Tweet
Two quick stories followed by some pictures. I invite others to share their stories and photos as well.
#1
At Curwensville, PA this year the race was on hold because of high wind. Travis and some others passed the time by riding up and down the dirt road on a bicycle typically taking the trip downhill as fast as their legs could peddle. On one of his uphill passes I stopped him and explained that I had signed up Luke, my youngest son, to race in the J category and that Luke had requested #24 as boat number because that was the day of the month he was born. So I’m telling the story to Travis that I had to explain to Luke that no, he couldn’t have #24 because another racer (Travis) had that number and two racers from the same geographic region couldn’t have the same boat number. Travis pointed out that since J was a separate category from Stock Outboard Luke might actually be able to get that number. And then he smiled real big. “Or I could sell you the number”. He was still grinning as he peddled away.
#2
Travis once beat me in CSR by paddling across the finish line. Ok, it’s not quite as bad as it sounds but here’s what happened. At Sharptown, Md in 2005 Travis was just far enough ahead of me that I didn’t see his boat quit after he went through the last turn of the race. I think I learned later he had run out of gas. So as I’m rounding the final turn my eyes are tracking the water in front of me and beyond that are the pits. And I see Gary Pond (a large target) in the pits and a couple of others waving their arms but I didn't know why. As I came out of the turn and I saw Travis’ boat sitting still I realized what they were trying to tell him: keep going, start paddling. So I crossed the finish line ahead of Travis who was now on the deck of Kevin Harrell’s CSR paddling away. And eventually he did cross the finish line under his own power and placed last in the heat. But because he finished two places ahead of me in the other heat, overall he still placed higher than I did for the race. So Travis beat me because he paddled across the finish line. Unbelievable.
#1
At Curwensville, PA this year the race was on hold because of high wind. Travis and some others passed the time by riding up and down the dirt road on a bicycle typically taking the trip downhill as fast as their legs could peddle. On one of his uphill passes I stopped him and explained that I had signed up Luke, my youngest son, to race in the J category and that Luke had requested #24 as boat number because that was the day of the month he was born. So I’m telling the story to Travis that I had to explain to Luke that no, he couldn’t have #24 because another racer (Travis) had that number and two racers from the same geographic region couldn’t have the same boat number. Travis pointed out that since J was a separate category from Stock Outboard Luke might actually be able to get that number. And then he smiled real big. “Or I could sell you the number”. He was still grinning as he peddled away.
#2
Travis once beat me in CSR by paddling across the finish line. Ok, it’s not quite as bad as it sounds but here’s what happened. At Sharptown, Md in 2005 Travis was just far enough ahead of me that I didn’t see his boat quit after he went through the last turn of the race. I think I learned later he had run out of gas. So as I’m rounding the final turn my eyes are tracking the water in front of me and beyond that are the pits. And I see Gary Pond (a large target) in the pits and a couple of others waving their arms but I didn't know why. As I came out of the turn and I saw Travis’ boat sitting still I realized what they were trying to tell him: keep going, start paddling. So I crossed the finish line ahead of Travis who was now on the deck of Kevin Harrell’s CSR paddling away. And eventually he did cross the finish line under his own power and placed last in the heat. But because he finished two places ahead of me in the other heat, overall he still placed higher than I did for the race. So Travis beat me because he paddled across the finish line. Unbelievable.
Attached Files
Comment