One Week! (again)

Coincidentally, Bare Naked Ladies are coming to perform this week in Springfield. 

We are about as ready as we will be. The hull is upside down in the workshop waiting on a few touch up spots. I have a few tweaks I'd like to take care of with the strut pivots and the rudder control. Everything else is going to run as is for the race. Any efforts to make it pretty now will not change performance. It is ready to roll. 

Dwayne is pumped. A little background on my connection with Dwayne:

We first officially met during the Race for the Rivers two years ago when I was testing out the Hobie for the first time. It was a windy day. It did not effect me as much as my brother in his sea kayak. It definitely effected Dwayne on his SUP. That weekend started my connection with the now defunct STL Sail and Paddle and came some time after his connection had ended. Following that race, Dwayne and I have caught up from time to time including a solid workout on bikes through Pere Marquette park. Dwayne, Tim, and I probably go back to a deeper connection from 2012 when we  finished the 340 in reasonable proximity. We may have shared time on the river side by side. Dwayne was a solo that year, but has also acted as ground crew for Shane Perrin in racing events as well as expeditions. He brings endurance, experience, and passion to the team. 

Cheers

We have a new team!

Third Wheel update! 

Tim got the job he was after, so he is out this year. Rob Smith and I are still in due to the graciousness of our respective work places. Dwayne VanHoose is joining us to round out the team. We will definitely have a good time and maybe finish in a good time too. 

On this, his second time participating in the 340,  (and ground crew for Shane Perrin) he doesn't feel that 340 miles of pedaling and paddling is enough, so he is Biking all of his gear to the train station, riding the train across the state, then riding to the start. Then biking home from the finish. I feel like I would bum a ride. 

Less than two weeks until race day and we have a plan. 

Dwayne VanHoose:

Rob Smith:

Scott Reeves: 

Different kind of plan

The August race is on for me and the Third Wheel. My principal approved my missing the first week of school to attend. It is bittersweet for Tim. He was hired for the new job. Awesome news, but now unavailable for the maiden 340 for Third Wheel. Rob and I are still involved and a third is being recruited. More news on that as it develops. 

More photos to come soon as we are going to get some more training runs in in the coming days. I included some from a solo training.

Cheers!

All dressed up, and nowhere to go.

The paint all went on smooth, this time. We were getting fully rigged when we got the news that the race start was postponed until Wednesday. This was not terrible because it have us a bit more time to get everything organized. 

Why postponed? The river was up already due to rains in the upper plains and a water release from the reservoir in South Dakota. We were going to be right on the edge of going. Scott Mansker, the race director, and the team made the tough decision to postpone 24 hours to get onto the backside of the flood crest that was hitting. There was a storm coming Monday night through Tuesday morning that was going to expand the river in its banks. A high Missouri River or at flood stage is dangerous because there is nowhere to go if you need to get off of the water. Not as many safe landings, no wing dikes to take shelter behind, and debris in the river to avoid. 

As the weather forecast progressed, so did the National Hydrolical prediction for river levels. By 11am yesterday, it was clear that the race would not be starting. What a tough and brilliant decision by Scott and the staff. It is of course disappointing to not be able to take Third Wheel out for the race, but lives may have been save with that decision. Everyone has a story of how much time, money, traveling, and effort they put into the MR340 this year. It is the right decision. The storm did come as predicted. The river is swelling in its banks. The race is rescheduled for August. 

It is tough, but not foreign to Tim and I. We went through this our first and second year of attempts. 2010 was a situation close to this week. Rain put it over the top. We could not do the August reschedule. 2011 was a flood year and was clearly going to be backed up. It was rescheduled to August, then September, then finally ran in October (still with high water). We did not want to test hypothermia and again work found itself in the way. 

Tim and I finished in 2012 with low water. I finished well as a solo in 2013 with lower water. 

I'm not fully counting August 12 out of the question for me in the race. We have intentionally not discussed it yet. I do know a few things though: 

1a. Liz and I will not be doing the race together this year. The race falls on the first week of school. Meetings MTW, then students on ThF. Liz is starting at a new school this year and I could not ask her to not have the opportunities to build those relationships. 

1b. Laura will be returning to her school and prepping and starting the year off right is huge for student success (especially in elementary).

1c. I return to the same SPED program with only one new student. If is plays able that I could get away with missing the first two days. I have some personal days saved up. It will be up to me to determine if I want to attempt for that time off of start of the year meetings, XC practice, and teaching. IF I made that decision, I would have to then see of it is something my Head Principal and administration team would support. Who knows?

2. Teammates: Rob and Tim have their own work situations that may or may not allow time off of work to try to go again. They are both back at work today knowing that we would already be through KC if we started today as originally scheduled. They both missed yesterday. 

3. We would be in need of aground crew we can trust. 

I would not rule it out just yet, but I mark it as unlikely. 

After hearing of the postponement, a Rob traveled back down from KC. Tim and I got a two hour pedal in at Fellows Lake to find the Third Wheel running smooth. We had an easy go of it averaging near 5mph while figuring out the boat and how we can manage our selfs. We got a few sprints in to se whet we could do. One GPS read our max speed at 10.3. My watch had us topping out at 9.8. This is flat water I remind you. This rig flies.

Anyway, back to processing the turn of events. Today marks 4 months since I made the first cuts. 

Thank you! (Y'all, You-uns, You Guys...etc.)

I have already mentioned Rick, but I can't start a list of thank yous with out him. He is the designer, but also fabricated the drive masts along with several other components, offered his help and time, reads and responds to 3-12 emails a day, calculates a TON of data of what to expect out of the boat. 

Liz, allowing me to add a garage just to build this along with the time commitment of building it. She would have had more time with me if I wasn't also running ultras. She is a consistant soundboard and is continually encouraging, especially when I need it most. 

