INSOMNIA

It's nearly two o'clock in the morning, and I am sitting here wide awake.  The husband and The Princess all sound asleep, ready to wake up rested and refreshed. 

Insomnia never happens to me.  I am usually the one person at parties who cannot keep her eyes open past 8:30.  Ask anyone who has had to cart me home, not because of drunkness, but because at that point in time, I could just drop and be gone--out like a light.

I am not sure why I am awake like it is nine o'clock in the morning and as if I have already had my cup of coffee.  Maybe it was the coffee that I had this morning.  Or maybe it was work unconsciously running around in my head.  Or perhaps, I am just so nervous for this weekend's Head of the American race.  Or maybe the nagging, mild discomfort in my shoulder and hip was keeping me up.

At about an hour ago, at one in the morning, I had given up trying or pretending to sleep.  One cup of cookies and one generous handful of almonds later...

Wine Country Regatta 2011 - Part 1

In the fall, rowing centers around head races, approximately 5,000-6,000 meters or about 16-25 minutes depending on your speed and boat class.  In comparison, the spring and summer races are 1,000-2,000 meters, 4-10 minutes.  Think cross-country running in the fall versus track and field in the spring.

This past weekend was the Head of the Charles regatta in Boston.  Congratulations to all the finishers!  Extra special congratulations to Kristin who won the Lightweight Women's Single, defending her 2009 title!

Borrowed North Bay Rowing Club's (NBRC) Hudson 2x
for Wine Country

Racing at home, at the Petaluma Wine Country Classic head race, was in even more beautiful and warm weather than in Boston.  The water was relatively calm and the sun gently beamed down all day.  It was great to see the LMRC team again as well as the Cal Lightweight women racing.  In fact, on the trailer loaded with LMRC boats and Cal Lightweight boats, I saw a familiar boat, the Little Debbie, which I rowed in in college.  Brings back mixed memories.

The Little Debbie 4+ still chugging along!

I had two races for the day--a mixed double and a mixed quad.  For both races, North Bay Rowing Club was generous enough to lend us boats to use.  The double was a Hudson double with toe steering in bow.  It is not unusual for a double to have toe steering since it is a blind boat, but we do not normally row with one, instead relying on ourselves to do all the steering.

After the coaches and coxwains meeting, which reviewed the course and racing rules, my mixed double's (Mx2x) partner and I loaded our oars into his Honda Civic and drove over to launch from the NBRC dock, close by.  We made foot stretcher and spacer adjustments to the boat and then, were out on the water.

The row to the start line took longer than I had imagined, and I began to worry that we would be late the start.  Luckily, the race was delayed by five minutes and we were not the last double to our race.  We were, however, the first boat to start.  The other weird thing about head races is that boats do not start simultaneously, but rather sequentially, similar to a cycling time trial.  The winner is determined by the fastest time and not by who crosses the line first.

"Number 51, Lake Merritt composite. You may row."  In head racing, you actually start rowing about 100-150 meters behind the start line.  You start on the paddle and gradually build speed.  The goal is to reach your optimal speed, rhythm, and rate at the time that you cross the start line.

Masters 2x

We quickly settled into a good rhythm.  The first 1,000 meters of the course was straight until a turn to port followed by another straightaway.  The boat felt good, but on the straightaway, there were not many buoys to guide my course, I could see the wavering in my steering.  If you look ahead to the stern of the boat and if you are steering straight, you should see a straight line.  In my case, I could see where the line slightly curved and where I had corrected or overcorrected my course.

Masters 2x

At about halfway, the boat felt heavier at the catch, which was odd.  Our rowing felt pretty consistent and we were supposed to have a current carrying us.  Then, I realized that there was a small headwind.

The last 2,000 meters of the race were harder than I had expected.  Because of the age handicap and the fact that we started first, I was not sure how well we were doing compared to the other boats.  As we crossed the finish line, I was wondering how we were going to race again in an hour.  We did not wait for the other boats to finish or to count the seconds between us and them.  We rowed back to the NBRC dock to get hands on the quad.

Head of the Charles Weekend

Outside of the Olympics and World Championships, the Head of the Charles (HOTC or HOCR) is THE rowing event in the US.  Even IRA, NCAAs, and Harvard-Yale Boat Race have to take a back seat to the HOTC.  Usually infamous for Bostonian bad weather, word on the ground is that this year's HOTC is actually going to have good, non-rainy, non-snowing weather.  There might even be a chance of sunshine, although note that the temperature is predicted to be a cool 60 degrees.

The schedule is available here, and the two-day regatta can be watched live online here.

Here's a list of boats that I will be cheering on:

• Event 6 Sat 9:46 -- Women's Senior 50+ Eight -- Syracuse Chargers Rowing Club (LMRC rower stroking)
• Event 8 Sat 10:08 -- Women's Senior 50+ Four -- Community Rowing (LMRC rower)
• Event 14 Sat 11:48 -- Women's Club Single -- BIAC
• Event 16 Sat 12:44 -- Women's Club Four -- BIAC and Union Boat Club
• Event 19 Sat 13:43 -- Mens Master Double -- BIAC
• Event 44 Sun 12:40 -- Women's Lightweight Single -- University of Wisconsin Alumni (Go Kristin!!)
• Director's Challenge Sun 12:59 -- Men's Quad -- (a quad with Cal Lightweight alumnus...  Go Nick!)
• Event 48 Sun 14:31 -- Women's Championship Four -- LMRC

Closer to home, this Sunday is also the Wine Country 5k regatta in Petaluma, same venue as the Petaluma River Marathon.  Race schedule can be found here.  Be HUNGRY.  Be ready for some racing.

