Ski to Sea Fun

I (Andrew) just got to do the Kayak leg of the Ski to Sea relay race for team RYD Knights of Bellingham. The Ski to Sea is a 90 mile relay that starts at the Mount Baker Ski Area and cascades across the county via XC Ski, Downhill Ski, Running, Road Cycling, Canoeing on the Nooksack River, Mountain Biking, and finally, Sea Kayaking.

Kayak Staging Grounds

Waiting for the hand off from the Mountain Bike Leg

Approaching the Beach. You can see the bow of a Kayak that paralelled me for the entire race. I barely met my goal of holding the team's place, passing 14 boats and being passed by 12. I also maintained the rule set for me by teammate (Road Bike, Gaining us 50 places!) and buddy Brian Russel: don't let anyone in a Sit on Top Ocean Kayak pass you, no matter how burly s/he is!

Ringing the Celebratory Finish Bell. You can see our time. 8 hours, 58 minutes, 29 seconds! At nearly 3 hours behind the leader, that was good enough to put us into 204th place (out of 464 teams). Full results are here if you enter team no 150.

Celebrating after the finish with team Captain and Mountain Biker Ben Muller (Top) and Family (Below).

Now that you are all excited. I am recruiting a team for next year. There is a bit of a hitch, but if the race sounds fun to you, you'll love the plan. Let me know if you are interested!