Avila Beach Race

Despite the fact that I gave my alarm quite a grumble when it started buzzing at 4 A.M., the day turned out to be well worth the effort.

For KaNai'a, it was a fun weekend to rock the short course up in Avila Beach for their Pineapple Express iron race.  This week the team numbers worked out  to do something a little fun and different, racing the novice distance with open paddlers.  Last week the women's boat had a rough time, finishing dead last in our category, so we were ready to prove ourselves better than that - a chance to reclaim our honor!

All novice and short course paddlers had the same start time, so at first it was a bit of a hairy mess.  As the packs began to separate, however, we realized we were leading the pack of women around the first turn.  (And even got to pass a trailing men's boat on the way.)  The energy was great as we chased down the trailing mens teams - the water was glassy, and the true grit of our ladies had a chance to shine.  We took a very proud 2nd place, and our rugged men took 1st.

Rock on!