Spring has come to Central Oregon, and we’re getting some nice sunny days with a little bit of warm weather. After spending all winter in the pool perfecting my eskimo roll I’ve finally had a chance to practice in some moving water. Two weeks ago on the McKenzie River I hit my first combat roll [...] Read more »
Northstar at Tahoe
Heading down to Los Angeles at Christmas I stopped off in Reno, Nevada to ski Tahoe. My buddy Doug took me up to Northstar at Tahoe and we had a great powder day. Doug at Northstar from Philip Robert on Vimeo. Read more »
First Eskimo Roll Ever Today!
A good bombproof combat roll is an absolute necessity if you want to paddle whitewater bigger than class 3. Until you’ve learned one you’ll probably go swimming a lot in class 3 whitewater. That’s just the way it is. The water gets big and pushy and next thing you know you’re upside down in the [...] Read more »
McKenzie River Kayaking 2nd Trip
Wednesday August 5th was my 2nd run down the McKenzie river in central Oregon. We ended up being a flotilla of 3 canoes and 6 kayaks. John and Christy in John’s We-No-Nah Rogue Tandem White Water Touring canoe, Ben and Celia in an Old Town tandem white water canoe, Zak in an Esquif Raven solo [...] Read more »
Brace and Roll part 2
Last Tuesday’s trip on the McKenzie River was great motivation to get back into the pool and work on my roll. There was a big class. We had six boats in the water not counting Christina Russell’s boat. She was teaching. There was a family of four. Mom, Dad, brother and sister all learning how [...] Read more »
First Whitewater – The McKenzie River – Oregon
Kayaking is one of the primary reasons that I moved to Oregon. My Dad taught me how to canoe when I was still wearing diapers, and we were always going on great weekend canoe trips in Louisiana and Mississippi. Sometimes we’d go a bit farther out. These were great beautiful rivers with swift currents, and [...] Read more »
Deno’s Triumph
My friend Deno has a sweet 2004 Triumph Thruxton for sale. We shot a video of it last Thursday. Here is a list of the work and upgrades that have been performed on this fantastic bike. South Bay Triumph 904 Big Bore Kit Stay Tuned Stainless Steel PeaShooter Exhaust Imported English Stainless Headers OHLINS Rear [...] Read more »
Brace and Roll at Juniper Park Pool
Finally, after almost two years, I’m getting some time in the cockpit of a whitewater kayak. This past Thursday I participated in Alder Creek Kayak and Canoe Shop’s “Brace and Roll” class. Taught by members of Alder Creeks staff at Bend’s Juniper Park Pool, the Brace and Roll class is the perfect place for newbie [...] Read more »
Seal Launch at Tetherow Logjam
This past weekend I was out with the crew from Alder Creek Kayak and Canoe shop in Bend, and Geoff Franks busted this great seal launch just below Tetherow Logjam on the Deschutes River. I did my own seal launch just a few feet downstream from here where the bank of the river was only [...] Read more »
Kayaking on the Deschutes River
Last weekend my niece Joanna Ridgeway came to town for a visit, and we went kayaking on the Deschutes River. No white water on this trip, just a pleasant paddle upstream from Alder Creek Kayak and Canoe Shop to the Bill Healy bridge. This section of the Deschutes is backed up by a low damn [...] Read more »