Vegas

Only one closet of several, lined with dresses
and shoes, none of which belong to me

In the Bay Area, this past weekend was the Head of the Port, held in Port of West Sacramento, hosted by River City Rowing Club.  Results are posted here.  It looked like a good day for Lake Merritt and the Cal Lightweight men who raced several heavyweight crews.

Instead of doing anything productive, such as racing at Head of the Port, the weekend was spent in Las Vegas for a good friend's bachelorette party.  Living it up in style at the newly-built Planet Hollywood Westgate Tower suites, there was plenty of sleeping space, alcohol, junk food, and bathroom space for ten girls.  If you have not figured out by now, I am an old lady who is married, has a kid, and just struggling to get by with a clean house.  Partying and Vegas are not really ever in the cards.  So this trip was a trip to see how this whole Vegas thing is really done.

Going out to town required a three to four hour getting-ready, make-up period and the experienced party girls made it look like a controlled massive production line--shower, make-up, dress, hair.  Apparently, for girls, it is key to look the "part" in order to cut lines at clubs and get free admission. To my chagrin, my one-and-a-half inch black heels that I normally wear to work was not going to cut it.  After much peer pressure, we went shoe shopping (luckily, the Miracle Mile shops were right downstairs).

I have this bad habit of acquiring new shoes when I travel.  My husband who owns maybe three pairs of shoes and who wears his shoes until the soles are falling apart, always has this skeptical look of when accosted by the latest shoe acquisition.

Latest and greatest (and absolutely non-function) pair of shoes

Unlike the last pair of shoes I brought home from Colorado, this pair from Aldo were wedges, which, as I was informed, are quite in-style now, and had a heel about three-and-a-half inches.  Trust me, there were many other more extreme choices, but this was the pair in which I would not break an ankle and which I might possibly where on another occasion.

The first night was spent at two clubs.  By the third hour, I felt like Cinderella who had managed to squeeze her foot into the glass slipper, but found out that the more she stands, the larger her feet become.  Every other woman was wearing shoes like mine or even more ridiculously taller and uncomfortable.  If there was a woman there who said that her feet did not hurt, she is LYING.  The absolutely stupid things women do for beauty.

The second night, I ditched the new shoes and wore my plain black, grandma shoes.  Much more comfortable.  Thank goodness.

Picture with the bachelorette and grandma shoes

Welcome to Bair Island Rowing Club (BIAC)

BIAC boathouse and erg room

The move to the South Bay with a new home and new job would not be complete without a new rowing club.  Despite the vast bay, rowing here is pretty much limited to two areas--Lexington Reservoir in Los Gatos and Redwood City.

I have joined Bair Island Rowing Club, also called BIAC (Bair Island Aquatic Center), the most conveniently located boathouse to my work and commute.  BIAC is located in Redwood City at the city port.  Like most ports, the Port of Redwood City is not located in the best of neighborhoods.  The area is crowded with industrial factories and large tugboats shipping goods in and out of the port.  In addition, there is an extra bonus of a women's prison nearby the boathouse!  Just like in Oakland, it is best not to leave anything of value in your car.  You never know which shady character will take a rock to your car window...

Other notable ports in the Northern California include the Port of Oakland (the estuary) where the Cal Lightweights, Cal Heavyweight men, Berkeley High, Oakland Strokes, and East Bay Rowing Club row and the Port of West Sacramento where UC Davis and River City Rowing Club row.  None of these areas are the nicest or safest of neighborhoods.

BIAC docks and nice, flat water

Luckily, there is an upside to BIAC's shoddy location.  The water is, for the most part, flat and calm for 2,000-3,000m out.  As the estuary widens and pours into the bay, the water becomes rougher and eventually, you end up rowing in the bay where you can see the Dumbarton Bridge on one side and the San Mateo Bridge on the other.  The mornings are very dark with lights blinking far away on the shore; without knowing the course and being able to see in the dark, it is very easy to become disoriented.  A number of green and red channel markers can guide you, but the lights flash so damn infrequently that they are easy to miss.

This body of water can get crowded in the mornings with a variety of teams that include Stanford varsity crews, the Stanford junior rowing program or Peninsula Crew, Palo Alto Rowing Club (juniors), and NorCal crew (juniors).  In fact, BIAC shares its boathouse with the NorCal crew.  In the mornings during the school year, the boathouse teeming with high school boys and girls who cannot seem to stop talking at 5 in the morning.

BIAC boats all stored outdoors; covered singles are private boats

BIAC is a fair number of boats, all stored outside, that are shared between all the teams.  There is also some storage for private boats.

Club singles, mostly Aeros, Maas 24s and 27s, and flyweights

Club singles

BIAC masters have an advanced mixed masters team, an intermediate mixed masters team, and individual scullers.  The club also puts on a number of regattas in the fall.  The fall BIAC regatta with its infamous turns and crabs is actually held in the San Mateo Lagoon.  The other regatta is at the BIAC home course and also consists of a number of turns and twists, hence the name "corkscrew."

Mark your calendars!
BIAC 20th Annual Fall Regatta - Sunday, November 6th, 2011
BIAC 5th Annual Corkscrew - Sunday, December 11th, 2011