Awesome video of the Remix 47 on the Potomac

Jordan submitted a video about paddling the Remix 47 on the Potomac with Simon who was also in the kids Remix. Super cool to see these boats in action.



Thanks Jordan for posting the video. You guys are looking good out there.

Shane

Surfing in Costa Rica

I was down in Costa Rica not too long ago with an awesome crew. Buffy "Bailey" Burge, Curtis, my old buddy Beaz from the Chile photos, Yonton "the international man of mystery", and Darlene "way too much energy for one person to have". We had awesome waves, a fantastic New Years Eve Party, I ran into Susan Sarandon on the beach one morning at sunrise, and I got my ass handed to me on the big days but it was sooooo fun. Sorry about some site feed issues I have been working on the blog a bunch lately.

John Fuller

Hey Everybody
I was down at the factory not too long ago and I ran into John Fuller. He is the lead whitewater boat molder. He runs the huge oven that spins and cooks all our boats. He also does special graphics, and assembly as well, and I thought It was really cool to have someone that actually paddles right there at the oven making our boats. He has been paddling for 18 years, and making kayaks for 8. His favorite runs are the Watauga and Big Creek, but he also gets around for his paddling fix. Hes done the Grand Canyon, paddled in Colorado, Canada, he's done a paddling trip to Costa Rica, and of course Woody and I see him up here on the Green regularly as well. He worked for another company for a while and then joined up with Legacy and Liquidlogic when they got started and we started molding our boats there. John has also been paddling with his son for a long time. They started off when he was 5 in a topo-duo but now John is starting to get him into his own boat. So he has been super psyched to see the small boats that we are putting out now.



John Putting in the Liquidlogic Logos.

I took some photos of John in action... at the oven. You can see he is working on the Jefe Chico and doing the graphics work on the new special flame or "chopper" graphics. If you haven't seen how a kayak is made you can check out some videos on my Video Archive Page

Just scroll down the video list and there is a section on most things about making kayaks, how boats are shaped, molded, assembled, and of course tested (redneck testing at its finest).

I just wanted to give him props because he is doing a great job and its awesome to have a paddler making the boats we paddle. Everyday he's there making sure we are putting out the best kayaks in the industry, because if he doesn't he is going to hear about it from his buds in the eddie.

Later

Shane

Here are some shots of John in action.

Pouring in the plastic.

Opening up the mold to see the brand new boat.

Popping the new boat.

There is the new gold boat.



A shot of the fellas putting in the new flame "chopper" graphics and a new chopper graphiced Jefe Chico.





Voila! New Jefe Chico with Flames.

Liquidlogic's Biological Clock

It all started with a phone call about 5 years ago. My brother called and said guess what I am going to be a dad. I was completely and totally psyched, and the wheels started turning in my head that day, about a boat I could make for his kids. I had started working on a model that year actually, but we just weren't ready to go for it. Then my bro had another kid. Damn, I thought to myself I really have to get on it and make this boat. I worked some more on it but it just wasn't quite right. Then just last year Peter, my brother, called and said, "This time its a girl" Ok this is getting serious I thought. I have to do it now and now I have some guinea pigs to test it on. So that is when I started the testing with my brother, his kids, and others that he had been teaching.

I wasn't sure what type of design I really wanted to do but the more I thought about it the more I realized that it needed to be a boat for kids to learn how to paddle in. That is when we all started talking about the development of the Remix. This was the boat that I knew we could develop into a kids boat. I knew my brother would be stoked to teach his kids how to paddle in that design. Its a boat that is stable enough to give them confidence but also narrow and small enough that they can roll it and move it around as they learn. Of course you want to make something that the kids will want to paddle and feel good paddling but I also wanted my brother to feel confident that the boat would keep his kids safe and happy about being on the water, and that is what we set out to do with the Remix 47.

My brothers kids weren't the only influence in us starting to make a kids kayak. I guess as Liquidlogic is starting to grow older, so are we, and our friends. That pretty much always means... friends start having kids. There are tons of our buds who have been begging us to get in the kids boat game. Boyce Greer who is one of our founding partners at Liquidlogic has 3 girls and they are all starting to play around with kayaking. The original Liquidlogic kids boat concept was named project Blueberry by the Greer girls. Kelly Fischer one our reps has a couple boys and they are starting to paddle. Maria Noakes is an old friend of ours who has paddled Liquidlogic boats as a team member all over the world. She has a couple of boys getting to the age where they are starting to paddle some. And there are more and more all the time. So really its like Liquidlogics biological clock just went off. Its time for us to have some kids... boats.

