My goal for 2018 is to paddle 500 miles. I want to destroy my old record of 402, and really push myself as hard as I can go.
500 in 2018
-That's 34 15 mile day trips
-10 3 day/50 mile trips
-17 weekend 30 mile trips
To get there, I'll need to put in 55.5 miles per month (assuming I paddle in march and november. Otherwise it becomes 71.4 mile months.)
Where this becomes difficult is weather and life. I've had plenty of trips get interrupted because of bad weather or life circumstances. To prepare for these obstacles: I've spent time getting things lined up. I've accumulated a ton of weather gear: waterproof coats, pants, bags. Warm tents and sleeping bags. Warm and waterproof gloves. if I am to accomplish my goal, there's going to be some bad weather paddling. I'll need to deal with it, and having solid gear is step 1. As for life: I made it a point this winter to get all my affairs in order as best possible. I'm putting in extra time now to make sure I'm ahead at work, on car repairs, home repairs, cleaning, etc. While there will be things I can't prep for, I want to do as much as I can now (while it's zero out), so that I'll have max free time come warmer weather.
I'm also setting a bonus goal: to get as many people to experience the river as possible. I'm going to be going on a ton of trips, and exploring new waterways. If you are interested, I'll bring you along! Open offer! The rivers weren't meant to be kept a secret, but rather to be shared with all.
500 in 2018
-That's 34 15 mile day trips
-10 3 day/50 mile trips
-17 weekend 30 mile trips
To get there, I'll need to put in 55.5 miles per month (assuming I paddle in march and november. Otherwise it becomes 71.4 mile months.)
Where this becomes difficult is weather and life. I've had plenty of trips get interrupted because of bad weather or life circumstances. To prepare for these obstacles: I've spent time getting things lined up. I've accumulated a ton of weather gear: waterproof coats, pants, bags. Warm tents and sleeping bags. Warm and waterproof gloves. if I am to accomplish my goal, there's going to be some bad weather paddling. I'll need to deal with it, and having solid gear is step 1. As for life: I made it a point this winter to get all my affairs in order as best possible. I'm putting in extra time now to make sure I'm ahead at work, on car repairs, home repairs, cleaning, etc. While there will be things I can't prep for, I want to do as much as I can now (while it's zero out), so that I'll have max free time come warmer weather.
I'm also setting a bonus goal: to get as many people to experience the river as possible. I'm going to be going on a ton of trips, and exploring new waterways. If you are interested, I'll bring you along! Open offer! The rivers weren't meant to be kept a secret, but rather to be shared with all.
The Plan
My general plan is:
-to do one longer trip per month. If I can do one 3 day 50 mile trip per month, that'd put me right around 450 on it's own.
-To go on a 92 mile 5 day marathon trip in the lower wisconsin river
-To paddle every other weekend, minimum. Even if it's just day trips, those shorter spurts will add up into a good chunk of mileage eventually.
-To go on 1-2 overnight trips per month, then fill in the gaps with day trips
More specifically, I'm hoping to keep to this kind of schedule:
Jan-Feb: any warm enough days without ice, to put in a day trip or two
March: 30-50 miles. Put in one long weekend or a short weekend with day trip supplements
April: 50 miles. A long weekend plus day trips
May: Do a 92 mile 5 day trip early in the month before the bugs arrive. Then do 50/3 over memorial day as I've done in previous years.
By memorial day, I want to be in the 150-200 range.
June/July/August: 3 day trip each month, which gives me about 150. Use a bunch of other day trips to add in another 100 or so. My goal would to be past 250 by 4th of July. In the end, I want to accumulate 200 miles over the summer, which would put me at the 350-400 range by Labor day
September: 3 day trip over labor day, then hopefully get away for another weekend overnight. Put in about 60 miles.
October: Finish off the 500 by putting in another 50 or so miles. 2 overnight trips should suffice in accomplishing that.
November: boat if I can. All depends on weather. I think I can squeeze in another day trip or two if I have to, but I'd want to be really close to the end prior to the weather turning frosty.
-to do one longer trip per month. If I can do one 3 day 50 mile trip per month, that'd put me right around 450 on it's own.
-To go on a 92 mile 5 day marathon trip in the lower wisconsin river
-To paddle every other weekend, minimum. Even if it's just day trips, those shorter spurts will add up into a good chunk of mileage eventually.
-To go on 1-2 overnight trips per month, then fill in the gaps with day trips
More specifically, I'm hoping to keep to this kind of schedule:
Jan-Feb: any warm enough days without ice, to put in a day trip or two
March: 30-50 miles. Put in one long weekend or a short weekend with day trip supplements
April: 50 miles. A long weekend plus day trips
May: Do a 92 mile 5 day trip early in the month before the bugs arrive. Then do 50/3 over memorial day as I've done in previous years.
By memorial day, I want to be in the 150-200 range.
June/July/August: 3 day trip each month, which gives me about 150. Use a bunch of other day trips to add in another 100 or so. My goal would to be past 250 by 4th of July. In the end, I want to accumulate 200 miles over the summer, which would put me at the 350-400 range by Labor day
September: 3 day trip over labor day, then hopefully get away for another weekend overnight. Put in about 60 miles.
October: Finish off the 500 by putting in another 50 or so miles. 2 overnight trips should suffice in accomplishing that.
November: boat if I can. All depends on weather. I think I can squeeze in another day trip or two if I have to, but I'd want to be really close to the end prior to the weather turning frosty.
Documenting
I've always been relatively good about documenting trips, but I'm going to improve that this year too.
-All trips will be journaled. Right here on this blog.
-I'll be posting about it regularly. I've gotten into twitter @pronk22. It seems to work well for microupdates.
-I'll be upping my photo/video output. I assembled all that equipment in the last 2 years, but I've never took the time to really dive in on it. That changes now.
-All trips will be journaled. Right here on this blog.
-I'll be posting about it regularly. I've gotten into twitter @pronk22. It seems to work well for microupdates.
-I'll be upping my photo/video output. I assembled all that equipment in the last 2 years, but I've never took the time to really dive in on it. That changes now.
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