Monday, April 9, 2012

Kayaking the Upper Cuyahoga with Heidi

Saturday, April 7, 2012
Two games in this young Cleveland Indians season.  Two outstanding starting pitching performances from the staff.  In the 70’s, that would mean we’d be 2-0 and have a perfect start to the season.  Instead, both games ended with starting pitchers getting pulled while they were doing  a fantastic job because of pitch counts and bringing in the bullpen.  Both times the leads were blown and the Indians chalked up extra inning defeats… 0-2 instead.  Like I said…wait til next year.

Heidi and I loaded the sea kayaks on the Jeep and headed first to the Metroparks to watch Jason’s rugby match.  From there, we would head to the Upper Cuyahoga and some paddling serenity. 

I don’t quite understand the rules of rugby, but Jason loves it when we come to see him butting heads with his fellow ‘boys’ (that’s what they call each other throughout the game).  We managed the first 60 minutes, but when I told him we were heading for the river, he pleaded with us to stay and see him play the final 30 minutes since he’d be at his favorite position where he could really do some damage.  We stayed…and he did pound out a couple of great runs and near scores.

The water remains high on the Upper Cuyahoga and there are many trees in the river that have not been removed…particularly when heading upriver from Russell Park just south of Burton.  We tried that route but found that unless we were willing to exit the kayaks and pull them up on shore…we’d be turning around.  So we turned around.

There were numerous kayaks on the water since it was mid-afternoon and a perfect day for boating.  I don’t like sharing the river if only because people ahead of me tend to stir up the wildlife leaving none for me to photograph.  I’d normally be on the water  at daybreak…but someone had been up too late the night before and was looking to sleep in.  Still…a bad day on the water beats a good day doing chores in the yard so I wasn’t complaining.

We didn’t pull the kayaks from the water until around 5:30 p.m. and by now, were both pretty hungry.  Burton was around the corner and I had a burger on my brain and couldn’t shake the thought loose.  We found a diner offering burgers and I gorged myself on a third pound of beef and then finished half of Heidi’s chicken wrap something or other.  I ate her chips and my fries, as well.  I did have a Diet Coke though.

Kayak Duration:  90 minutes.
Training Heart Rate: 90-100 bpm.
Calories burned during workout:  550.

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