Shane

Woody in the Remix 79 on the Green

Stats on Woody

6'4"
240 lbs
Size 13s
First Ever Green Racer
The man who gave the name Gorilla to that rapid called Gorilla.
Dead Sexy


"Dude I can outfit this thing in 30 seconds. Who was the last midget to paddle this thing?"


"Damn this thing boofs real nice! How do I look?"


"Whoa that ferry was easy with this much speed. Oh good he can't see my bald head"


"Landing on a 45 mmmm nice and soft. Oh look at the pretty shadow on the bow of my boat."


"Did I mention that this thing boofs well? Damn I put my hand in front of my face."


"I think I'm in love and the boat is good too."

Woody's 50th Birthday

    Hey Everybody I totally forgot to post this in the spring and we are celebrating Thanksgiving so I figured I would throw this up. Woody hit the big 50 and certain special friend gave him an amazing gift of flying up the Green River Narrows in a helicopter and the best part was that he got to take some of his friends so a bunch of us got to go. It was awesome!

    They picked us up at Green River Adventures and and dropped down over the rim of the gorge basically following straight down the fall line that is the 18 switch backs down the Green River take out road. Then it was a slow cruise up the gorge as we pointed out all the rapids and laughed at how different it was from above. It was really crazy how sharply the river changed directions. Which to me I don't really notice so much while I am on the river. Once we got to Gorilla there was a brave crew who paddled in at 60% and put down a banner for Woody that said Happy Birthday. The pilot cruised up the rest of the canyon and when we hovered above Frankestein he asked us what we wanted to do on the way back down and Woody said, "Can we fly down Apocolypse Now style"," you know fast"! So that is what happened. The pilot had us flying down the river and banking turns so sharp that it felt like we were nearly upside down. One turn in particular that I remember was turning the corner towards Sunshine. We banked so hard I could feel the Gs put me in my seat. It was awesome.

    It finished with a quick flight up the gorge wall and then he set us down gently back at Green River Adventures.  I had flown up several rivers on helicopters before but to fly up a run that you know so well really gave you a different perspective.  We finished the night with a party at Woodys house down by the take out of the river. Nice one Woody and I hope my 50th is even partly as cool as yours.

Shane


Sarah from Green River Adventures and Woody getting ready.


Woody's view from the front seat.



Take Off


Gone


Coming down to Gorilla


Birthday Banner at Gorilla (You'd have to have nuts the size of a...)


The Landing Pad

The Ender is Back!

Hey Everybody

I was out on the Gauley during the festival and I decided to paddle the large Remix. We just went down a short bit to a spot we used to do enders, cartwheels and all that back in the day and now we actually are working on all the new stuff as well. I can't remember the name of the spot but its perfect for learning just about any hole move. But there i was in a big boat. I wasn't going to throw any Phonix Monkeys so i decided to line it up and try to spin a good pirouette. It took me a few tries but within a short while the old skills were coming back. I eventually found a pretty sweet spot and spun one of the biggest and smoothest 720s I have done in, oh lets see, 10-15 years. It was awesome.

Boyce gave me a shot in the Remix and it reminded me of some other classic enders of which I have photos.
So here is a journey back through 20 plus years of pirouettes.

Please excuse the goofy faces and don't forget to check out the funny progression through gear.

Cheers

Shane

Flipper on the Ocoee. The classic old school ender spot.



Frank Belll's Another Classic Southeast Spot. My first Ender was here.



Ender in front of the Tres Monjas on the Futaleufu.



One of the best ender spots in the world. Top Wave to Hell Hole on the Ocoee River.



Yeah the Ocoee again but this move is soooo good.

20+ years later on the Gauley. Everthing old is new again.

The Green Race: Boofing into a Stadium

Adrian hucking her meat in front of several hundred of her best friends. This picture rocks.
Photo By Ben Edson of downstreamphoto.com.

The Full Tour of Green Race Week.

In reality the energy levels change completely around the Green River about a month before the race. Everybody starts pulling the race boats out of the basement and running straighter lines. Elite fighter squads are pounding down the river not catching a single eddie and just barely looking back to check on their wingmen and women. These are the folks that are vying for the top spots. Hoping maybe they are in the running for, "the glass".
There is also another really cool energy on the river with folks thinking about doing the race for the first time and thus thinking about running Gorilla in front of hundreds of people, or ,"going left" for the first time.
And then of course there are all the local buds egging each other on, and boasting and bragging about how they are going to kick ass this year and that when they got eddied out after powerslide last year it was a fluke and they have their lines dialed now. In any case everyone is jacked up, excited, and nervous for one reason or another. The real goal is to just get down in one piece.


