Tag Archives: Central Oregon

Sports Imaging: Stehlik Glides

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About 18 months ago we visited Oahu and were fortunate to discover Blue Planet, an SUP center just a few miles from Waikiki. Blue Planet is owned by Robert Stehlik, a talented paddler consistently sharing his time and expertise to all levels – from rank beginner to the downwind experts. We had a great time at one of the many free clinics he offers and loved trying out race boards for the first time in 2011.

 

 

Robert Stehlik of Blue Planet has a wealth of open ocean crossings as the foundation for teaching others.

Robert Stehlik of Blue Planet has a wealth of open ocean crossings as the foundation for teaching others.

Robert Stehlik combined his talent with a GoPro video and decided to  paddle the Hawaii Kai downwind run on Oahu while narrating it. With a summer full of all sorts of downwind runs (with the Wickiup in Central Oregon coming up soon) we decided to take some time to really study Robert’s videos.  It is really insightful to hear the coaching tips and tricks as he is actually doing them.

Wide open downwind spaces - heading toward Waikiki

Wide open downwind spaces – heading toward Waikiki

While the tips on paddle cadence were definitely valuable, the tips on reading waves and increasing the opportunities to ride glides both left and right really hit home.

I absolutely agree with Robert when he says, “Downwind runs are exciting and fun.   In the surf, you are often waiting for a set or your turn to catch the next wave.  On a downwinder, there are no crowds, you have long windswells that stretch across the whole ocean to play with, you are always on the move, going from one glide to the next, surfing the bumps.

Plan ahead, know the waters, route and weather before heading out on a downwinder.

Plan ahead, know the waters, route and weather before heading out on a downwinder.

There is no doubt that doing any length downwinder requires preparation, planning, a partner and the appropriate safety gear.  The pre-downwinder prep including balance training, awareness and a depth of open water experience can make all the difference in the experience.
Robert advises, “It can also be dangerous to head out into the open ocean unprepared, so make sure you know what you are getting yourself into.
I enjoy sharing what I have learned and have been offering coaching to paddlers that want to experience the joy of downwind paddling.   For more information on SUP lessons and coaching offered by Blue Planet, please visit the website for more information.

 

Core Summer SUP Fitness

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Staying in top form and being prepared to ride big waves and glide big down wind runs is a full time job for elite athletes in our sport of SUP. For Suzie Cooney, there is another aspect to her professional role as a leader in standup paddling. She’s taken her solid background in fitness training and has translated it to an online resource for thousands. Of course, for those fortunate enough to book training time with her on Maui, that’s the best option. For those of us an ocean away, we’re glad she takes the time to keep her blogs and websites rich with resources and information.

For anyone who has taken a video that’s meant to tell a story or to teach a skill, you know how tough it is to get the right shots, the right editing and best end product. It takes skill – and TIME. In a busy world, doesn’t it always seem like the busiest people take the time to pursue their passion and share their expertise.  Without benefit of Suzie‘s blog and videos bolstered by some SKYPE “distance training sessions” I know that the expectation of being fit and ready for our down wind adventures in Maui next May wouldn’t be what we’re dreaming of.

 Ed and I are in week 2 of our 36 week “Journey to Maliko and the Ho’olaule’a.”  (You can arrange for your own distance learning session with Suzie by scheduling a SKYPE session.) Here’s our plan for this week:

We are stocking our “home gym” in the garage with a balance ball and have arranged a wide variety of weights, a spin bike and some balance equipment. Since Ed is still not released for “real life” training, he will continue with his shoulder PT exercises. I am joining in on that series. My thought process is that I may as well keep my shoulders as strong and flexible as possible. I

It’s still great paddling weather here in Central Oregon, so water time will complement “gym” time for now.

Ed and I both watched Suzie’s session planned for one of her clients. You can watch how Suzie integrates both TRX and INDO board into the workout. We’ve got both of those items on the “wish list,” and hope to have them ready to use by mid-October when Ed should be good to go shoulder-wise. Take a few minutes to watch this video. If you don’t have some of the equipment, like the INDO board, it’s easy to click from Suzie’s site and get first class customer service for your purchase from INDO Board.

