Have I gone batty?

I mentioned in the earlier post that I'd spent last week in Austin. You know, the State capital. As in "Keep Austin Weird", which I think replaced the slogan "Steers & Queers - No Place But Austin". I guess the latter bumper sticker wasn't politically correct or something.

Whatever.

Anyway, after settling into my hotel room Monday evening, and watching Jon & Kate for the first time (only for 15 minutes) only to find they're getting off their marriage-go-round (and who isn't these days?), I headed downtown to check out the kayak rentals on Town Lake. After checking the hours and prices, it was too late to check out a paddlecraft, but I was able to head over to the Austin American Statesman parking lot to catch the evening flight of the bats. Even though I've seen them before, it's always impressive, though not so much to go back on successive evenings.




Tuesday afternoon I was able to get back to my hotel and change into swim trunks and water shoes and got down to the Texas Rowing Center just south of Austin High School, where for a measly ten bucks and my driver's license, the kayak of my choice would be all mine for an hour. Not wanting a sit-on model, I picked a sleek tourer [sit-in], and eased my 6'1" frame into the cockpit.

Uh-oh.

I might mention that I haven't kayaked in about 30 years or so. Canoeing, yes, but kayaking, no. The sleek tourer was, shall we say, not so roll stable, and I surely didn't want to ignominiously swamp my boat (OK, the Rowing Center's boat) in front of other paddlers and joggers. So before even pushing off from the dock, I traded it for a recreational model, wider and a bit shorter. Very yaw prone, but stable. Being Kansas-born, "I set a course for winds of fortune", and proceeded eastward, towards downtown.

Within a hundred yards or so, I'd gotten the footpegs adjusted and started working on a sort of cadence to travel more or less in a straight line. My goal was to see if I could make it to Congress Avenue, but I was facing a moderate headwind. As I continued, I realized that Lamar was a more realistic goal, and believed that the wind I'd been facing would be my friend on the return trip.

Wrong.

After turning around at one of the bridge supports, I'd rowed a couple hundred yards before realizing the breeze had calmed. Oh, great! No help there. Not to mention that I was now rowing against the current. A mild current, but against it nonetheless. I was beginning to be concerned I wouldn't get my rental back in time, or that I might give out, but I came up with a plan to paddle earnestly for two minutes, then three minutes casually, repeating this cycle about five times.

Sure enough, I made it back to the dock with a few minutes to spare, and a pretty good sweat.

I slept very well that night.