Adrian riding the lightning during practice runs.

The week before the race the favorites are much quieter, focused, and very much on a mission. They are pounding out multiple runs and trying to get the last doubts out of their mind on how they are going to run, "that stupid rapid just below Frankenstein". The folks that are just running the river like normal are caught in the crossfire of group after group of fast paddlers bombing all the rapids its kind of like trying to merge into highway traffic. During that final week I know more than once I found myself getting nervous about something then realizing that I was thinking about "going direct" at Gorilla.

The other thing that is fun about the week just before the race is that all the out of town talent starts to show up. This year we had folks from all over the U.S. and a few out of country folks. Its always interesting to watch them try to wrap their brains around the number of rapids, the routes, and the sublties of each F. U. rock in between. Let alone see them first get the nerve up to run Gorilla and then think about doing it during a race in just a few days.

The festivities start on Halloween. It was Wednesday this year I think and Anthony Perrone was hosting a huge Halloween party again this year. This one is becoming an instant classic that fits well into the week before the race. All the out of towners are in, and folks are ready to cut loose a little, nerves you know. Anthony's house was tricked out with gravestones, haunted house music, and a skeleton and wolverine were playing music downstairs. Everyone was out in fine form.


Anthony's Halloween Bash


Yours Truly Very Cute Pirate


Is that Sacajawea? Jason Hale as 70's model.


"Bullets N Lace" dressed as the Skeleton and Wolverine
The band was awesome. I have now seen them a couple times and I am ready for more. They were
a great mix of vintage indy, groovin' punk, and a bunch of given'r with a two piece style that works really well.
Here is a link to their page. Bullets N Lace Myspace Page


Good Halloween Dancing

Some folks had to recover from the party some went to bed early but everyone made it to the river on Thursday when the water was turned up by Frank. Thanks goes to Sarah Bell from Green River Adventures for keeping the dialog open with Duke power and thanks of course goes to Frank for flipping the switch. We got two days of practice at a nice fluffy real 100%. It was as high as the water had been all summer pretty much which made it feel high, but oh so sweet.

Thursday night was the Premier of LVM number 24. Everyone showed up for pizza, beer, and kayak porn. Thursday was also a big day because Woody's new house, shouting distance from the take out, cleared inspection and the power and water were turned on with only a few days to spare for the Green Race Party on Saturday night after the race.


Toby McDermott taking advantage of a little extra turbine love during practice on Thursday and Friday.

Friday we got another practice session in. Some folks didn't paddle but I couldn't resist with all that water out there. Thursday and Friday before the race are awesome. Everyone is really psyched especially this year. When I came around the rocks of chiefs and saw all the folks checking out the notch I knew that the water was a good fluffy level. We hadn't seen this much water in a while so people were nervous but excited. The energy level on the rock over looking Gorilla was great. After having a smooth run. I ran back up to watch and it was an spectacular show. I am not kidding it seemed like 50 kayakers came through Gorilla with hardly a break between them. There were people dropping in on others as they came over Pencil Sharpener, folks running it backwards, paddlers surfing in the speed trap, others were sliding in and walking back up. It was chaos and it was a pleasure to watch and thank goodness I got through Gorilla before all the action started.


Jason Passing out the Bibs
Photo by Sam Drevo of eNRG Kayaking

Saturday morning starts fairly early, for a kayaker. Jason and I were down at the take out taking last minute registrations from people signing up. The number kept growing and growing. The parking lot was full and cars, trucks, and vans full of kayaks. We all headed up to the put-in and thats where the nerves really start.m At the top everyone gets their bibs and then the traditional photo happens. Long boats up in the back and everyone spread out in between.


The Racers 2007 Photo by Sam Drevo eNRG Kayaking

After the picture its all nerves, panic, focus, anticipation, and racing. This year with over a hundred individual racers and 30 or so folks doing the Greenman comp. It meant that there would be two hours of people hucking themselves off of Gorilla one right after the other only one minute apart. Throw in a crowd possibly approaching a thousand and you have a crazy kayak experience. At the start you are surrounded by friends all excited and cheering for you but almost immediately as you drop into Frankenstein you are alone. It is just you and the river. It is a very stark part of the race because you can hear yourself breathing and you feel every stroke, every rock, and every smooth line. As you come off the Whale Tail and start down towards "Boof or Consequences" you sense that there are a few people around and once you enter "Go Left" there are people pretty much every where but the crowd and the noise are at Gorilla. Though I feel fortunate that I can't really hear folks or see much when I enter Gorilla, I do sense the density and closeness of people, and a distinct difference in the sound around me. When I walked back up to do my second run is when I realized how many people really were there. From Powerslide up to Gorilla it is packed! It was difficult to walk upstream. Its like trying to get to the bar to order a drink on a Friday night. You have to tap on shoulders and sneak through spaces where available.


