DONE WITH 3RD YEAR!!!!!

Today marked the last day of my 3rd year of medical school! Pretty amazing how fast time flies. I have been privledged to have so many patients teach me so many things: about life, disease, dealing with the good, and finding a way to cope with the bad. I am really grateful for the opportunity I have had to had such a glimpse.

I finished my Pscyhiatry SHELF exam and decided to head out to the water. I was originally planning on heading down to the South Fork of the Shenandoah River this weekend, but the weather is scheduled to be rainy and snowy. So, deciding to take advantage of the 55 degree weather, I packed up the boat and headed out to Rivanna Reservoir.

My goal today was to head down the longest fork of the Rivanna. I wanted to spend some more time flatwater paddling. There was no wind and I made great time. Slowly snaking my way back down the res, I thought a bunch about the upcoming trip. I tried to think about the challenges I would face, and how I would deal with them. The time passed quickly and before I knew it I was at a riffle that I couldn't pass without getting out of the boat. Deciding the temps were favorable enough, I went "suns out guns out." In the process my glasses dropped down into the drink. Bummer. I spent the next several minutes fishing around for them, dropping down into the 33 degree water. In the picture below is that riffle. Luckily, I found 'em. Turning around I started paddling back.

Close to the car I passed by the UVa boathoase. The UVa crew team was hitting the water and I had a chance to see the Hoos paddling. GO HOOS. Anyhow, I finished up and got back to the car. I paddled 12.15 miles, not too bad for a fun little afternoon paddle.

Other news. I am in the process of looking for a sail for the boat. I want to maximize my efficiency on the large reservoirs, and a sail will increase my speed substantially. More on this as information comes in. Anyhow, off to the end of third year party, and the more USMLE Step 2 studying.

Until next time......

2/22/2009

It was a cold wintery, windy afternoon in Charlottesville. I headed out to the Rivanna Reservoir, a local body of water about 10 minutes from my house. This is the lake where the University of Virginia Crew team trains. It was windy and cold but I thought it would be a good excuse to stop studying for the USMLE Step 2 for a bit. The paddling was fun, and I spent about 1h15 min paddling around into the south fork of the Rivanna Reservoir. Eventually I started bottoming out, which is where the photos were taken. Overall a great little diversion from the med school studies.

Other exciting news! The first newspaper article about my upcoming trip ran in the Champaign-Urbana News-Gazette. Here is the link to the article http://www.newsgazette.com/news/local/2009/02/21/kayaker_plans_trip_to_raise_money_for_parkinsons_researchChampaign-Urbana is where my grandfather's brother Harry Forrester, who died of complications due to Parkinson's, lived. His daughter, Rita Grider, has been extremely helpful in getting the message out about the trip. She has been tirelessly contacting news agencies up and down the river, as well as throughout the midwest. I am very thankful for all her hard work.

Make sure you check out my website http://www.paddlingforparkinsons.com/ for the most up to date information about my trip!

Post Valentine's Day

2/15/2009 - Brett Beel (my roommate) and I decided to get out and enjoy the beautiful day. Brett dropped me off in Wingina, VA along the James River. My goal was to paddle 25 miles down the James to see if my speed predictions were accurate. I set off off from the Wingina Boat ramp around 11am. The paddling was great, and there were several class II sections. Nothing was too crazy but it was fun enough to keep me on my toes. 4h51min later, I was back at the boat ramp in Scottsville, VA. I paddled the 24.77 miles in a pretty reasonable time, which made me opptomistic about my time predictions for my upcoming trip. When I pulled into the Scottsville Marina, my Tacoma was waiting for me. Brett was still doing a 60 mile road ride, so I kicked some tunes in the truck. Next thing I knew, Brett was knocking on the car windows, I passed out pretty hard! Well, that is all until next week.

James River Fun

Well,

I just finished off my first week of my third year psychiatric inpatient rotation, and after the med school date auction on Friday night, I needed to get out and paddle a bit. That, and the thermometer was supposed to hit 65F. So I went to bed early last night(7/7), and set my alarm for an alpine start. It was still chilly walking out of the apartment so my warm cup o' java was a much needed kickstart to the day. I headed south down Highway 20 towards Scottsville, VA and the James River.

Scottsville, VA is a small little town situated on banks of the James River a few miles south of Charlottesville. Founded in 1774, Scottsville originally was a trading hub due to its location on the James River. Today it is a beautiful little town that provides an excellent starting point for paddling on the James. I parked my truck at the drop-off, chugged some coffee and set off.

I decided to start paddling upstream from Scottsville. Compared to the Rivanna River, paddling on the James was much more open with deeper channels. The current felt much stronger and it took substantial effort to paddle upstream. One of the highlights was paddling upstream through the rapids above Hatton Ferry. At class II, they weren't crazy, but I had to execute some fun ferries in a 17' boat. It took me about 2hrs to reach a really nice sandbar, about halfway between Hatton Ferry and Warren, VA. I kicked it on the sandbar for a bit and turned on the SPOT unit.

After hanging out on the sandbar for some time, I started to get anxious to move.

50 minutes later, I was back at the car. I had paddled about 12 miles and I came to the conclusion that A: paddling downstream is the way to go, and B:I am really glad I am paddling down the Missouri/Miss.

When I got back up to Charlottesville, I was greeted with more exciting news. Jason Kennedy of Standard Horizon, a subsidary of Vertex Standard, had emailed me to let me know that Standard Horizon had agreed to provide me a VHF radio for the trip. Super exciting, I will have more information on this new arrival when it comes in!

Well, back to studying for the USMLE Step 2 Boards. WWWAAAHHHOOOO!

Look for the most up to date information about my trip at http://www.paddlingforparkinsons.com/

Super Bowl Sunday Paddling!

Happy Super Bowl Sunday! I took advantage of the beautiful weather today in Charlottesville (60F and sunny) to get out and go paddling, "suns out-guns out style". My knuckles were a bit sore from ice climbing yesterday, so some cool water was going to feel great. I drove out to Rivanna Reservoir first. Unfortunately, the lake was still frozen over so I drove back to Darden Towe park. I decided for a change of pace that I was going to do some intervals. I paddled 1/5th of a mile upstream at a casual pace, and then booked it down stream at 100% power. After about an hour, I decided that my shoulders had been sufficiently beaten, and paddled around leisurely for awhile. Another great day out on the boat. Make sure to check out my website at http://www.paddlingforparkinsons.com/ to see my location and the most up to date information about my trip.

Hope everyone enjoys the game!