If you haven’t tried TRX training you may want to locate a class in your town. While the average gym class doesn’t focus on standup paddling needs specifically, you can get a good idea of the training philosophy behind that equipment.  We are looking forward to moving in that direction. According to Suzie, Naish team rider, “You’re really going to feel the power in your stroke from the deep obliques!”

YES! That’s what we want. We can’t do everything from week 1 or 2 but we will start where we are right now. Beginning today, we’ll be using our balance ball with focus on balance and core.

Sup Friends Make the Sport

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Saturday was a glorious day at Elk Lake in Central Oregon with a few dozen standup paddlers (2 OC-1 and one prone) ready for the Gerry Lopez summer race series. My plan had been to do the open class on my 11’3″ Amundson surfboard but when my friend, Randall Barna called late Friday with the offer to borrow the Amundson 12’6″ race board I eagerly accepted.  Five years ago on my first tentative paddle on the Deschutes River, Randall and his family were out for a Friday afternoon paddle. Seeing how sketchy my skills were, he stayed with me for about an hour, providing technique tips and encouragement that made all the difference. Standup paddling in Central Oregon is what it is because of friends like Randall Barna and Cristina Acosta who authored the first and very comprehensive standupflatwater.com blog). 

It’s fairly easy for us to give a casual word of advice or support when encountering an SUP newbie. It’s quite another thing to keep a high level of generous enthusiasm for graciously sharing the sport over a span of more than 7 years – but that’s Randall, all the way!

In his sixties, he’s still got competition in his blood, but always with a grin. Drafting and pulling, often neck and neck with buddy, Tom Burke, Randall’s dead serious about his training and racing. More than personal outcomes, he’s always been ready to share expertise in organizing races, helping with courses, all the way to designing and maintaining local race buoys.

  

It’s not difficult for anyone living near any sort of body of water to notice that standup paddling has taken off like crazy. Everyone and his grandmother can – and seems to be – standup paddling. Inherent to the spread of our SUP culture is a spirit of aloha that can help the sport through growing pains and some hiccups as prone surfers meet standup surfers.  As the cool company, KIALOA paddles, demonstrates as a company mantra, we can be “together on the water.”

If you know someone who’s made a difference and shares the spirit of aloha around your SUP experience, please share your story with us in the comments.

Chip Booth: Standup Guy

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Chip is not only the owner of StandupPaddle Bend, but he is one community minded all-round standup guy. He and his wife, Lainey, worked long and hard throughout this spring in order to deliver an awesome community event on June 16th, 2012. This was the second annual Bend Paddleboard Challenge – and a challenge it was. As with many local events, sponsorship is a tough aspect of delivering an amazing event. When one key sponsor was unable to p[participate, the Booth family reached deep in both time and financial support to make the event happen.

With the help of our favorite KIALOA paddles, all participants and many others enjoy an amazing luau lunch after the race from Kona Mix Plate. After a morning of sun, fun, paddling and racing it was a welcome way to refuel deliciously.  With vendors from Nayad SwimGym, Standup Paddle Magazine, Progressive Screen Printing and Bend Parks & Rec there was plenty to experience all day long.

For a full list of sponsors please go to the website.

In the water the competition was top-notch. The results carry all the details, but can’t capture the energy, smiles, camaraderie and energy. The MC, Al Paterson, did a great job of keeping all up to date with stories, details and race updates throughout the morning.

Difficult to capture, because of his very humble nature, is the degree of commitment that Chip Booth has for the recipients of this community-connecting fundraising event. So many locals have been working for years for the Bend Paddle Trail Alliance. No less dedicated are those who work for the Deschutes River Conservancy – and many are active for both important river initiatives. In this economy, it’s not so easy to reach deep into our own pockets for causes – even when we believe in them with a passion.  We’re all very busy, and investing weeks on end to a community event can be as challenging – as the long course in the Bend Paddleboard Challenge – maybe more. 

