WHY?!?!?!?
Why, is what I was asking myself as I was getting up on a cold, rainy, gray Saturday morning, earlier I might add than on a normal work day even! Why was I getting my sleeping cherubs up to ride for almost 2 hours to stand out in the rain and watch hubby and brother Bruce run a canoe race? Of course they weren't even racing! They claimed, "Aww, we can't race, it would make others look bad. We're just in it for fun." Ahem, do you believe that?
We arrived in Bangor and met Bruce, on time, sipping a cup of coffee. I questioned whether coffee was the best thing or if he should be drinking a V8 or something more energetic. He informed me that "Jeremiah Johnson" didn't drink V8! On we all traveled to the starting line of the race.
There was a myriad of canoe styles. We saw classic styles, racing, kayaks, aluminum, Fiberglas, and some like Bruce's, a little more...er....um.... well, as Bruce put it 'seasoned'.
We retrieved their number bib which Mike was to wear because he was to sit in front. Bruce incidentally, insisted on taking the rear because it was his 'seasoned' canoe. The girls thought that Dad and Uncle Bruce would win a prize for the ugliest canoe! The guys unloaded and we stood around in the rain watching and waiting.
It was really festive as folks were in various racing form, costume and attitude. There were the serious, "I'm gonna win" types. They didn't socialize much and kept their pristine canoes and gear away from those with, let's say, less than perfect (ugly) canoes. This included a team with an absolutely gorgeous canoe. 'Gorgeous' may seem like an inappropriate adjective for a canoe but it was sleek, pretty, shiny and new. These gentlemen didn't speak when spoken to, kept boundaries around their craft and didn't have much fun. Then there were father and son teams including a 5 year old boy and his dad. Although they didn't 'win' and get a prize the Dad sure won in the boy's eyes for taking the time and trouble.
I really felt bad for the older couple who, as they were putting in he slipped and tipped the canoe over dumping his wife and were eliminated from the race before starting! Did I mention the water was a mere 36 degrees? They were good sports and laughed about it. I believe they did run at the end though. There was the man who runs the whole race standing up! Yes, even the falls! He does crouch a little but he never sits! Then there was Mike and Bruce. After seeing everyone, the canoes, gear and attire Mike donned an old fashioned yellow raincoat with a red life jacket over it. Practical but not Cabela or LLBean racing attire. He wore sneakers and not fancy racing shoes. Bruce, on the other hand forgot his raincoat and donned an extra large black garbage bag under his black life jacket! It was quite the sight. We watched the guys put in, tip their hats to us and off they went. We trudged through the mud and wet grass, down the sidewalk to the car figuring to get to six mile falls and wait near the river in the car staying warm and dry. HA! A couple miles down was a bridge folks were standing at watching. We had to stop, walk and stand in the rain to wait for them to pass under. The camaraderie among the spectators was great. Folks would call out to those passing under the bridge and encourage them. You could really tell the purpose of the racers by how they responded. Those counting out strokes and instructions didn't respond at all. Those having fun hollered up and thanked us. Then there were the clown type or in one instance the pirates. There were 3 guys in the canoe dressed as pirates and whenever spectators (called river rats) called out to them they'd lift up a pirate flag and start the "yo-ho-ho" song. They were having fun!
Along come Bruce and Mike, wet but grinning. They slowed for me to take pictures and be cheered on. At this point Bruce was still using a nice yellow paddle.
Off to 6 mile falls, with a stop at a restroom! My theory of sitting in the car by the river was off by about 1 1/2 miles! We trudged through the rain and stood on the bridge to wait. Waiting was wet and cold but humorous. I now believe that IF I had the desire I could run the falls and not dump. Watching from my vantage point I could tell who would dump, who would take on water and who would get through by the way they went into the falls. God does have a sense of humor too. Remember the gorgeous canoe with the less than social team? They not only dumped, they dumped at the entry to the falls! They were not to happy.
We waited quite a while and almost missed the 'seasoned' team. They had shed their rain 'gear' and Bruce had a different paddle! Hmmm, I wonder what happened to the nice yellow one? It didn't matter, "After all," he said, it WAS Chuck's, not mine!" They made it through like pro's taking on some water but staying afloat. They stopped and emptied the water, chatted with us and ate a quick lunch then off they went.
We headed back to the car and on to the finish line soaking wet. We weren't even in the race but we could have made up a great story and convinced people we were by how wet we were. We found a decent parking space, sat a while in the warmth but I felt a little guilty that we would miss them crossing the finish line. We dug out some umbrellas to use and headed down to riverside. We felt a little wimpy using the umbrellas, after all this was an outdoor, show your stuff, sporting event but one man came and asked if he could share my umbrella. I felt rather chivalrous until he pulled out his camcorder and said he didn't want it to get wet! He filmed and commented for a few minutes and then left. We waited quite a while, although Mike tells me it couldn't have been long as they whipped through that race....., and then I noticed I was able to get the car closer to where they guys could load the canoe on and I moved it and sat in the warmth for a while. The girls watched for them and we ran down to greet them. I was chilled to the bone and knew they were too. I put the heat on full blast while they loaded the canoe and changed. The race committee doesn't tell you where you placed for a few weeks but Mike's comment was, "We may not have won but I came in ahead of Bruce!" By the time the race ended Bruce used 3 different paddles having lost 2. Mike had just the one he brought. I asked him why he didn't bring extras and he said, "I didn't need them." About this point Bruce asked me if the garbage bag raincoat made him look fat!
By the time we got Bruce's truck and headed to "Govenor's" to eat a HOT meal the race story had changed drastically. Every time I spoke with Bruce or Mike about it over the next week I didn't recognize the race or the results! I'm still trying to figure out why I stood in the rain etc... because the race they tell about wasn't the race I watched!
~~~~The results came in this week that for the category they were in they finished in 12th place! Not bad for two guys that were only doing it for fun, stopped to shed rain gear, eat etc... Bruce still asks if they get a huge trophy for winning 12th!