Roadie: Victoria, British Columbia

View from the Harbour Pathway, Victoria, British Columbia. (7/4/19)

Just as we spent Canada Day in Juneau, Alaska, we spent Independence Day in British Columbia, Canada. It was a very brief stop and the final port of call on our seven day Alaskan cruise. The cruise ship dock is located at Ogden Point, a 35-minute walk to downtown Victoria. As you might expect we were beginning to miss home, but we're still game for a self-guided walking tour of Victoria, British Columbia. Our boat was docked for only 4 hours so it was a nice low-key way to conclude what had been an exciting six days.

Aquatic life beside the cruise ship on our way to Victoria, British Columbia. (7/4/19)

Look closely and you'll find the outline below water of a dolphin that swam
beside the ship. (7/4/19)

A humpback whale exhaling. (7/4/19)

View from our patio of neighborhood to the left of the Ogden Cruise
Ship Terminal. (7/4/19)

View from the Harbour Pathway. (7/4/19)

(7/4/19)

Close-up of sweet peas, a flowering plant, not the vegetable. (7/4/19)

View from the Harbour Pathway. (7/4/19)

One of the garden areas in Beacon Hill Park. (7/4/19)

The British Columbia Parliament Buildings home to the Legislative Assembly
of British Columbia. (7/4/19)

Close-up of giant sequoia outside British Columbia
Parliment. (7/4/19)

Close-up of the Knowledge Totem Pole carved by Coast
Salish artist Cicero August. The pole was originally created for the
 1994 Commonwealth Games. (7/4/19)

(7/4/19)

(7/4/19)

Community garden in James Bay Village area of suburban Victoria,
British Columbia. (7/4/19)

Community garden in James Bay Village suburban Victoria,
British Columbia. (7/4/19)

Roadie: 2013 St. Catharines Regatta

The RJRC U23 8+ Mens team launches for the final race of the day. (7/20/13)

Yesterday was Day 1 of the St. Catharines Invitational on Henley Island in Canada at which the   Rochester Junior Rowing Club (RJRC) had a number of boats entered to compete. For my stepson, Greg, this was his last official "scholastic" row before leaving for Columbia University in a month, though he was not competing in a scholastic category. Because he and most of his boat mates recently graduated from high school, and are over 18 years old, they have been competing in the U23 (under 23) category this summer with a few 16 and 17 year olds on the team. Given their relative youth, and physical maturity, the competition this summer has been challenging, but goals and personal expectations have been reasonable enough not to feel as though it has been a waste of time.

Henley Island is a popular regatta site. (7/20/13)

As both a scholastic rower at McQuaid high school, and during previous summer row seasons, Greg has competed a number of times in St. Catharines. His mother, father and I have made the two hour trip west to Canada quiet a few times in the past five years, and this particular venue is always enjoyable despite the occasional hot and/or rainy weather conditions. Today was no different, though mercifully, there were a number of shaded areas from which one could find reprieve from the strong sun and heat.

Pushing off. (7/20/13)

The U23 Men 8+ race was the final of the afternoon and only two boats were entered. As was the case last week, the RJRC boat, which included Greg, a high school teammate of his as well as some member of the Pittsford Rowing Club (which runs RJRC), was a considerable underdog. The other boat, Row Ontario, consists of members of the Canadian National Rowing Team. As a wrote earlier, VERY talented competition has been on the schedule this summer.

Despite tough competition, the boys row on... (7/20/13)

... through the finish. (7/20/13)

While one doesn't go into any race with the intention to be bested, sometimes it is just a matter of acknowledging the difficulty of a race and putting forth best effort to demonstrate your own development. The RJRC U23 8+ did not win (in truth, it wasn't really close), but given the clear disadvantages (experience, size, maturity) the boys did row well. Much of this summer has been about focusing on improvement and looking for opportunities to garner some individual and team success from racing against clearly superior team talent.

The race winner, the boat from Row Ontario, exits the "playing field". (7/20/13)

Another beautiful Saturday, another solid workout/race. (7/20/13)

Though RJRC will be competing back at this site in two weeks as part of the Canadian Henley Royal Regatta, today was Greg's final row. With college on the horizon and a lengthy work schedule, he will be stepping aside from the team. This was the third summer season that Greg rowed (including two for RJRC) and each season has been beneficial for a number of different reasons, beyond the chance to compete against top talent. Most importantly this year, it gave him greater sense of what sort of training is necessary in addition to team practices to be a successful rower at the next level.
 

Carrying the boat to be derigged. (7/20/13)

Derigging and preparing for transport of the shells back to Rochester. (7/20/13)

Greg and I prior to his race. (7/20/13)

Au revoir! (7/20/13)

Summer Regatta Roadie 2

The spectator quality was definitely enhanced for a crew newbie such as myself by the multi-laned competitive nature of these races.
Another weekend, another trip north, this time all the way across the border to Henley Island for a small-ish regatta against some of the "big boys" from the "True North Strong and Free." Unfortunately, the results were also similar to our previous competition, which is to say we did not make it into the finals, but the overall performance of my stepson's, four boat was good, especially given the high level of competition.

The was the first regatta that I had attended during which the boats were assigned lanes; in most cases the races I've seen were time trials or two boats racing against one another.
Ah, the obligatory "birds-in-flight-on-the-water" picture!
Something we rarely see stateside--oar trees.
The true challenge of taking pictures at a regatta is not falling prey to having each set of photos from different races all looking exactly the same--not an easy thing to do so I've resorted to cheap "slice of life pics from the staging areas!
Breathe in, breathe out… YOU AND I ARE ALIVE!

Summer Regatta Roadie 1

The races took place in the shadow of the Peace Bridge, a very common border
between the USA and Canada.
This past Saturday, we spent the morning at a small regatta (rowing competition) sponsored by the Westside Rowing Club, on the bank of Ontario Lake in Buffalo, New York. Though my stepson's highschool boat did not qualify for finals, they did have a good run, especially considering the youth of the four participants.

A number of Canadian teams were represented at the regatta--I've learned that when the Canadians show up you have to work very hard to make a finals!
Breathe in, breathe out… YOU AND I ARE ALIVE!