But Chip Booth stayed the course and we appreciate the opportunity to enjoy our favorite sport together with paddlers and spectators right in the heart of our home town. If you enjoy our wonderful Deschutes River recreation and sport environment on any sort of floating, fishing, hiking, or other way, take the time to explore the ways you can help Chip, and all the river-lovers in Central Oregon to make our river environment the best it can be.

Just as Chip is a great person-resource for our hometown, so is the beautiful Deschutes, Go out, play and enjoy!

Randall Barna: Insights and Imagination

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My education and 17 years in the classroom provided me with the title of “teacher” for a great part of my life.  As all good teachers know, the best learning often comes (surprisingly?) from the students.  Last week I took an early morning paddle through the Old Mill section of the Deschutes River in Bend with Randall. We talked about teaching. My first week as an SUP-er I met Randall as my husband, Ed, and I were launching our boards in the river -full of beginner trepidation and wonder.

Randall and his family happened to be paddling that evening as well.  Off went Ed, Cristina and Bella while Randall hung back and gave me 2 miles of coaching, SUP stories and exactly the confidence I needed.  It makes good sense that when we talked for this article that teaching would be a topic we discussed.

Growing up in Oregon, Randall much of his youth in, around and on the Columbia River and then during college he moved on to surfing.  His move to Bend in the 70’s did little to dampen his enthusiasm for surfing. Winters were busy with work in his ski shop, summers were constant trips to the coast for waves or up to Elk Lake for some great sailing. In time, work (as it seems to love to do) took over as a full time endeavor, so Randall sought a way to continue  his summer “surfing” without so much driving to the coast.  Luckily for him, windsurfing (which became sail-boarding) had hit the Pacific NW.

No one seemed to be leading the way in Central Oregon so Randall added sailboards to his inventory. Unlike SUP which can be taught in a few minutes – at least enough for some good fun – sailboarding took quite a bit of training. if Randall was to ever sell a sailboard he was going to have to teach each customer the skills they’d need for fun. That was usually a 5-6 lesson challenge. Sharing his enthusiasm through teaching is a constant. Randall became a certified instructor, developed curriculum, racing opps and solid community around the sport out in our high lakes. He enjoyed racing and honing his skills – so much so that he sailed in three Nationals and gained both friends, skills and a community built around another watersport.

What Randall learns from his students is that in these sports people like to gather in groups, talk story, refine skills and build a community. While Randall has the competitive drive and ambition to race, he realizes that many SUP-ers simply like to gather – building community more than building a shelf full of race trophies. You will not shake the “racer” out of Randall though. From his early days of sailing, then on to surfing, he has learned that the best way to home your sport skills and be the safest participant you can be, it pays to compete. Not to win, but to better your own level.

Randall Barna cruising to a win on his 60+++ birthday

Randall Barna cruising to a win on his 60+++ birthday

One thing Randall hopes to see more of in the community-building potential of the SUP race scene is a balanced focus on both the high-level racers and the social-just-for-fun racers.  Trophies, yes! Ranking, of course! But just as important is a great after race gathering, some opportunity to eat, maybe share a beer and story as part of the event. One example of a “race” that built community and was a powerful good time was the Bend Paddleboard Challenge. More recently in July 2013 was the 33rd annual Odell Lake Race with its own “SUP community” flavor (read more here).

Benefitting the Bend Parks and Rec’s Recreational Scholarship Fund and the Bend Paddle Trail Alliance’s efforts to raise money for the Colorado Dam Improvement Project.  It included a 2 mile short course for beginner racers and a 6 mile long course for serious racers.  It was part of the WPA NorthWest Regional SUP Race Series. What isn’t mentioned in the blog was the months of community-building, sponsor-developing, enthusiasm-building efforts of Chip and Lainey.  Take a look at the array of local sponsors who came together to make this as much fun for the families and spectators as it was for the racers.  Winner, losers, speed-racers and cruisers alike had a blast on and off the water. We all sport our shirts with the cool logo, we all (almost) won some sort of door prize, and we all gained a few new paddling friends along the way.

Randall imagines more of this for a sport that can bring almost anyone out for a few hours enjoying the natural resource that our lakes, rivers and ocean provide.