Back to Oz

This has been an amazing trip, probably one of the most amazing trips I have been on as I have been able to experience a huge tour with many stops throughout. More of a dream than a tour, except with a whole more tiredness.

Things started off with a trip to Utah from North Carolina for the Outdoor retail show with the highlight being getting on the water with Esquif Canoes. Now O.R. knows how to throw some great parties. Free swag for all and then back to Asheville to get the bus ready.

The fun bus tour started from Asheville heading north to the Ottawa. A few stops on the way including the Potomac river, Washington DC and the Black river NY. By far one of the highlights was passing by Thule, one of our sponsors and meeting the folks there. Our bus got bigger, stronger and more powerful from this stop due to the racks that Thule hooked us up with.

A quick move to the Ottawa and we met up with the rest of the Jackson Kayak Team. Garb was in full operation, big and meaty but with huge 15 minute lines waiting to get in the hole. World cup one was all about getting big air.

A relatively short drive across the boarder to New York and we continued the tour with the Blackwater Challenge. The town went all out and showed us that they wanted us there. A great hole feature this time with big air loops and cartwheels.

Next up was a bunch of driving south to the Yaugh river, technically demanding and a classic creeking river, followed by a day on the New River West Virginia. Paddling with Clay and the team in WV, every river becomes more of a story than just a notch on your belt.

Onwards to the Charlotte whitewater park, a river that is not for beginners and a bunch of fun.

World cup number three at Rock Island, where the parties were awesome and the location spectacular. This time a hole/wave feature was on the cards, with a huge range of moves being able to be completed.

Then on to Gauley Festival where it rained a bunch however the river was awesome, big, and fun. I have never seen a river as packed as it was on Gauley Saturday. Finally on to the Jackson Kayak team week at Rock Island where I learnt a great deal both on and off the water thanks to the senior team inclusive of EJ.

So there it is. A whole lot of fun packed into a small amount of time. If only I could do this every day. With a second place in OC1 overall and a first at Rock Island, competition was by far a whole lot of fun against my good friend Eli Helbert. C1 I realized that I can make a go out of this, getting third in my prelims on the Black. Not bad after just three months in a C1.

This was a tour I will never forget and I could not ask for a better summer. Now it’s back to work and once again dreaming of getting back out on the road.

Rideout said it a whole lot better than I can.

“The past 55 days have taught me that life is short, we are not promised another day. Go out, and do what you love. Treat those who are important to you the best you can. Make the most every situation. Don’t forget the people and experiences that make you who you are. If an opportunity comes available, take it who knows where you might end up!”

Thanks for the tour Rideout.

jez

The End...

Early Saturday morning I dropped Jez off at the Nashville International Airport. Unfortunately our grand adventure has come to an end.
We spent 55 days on the road traveling together all across the U.S. and Canada. We visited 2 countries, 1 District, 1 Royal Province, 21 states, and countless Pilot Truck Stops. We drove 10,132 miles!
Jez landed in Sydney at 6:00 am on Monday and started back to work with the police force 4 hours later at 10:00 am. He is crazy! This is a man who truly loves to travel, paddle, and seek adventure.
I am returning to Murfreesboro to spend the fall paddling our beautiful southeastern rivers, and spend time with family and friends. The adventure is far from over. After I dropped Jez off at the airport I led a weekend trip to the Ocoee River for MTSU Campus Recreation.

The past 55 days have taught me that life is short, we are not promised another day. Go out, and do what you love. Treat those who are important to you the best you can. Make the most every situation. Don’t forget the people and experiences that make you who you are. If an opportunity comes available, take it who knows where you might end up!

Rideout

Gauley Fest

Apologies for the lack of posts this week, it’s been very busy with rivers, promoting and the like. We drove up to the Gauley Festival where there will be thousands of boaters checking out boats, gear and our rig is right in the center of the field. The Jackson crew has already taken on the New River and hucked off a few waterfalls prior to getting up here. You will have to check out the pictures to believe some of the drops we took on.

We also me up with Tim and Henry from Florida who we threw some promo stuff at and will for certain come to Camp Arrowhead next year.

The weather has been far from great. Unfortunately the first day and night of Gauley has been cold wet and stormy. Today we fired up the Lower Gauley which was quite fun to say the least, so I can’t imagine what the upper will be like. The new JK Fun boats were turning heads and we also took the Mega Rocker on it’s inaugural run. This is going to be an amazing multi day boat that’s for sure.

See you on the Gauley.

jez

Pictures from Rock Island Tennessee

Here are some pictures from the event. This is my home playspot, where I learned to paddle. It was great to see so many of my friends and family at the event.

Live from Murfreesboro,
Rideout

New River Gorge Put-in Video

As promised, some video of our fuun times at the put-in for the New River Gorge.

This park was a blast.

If the video does not work follow this link:

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=8652043480776726551&q=new+river+gorge

Rideout

World Cup # three, and the tour continues.

We traveled over the state line to Rock Island Tennessee for World Cup number three. This is a spectacular place to have a world cup and one of the most prettiest places for a feature. Unfortunately due to the drought that the South East has been going through, water for training has been a bit of a problem. We only got a 45 minute practice which converted to about five practice rides. One of the least amount of practice time I have ever seen for a competition. The only good thing about this was everyone was on the same page.