Henry: My boy doesn't quite understand how ridiculous this all is and probably expects to find a 30' boat in everyone's garage. He seems to find his way into the garage with hopes of helping. 

Tim and Rob have given an incredible amount of their own time for this process and made sure we would get there. 

Betsy, my coworker, has made her way over several times and helped me double my production in those days. 

Jason, my neighbor is good for an extra set of eyes for problem solving and can mix a great batch of epoxy. 

Jay, my brother, spent a good chunk of a weekend in Springfield sipping our way to a workable solution for my pitched garage floor as a workspace. 

Pat, my mother-in-law, spent two days working on the replacement seat material when the first option fell through. John, my father-in-law was prepping it all as we went. 

Steve sacrificed part of a spring break day on day three of the build to help he one of the stabilisers done.

Jerico set up my car with a way to transport this rig as well as the initial welds for the seats. He continues to show encouragement and faith in the progress. 

Al saved us with his welding. We have a way to mount the seats as well as the bonus of armrests. 

My parents have looked on with amazement and shared how proud they are. My Mom was the other half of the ground crew last year that served me across the state. They are always encouraging. 

I know there are countless more who have added to the process on the way using their ideas and skills. 

You have ALL made this possible. 

FAQ: Update: Will you be done in time for the race?

Yes and no.

Yes we are!!!

Done is a finite term. Completed. Finished. 

Will we have a V-16 to the point that it will carry the three of us down the 340? Yes! It has done short sections of Fellows Lake and the Missouri River. 

Will it have three seats and two pedal stations? Yes! We are set on that. (I would have liked to build the paddle seat, but no time: beach chair)

Will it have the required gear to enter the race? Yes!

Will it make it on the car from Springfield to KC? Yes! It has made it to Jeff City and Back

The answer to all four: Most likely. 

Yes Yes Yes Yes

Will we be 100% satisfied with where we are on the boat when we get to the starting line? 

No. I would like to lighten the load a bit by getting aluminum in place of the stainless steel I have had to use out of time and convenience. Paddle seat improvements. A more permanent rudder option. 

After we work through the production stages of building the Third Wheel, we run into a massive undertaking in outfitting and testing. I would have liked to have a better jump on the build and spend my weekends nudging the 30' long craft into Fellows lake to sus out the unique idiosyncrasies of this boat. This would give us time to modify and establish a vessel we can trust and perform in with confidence. 

One, ten minute run on Fellows and 16 miles on the Missouri isn't really the nudging I was speaking of. We feel extremely confident in the hull and stability. We can switch positions on the flat. The drives feel good. There is a clicking in the middle location. I'm checking into that. 

We would still not have it figured out. The reality is that we have our backs against the wall. This boat will be better suited for a run in 2015. And it will be. Still agree. 

I am not throwing this year away just yet. I am being realistic of the testing phase of a home built boat and the MR340. To best understand how it will perform in the 340, we need to get it through the 340. Training runs are not enough. 

Will all goes as planned? This is one area that we can be absolutely certain. It will not. Thousands or millions of variables await us as we approach the race as well as surviving the 340. We will meet these in stride and push forward still. Somehow we have lucked out here so far. My list of boat modifications before the race is small and focused on convenience items like the rudder control location and troubleshooting the clicking sound in the middle drive. 

We will work around our schedules to ensure that we will be "ready" to try to survive the 340. 

I keep getting asked "How many hours have you worked on the boat?" I have purposely not kept track but it has been in the 60+ hours a week recently. I have kept track of the money and all of the wonderful people who have helped along the way. 

Why do you keep writing "survive?" Absolutely! In my opinion, regardless of proper training, gear, health, technology, weather, knowledge, prior success, guts, and glory; you will need to survive. Every year, there are a multitude of the 400 boats that do not show. Some do not start. Many do not finish. Do not be quick to think that it is for one reason that folks do not finish. It is NOT just the ___________(fill in the negative of one of the attributes from above) who do not finish. 

Last year, I left the last checkpoint and one of the elite teams was pulling out. They were on pace for a sub 48 hour time. 

There were five pedal drives signed up last year. Three started, one finished. This year there is five again: Greg K. in a solo Rick Willoughby design, Russ Write in the Hobie I set the record in last year, another solo pedal, and just today an addition to my division called "no chance" It could be the clock that gets you. Maybe a failed calorie or hydration plan. It is a different animal every year.

Survival is key, but not all will. 

Tim and I are centered in the foreground at the start in 2012. We then survived. 

So will we be "done" by time the race starts? 

We will try to survive. 

Test runs

Most everything checked out as we hopped on a Fellows Lake for a quick spin before they locked the gates. We then headed to the Missouri on Saturday to test out movement between seats, river conditions, and control on the water. 6.5mph on the lake with an easy 60rpms. 8.7-9.8mph on the river with similar effort, despite a strong headwind. 

Now on to tweaking a few things with the mechanicals and fairing and painting the hull. We are one week from driving it up to the start line. 

Big week of progress

A strong week of work lead to a workable rudder, seats, and drive setup. Somehow we pressed through and got to the point of full testing on Friday. I am so glad that I decided to go with Rick Willoughby to fabricate the drive mast and other components, brackets, struts, and his signature folding props. It all came together smooth and required little adjustment. 

All of the brackets glassed on as planned and the multiple seat positions will work out for adjusting for each person from roughly 5'3-6'2". Of course it will depend on the individual. As we are running out of time, the third seat is a reclinable beach chair that we purchased. The benefit is having armrests that act as bed rails for when we are using it as a sleep seat. After the race, I will build a proper replacement. My mother in law sewed the seat covers for us. I placed grommets and laced them on.