Robin Betz running the "Flying Squirrel" line on her winning run.
Photo by Sam Drevo of eNRG Kayaking

As for the actual racing there are several strategies. The first strategy most folks use on their first race is to keep a steady smooth pace until Gorilla. That way you aren't exhausted and you can feel your arms while you are trying to negotiate the hardest rapid on the course. And there is nothing more helpless than surfing in the hole just below Gorilla with tons of people yelling at you and you can't feel your arms. Strategy two is go fast at the top and then try to smooth all the harder rapids. The opening two minutes of the race are fairly easy whitewater except Frankenstein so many folks paddle that section hard and then chill a bunch during the hard stuff so as to just clean their lines. The only problem is if you do get surfed or eddied out you got nothing. Your arms don't feel like they are attached. You are telling yourself to pull but nothing is happening. The last strategy which is pretty much becoming the only one that will win the race is to go full out much of the time only calming yourself just above each technical drop. But the common theme you hear about this race is you win it in the top of the course and you lose it at the bottom. Which basically comes down to easier rapids at the top to go fast in and harder rapids that are easy to eddie out in at the bottom of the course.

As for Liquidlogics performance and my feelings about the raceboat. First I have to start with Robin winning the women's category in record time, and Adrian coming in third in longboat and tying for first in the short boat. The girls were awesome and they styled it all. In the men's category we had 7 of the top 14 times. And I had my best time ever by 8 seconds. I was stoked. For only having a hand full of days to practice in them I think we all did a great job. Next year I am going to have perfect lines and train harder

For the results from this year you can go here. All 2007 Race Times
Or if you really want to check out the evolution of the Green Race. All Green Race Results


The backwards line just for the crowd. Its a different way to look at the world.
Photo By Ben Edson of downstreamphoto.com


This is not wilderness paddling. Also note the safety crew tethered in so they can jump in and pull people to
shore if need be.
Photo By Ben Edson of downstreamphoto.com


Adam Secrest given'r handpaddle style
Photo By Ben Wiggins of downstreamphoto.com

There are many fun parts to this whole event but one of the best is after you have done your race run and you walk back up and hang with your buds. Everyone is excited about their run or their crash, or a buddies story about his run. Mostly everyone is just relieved I think. It goes back to that last sentence in the first paragraph. Everyone is just trying to get down in one piece but the energy level is sky high. 120 people going fast down the Green with a thousand people yelling and pushing you equals the biggest combined adrenaline rush in the world. I heard a great quote while sitting on the rocks watching the safety crew do their thing at the speed trap. "Man its crazy its like boofing into a stadium", and that rush carries over from the race, goes down the river, and ends up at Woody's house at the take out. Which always makes for one of the best parties of the year.


The crowd that wasn't on the deck.
Photo by Sam Drevo of eNRG Kayaking


The crowd that was on the deck while Jason threw prizes to the crowd.
Photo by Sam Drevo of eNRG Kayaking


The Party Host Woody Callaway
Photo by Sam Drevo of eNRG Kayaking


One of the pieces of Glass given out.
Photo by Sam Drevo of eNRG Kayaking


Jason about to announce the winners.
Photo by Sam Drevo of eNRG Kayaking


Andrew Holcombe and "The Glass". The trophy for the fastest person down the Green.
Photo by Sam Drevo of eNRG Kayaking


The Morning After.
Photo by Sam Drevo of eNRG Kayaking

The morning after this year was pretty amazing. Woody had around 300 people at his house so it was a disaster the next day. I think there were close to 15 bags of bottles, cans, and other oddities left behind. And your first reaction might have be, "oh that pisses me off", but what happened instead was a group of people just started picking up Woody's house first thing in the morning. Another group picked up the put-in, some other folks took garbage bags down to the river and cleaned that up, and others cleaned up the take out. Sure we would love to think we would all be responsible for our own trash but the reality is that sometimes it doesn't happen and how cool is it that we as paddlers don't mind cleaning up after ourselves. We may come from all walks of life and drink everything from PBR to Micro Brews but we all love the river and that keeps us coming back.

later
Shane