Day one was Junior prelims, practice on the water and a meal provided by the local truck stop-Bino’s.

Day two started off with a Jackson Kayak demo down at the lake. This was a whole lot bigger than I expected as at one time there were 70 people down there either in boats, looking at boats or talking about boats. I spent a great deal of time with a few people helping them double pump boats and also got a few new kids into boats for their first paddling experience, John and Robert. The rest of the afternoon was spent on the water with the men’s and women’s preliminaries with everyone not scoring very big scores and people still getting used to the feature. That night was the best party of the World Cup thanks to the sponsors Jack Daniels, Red Bull and Jackson Kayak. The party was held at the Jackson Kayak Plant where Elvis made an appearance and I can guarantee this….Elvis is most certainty not dead!

Day Three was the finals including Men’s and Women’s K1, C1, OC1 and Squirt. Some huge runs were thrown down by Clay Wright which threw him up to the top of the standings. C1, Guillaume once again showed how to paddle with one blade while Nick took out the Juniors and Tanya in the women’s. Sure it’s not on top billing but OC1 was quite a spectacle with the biggest rides of the world cup being thrown down. Eli and I tied for the best ride with some clean’s and split wheels. It came down to the judges looking back at the previous rides to determine the winner which meant I just nosed in front of Eli for the win, although my congrats go to Eli for winning the World Cup.

No surprises in the Men’s K1 with all Jackson Boaters taking the top placings and E.J. continuing his domination.

That night turned into a party at the Fog light with presentations and speeches. A big thanks to all the organizers, Judges, Scribes, Volunteers, helpers and everyone else that played a part in the 2006 World Cup.

Thanks to the support from all my mates who turned up to wish me well including the Burgess family. I hope you had an awesome time and I appreciate your support.

Congrats to the following World Cup Winners:

Men’s Pro
Eric Jackson- USA
Stephen Wright- USA
Clay Wright- USA

Junior Women
Sara Hunter -USA
Noria Newman- France
Alexandra Shallhorn- Canada

Women’s Pro
Tanya Faux- Australia
Emily Jackson- USA
Ruth Gordon- Canada

Junior Men
Nick Troutman- Canada
Dane Jackson- USA
Sam Sutton- New Zealand

C-1
Guillaume La Rue- Canada
Seth Chapelle- USA
Joe Stumpfel- USA

OC-1
Eli Helbert- USA
Jez Blanchard-Australia
Jeremy Lauks- USA
Dooley Tombras- USA

Squirt women
Devon- USA
Valerie Bertrand- Canada
Kim Gauthier- Canada

Squirt men
Koyo Morita- Japan
Jeremy Lauks- USA
Matt McGuire- Canada

Now for those that think that the World Tour is over, I regret to inform you that you are mistaken. That’s right we are still on tour and will be on tour for the next few weeks. Gauley Festival is this weekend and Team week follows. So there is a bunch of fun to be had that’s for sure and I can’t wait to see how intense Gauley. I hope all the hype and stories are true.

As for right now, some of the folk are going out wake boarding, some going to the rope swing and some cruzing the internet taking a break. This is officially team wind down day!

Stay tuned for some pictures from Mat.

jez

Pistop at Arrowhead

A Update from Jeremy at Camp...

I have been holding down the fort at camp for the past few weeks, answering the phones, composing the next leg of home shows and college staff recruitment, etc. In my time here among the beauty of Camp Arrowhead I have been almost isolated and though to many this would seem a torture it, for me, has been a great time of reflection and communication with staff. Many of the staff are back in school and enjoying the post summer reclaiming their relationships on their respective campus and getting back into the swing of classes. David Swanson, aka Swamp Donkey, emailed to thank me for introducing him to a game that I taught during staff training. He stated that in his sociology class the professor offered extra credit if anyone could figure out the secret to the game…needless to say Swamp Donkey got the credit and fame! It’s interactions like the one with “Swampy” that make me grateful for such a great staff this summer.

So, it was AWESOME to see Rideout and Jez this week when they rolled into camp! The energy that they had and the stories they told were very fun to hear. They are on a great adventure and I must say that I am very, very jealous. As Jez would say, he and Rideout are “great mates” to see once again. In addition they brought with them the entire Jackson Kayak team. I got to catch up with Dane and meet the rest of the crew…a great team of people to travel the country alongside. Thinking of the skill and world class talent that is on the team made me want to ask for more tips and “can you help me with my roll,” but I refrained from looking like a dork.

The crew rolled out after making the day more enjoyable for me and Rideout and I got to chat some more. It was great to sit and chat with my friend and hear of his adventures and we made the promise to go paddling after the tour was over. Guess I better work on my donkey flips and cartwheels…Ha, I’m trying to catch on to the lingo.

Anywho, life is too short to sit idle and watch the grass grow. Congrats to Rideout and Jez for taking this adventure on and going for their dreams. Good luck to them on the rest of the comp’s and thanks for the friendships.

From camp…Jerm