their final push before the finish line.

Both of them were plenty tired at the end, but proud of their time of 1:37! Way to go Team Yang!

-Maia