NEWS/REC REC WAJ NAS S ER
Michael Blair and Vicki Johnson: road warriors.
AND THE WINNER WAS ... One hot Wednesday afternoon in July, Michael Blair and Vicki Johnson weren’t really feeling lucky, but they bought a raffle ticket for BW’s Vespa scooter raffle anyway. The couple stopped by the BW booth— shared weekly with Mister Car Wash—at Alive After Five and spun the sweet little prize wheel. They won a small prize, but what she really wanted was to win was “that,” Johnson told BW earlier this week. “That” was the white Vespa scooter BW spent all summer selling raffle tickets for. At BW’s first-ever Big LeBoise on Aug. 28, Blair’s raffle ticket was the winning ticket pulled from the pile of 269 entries. Blair and Johnson, who stopped by BWHQ on Aug. 30 to claim their new wheels, said they were walking into the Western Idaho Fair on Saturday—Blair’s 42nd birthday—when he got the call from BW Publisher Sally Freeman that he was the owner of a new scooter. Not a bad birthday present at all if you ask us. Proceeds from the raffle benefit Boise Pride. Thanks to everyone who took the gamble and bought a ticket. Maybe you can look up Blair and catch a ride with him sometime.
KETCHUM CYCLIST DOMINATES Last November, BW sat down with formeradventure-racer-turned-pro-mountain-biker Rebecca Rusch after she won the 24-Hour Solo Mountain Biking World Championship for the third time and took first in the Leadville Trail 100. Just a few days after our interview with Rusch, Race Across the Sky, a documentary about the Leadville 100 featuring the woman of mountain biking steel screened in Boise. But that was so last year. A few weeks ago, Rusch again tackled the out-and-back 100-mile trail race at 10,000plus feet in the Colorado Rockies and—predictably—she won. Not only did she win—for the third time—but she killed her 2009 time by a whopping 30 minutes. And there were no competitors choking on Rusch’s dust. Second-place finisher Amanda Carey, who Rusch pulled away from about halfway through the race at the Columbine Climb, didn’t cross the finish line for another 25 minutes. Third- and fourth-place finishers were almost an hour behind Rusch. And, of course, being that far ahead of the competition usually means there’s some record breaking happening. Indeed there was. Rusch beat the course record, set 12 years ago, by 11 minutes. About her win, Rusch said, “I wanted the course record, but I didn’t expect to beat it by 11 minutes. This was the most painful day I had on a bike, but it was worth it.”
Stand up paddle boarding is gaining popularity on Boise’s lakes.
’SUP IN THE RIVER Don’t try this at home, kids: stand-up paddle boarding on the rapids WAJ NASSER Boise River and Payette Lake. James Dickey gave Ed a canoe, Evil Knievel Jimmy Smith sells boards and gives lessons designed a rocket and Huck Finn had a raft. out of his shop at Lake Harbor. Smith has Lewis and Clark relied on dugouts, and Copthe loamy demeanor of a carefree surfer and pola lent Willard a PBR. Rivers can really get brings an infectious love of SUP to his instrucin the way, but they can emancipate as well. tional sessions. His background is in ocean Jo Cassin, co-owner of Idaho River Sports, surfing, but he is enthused by the paddling ophas been helping free people to negotiate portunities in Idaho, and it comes across when Idaho’s rivers for 23 years, and this summer he teaches. He spoke admiringly of paddling she is focused on stand-up paddle boarding— the Boise River just below the dam and referor SUP—as a means of exploration. Cassin enced numerous spots he wanted to explore. maintains the excited look of someone about His easygoing style was the perfect confito divulge a big secret. Her wide eyes, sunny dence builder for my wife and me, and within brow and frequently clasped hands decorate minutes of our first lesson we were gliding a forward lean that anticipates an always along the pond with friendly, “Can I help relative ease. Smith you?” deals primarily in sleek Every Tuesday night IDAHO RIVER SPORTS fiberglass boards with 3100 West Pleasanton Ave. at Quinn’s Pond on 208-336-4844 fins that are designed the Greenbelt, Idaho idahoriversports.com to move fast and acRiver Sports runs clincurately. My experiics to teach the skills ence is in whitewater needed to stand on kayaking, and so I became more interested in what are essentially large surfboards and row the roto-molded plastic boards that are made them. The response has been tremendous, to withstand the impact of rocks. For that with between 15 and 20 people showing up task, I went to Idaho River Sports and sought each week, reflecting a national trend for the guidance of the employees who paddle. this burgeoning sport. The appeal for many “I want to demo a paddle board I can students is the promise of a fun new way to take down the South Fork of the Payette,” I exercise. The dual requirements of balance explained to one of them. and paddling strengthen leg, arm and core “Do you have skills?” he asked. muscle groups, while delivering a terrific “Um, kinda,” I said. aerobic workout. “I wouldn’t,” he advised. Cassin says unlike kayakers, her SUP Soon, Cassin and another co-worker students don’t fit into any particular demojoined the conversation, and I began to ask graphic. The gender break is about half and advice on how to paddle in rapids. half, with a surprisingly strong turnout from “When you fall, jump away from the kids, older adults and—shall we say—the unconditioned. In fact, Cassin herself was turned board.” “Make sure you land flat so you don’t hit on to SUP as a way to rehab a slowly healing rocks or entrap your feet.” ankle fracture. It has since become a big part “You’ll need knee pads.” of her fitness regimen. She has witnessed That wasn’t exactly the advice I was increasing numbers of paddlers take to boards seeking. Regardless, I left with a whitewater on the Lower Main Payette, Redfish Lake,
board, collected my paddling and motocross gear, asked some friends to tag along to babysit me and headed off. With my optimism intact, we followed the curves of Highway 55 into the sylvan home of the Payette River. As Staircase Rapid came into view, I was struck by a familiar feeling: fear. An experienced kayaker’s boat was pinned hard against a rock. “Still thinking of paddling this?” a friend asked. “Nope,” I replied. And so after we kayaked the South Fork, I clambered onto my paddleboard and drifted into the first series of waves by Banks, fearful yet confident and vaguely aware that people on the shore were pointing and laughing at me. While SUP paddlers appear graceful on flat water and big ocean surf, in whitewater, even a skilled paddler looks like a blind man with dysentery on a tightrope. I fell quickly, and while bobbing in the waves, wondered how to get back on my board. It dawned on me that I didn’t know what I was doing. It was an unsettling realization at an inopportune time. I proceeded to swim almost every named rapid on the Main Payette. I entered the water in more ways than Greg Louganis. I fell sideways and backward and forward and onto the board and into rocks and on my elbows and to my knees. Despite it all, I found the challenge increasingly appealing. I started setting limited goals approaching rapids, and while I achieved none of them, I began to imagine that one day I might. As I dragged my board and my ecchymotic, cold, exhausted body up to the road, I reflected on the redemptive challenges posed by prohibitive rivers and the freedoms they promise the Huck Finn in each of us. And then thought, screw it, Moses had the better plan. But I’m sure I’ll be divining my way down the Main Payette on a paddle board again before season’s end.
—Rachael Daigle
34 | SEPTEMBER 1–7, 2010 | BOISEweekly
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