We always look forward to this event. We first started going in 2019 when it was part of a racing point series. We would see everyone we’d made friends with at the other races. The race itself is pretty high-level. The boat classes are packed with excellent paddlers. The event is very organized with a festival with display tents, vendors, and demonstrations along with live music. It is both a community paddling and a race event-something that takes careful planning and organization.
We loaded up the boats Friday morning. It’s about 5 hours to Cincinnati-maybe a little longer if stop for coffee and pastries like we did this trip. We were on the road for just a short time when we pulled into Mahomet IL.
Of course, we were in need of some coffee so we drove a short way into town to YoYo’s Coffee and Bar. This was our first time at YoYo’s. It is a newer building but they have taken great care to give it an older feel with tree stump tables and live edge boards as tables. They also have a large outdoor seating area.
Their menu includes choice beer and wine along with flatbread pizzas and other appetizers. Since it was too late for breakfast, we chose a couple asiago cheese bagels with cream cheese. You almost needed an extra cream cheese with each one because they were big. Their coffee was a medium roast and it hit the spot.
Our second stop, which has now become a regular stop, was just down the street at Lucky Moon Bakery.
We ate the pastries in the car as we drove. With lots of napkins.
We arrived in Cincinnati about 5:30 and drove directly to the park. The festivities were in full swing. Lots of tents and vendors. Many of the displays were promoting tourist destinations in the Ohio-Kentucky area. We keep looking at that area for a PPC tour trip. Maybe someday.
When you first pull into the park you are routed into the unloading lane. At that point you unload your boats and store them in one of the baseball fields. They keep guard there all night and then your boat is on-site for the event the next morning.
There are helpers there to unload your boats. Mostly young men from an area football team there for fundraising. We made sure to tip our guys for thier own personal ‘fundraising’. We parked the now-unloaded van, got our registration package, and enjoyed the rest of the fair.
Our hotel was just across the river in Kentucky. Maybe a fifteen minute drive. We settled in after supper and tried to get to bed early. The racer meeting is at 6:45AM. The race was to start at 7:00.
We were up and back to the park at 6:20 AM Saturday morning. It’s still dark at 6:20 in August in Cincinnati but the place was already busy. We carried our boats down the ramp to the water and prepared for paddle.
To get the full 9 miles out of the event, we start heading upstream for 1/4 mile, turn around a bouy and then paddle 8 3/4 miles under seven bridges to the finish line. That turn around the bouy is often sketchy mainly because its a fixed point where everyone is trying to converge. I’ve learned that at the start of the race I paddle much harder and faster for that first quarter mile, make the turn then even out for the rest of the distance.
Once you are around the buoy, it’s relative smooth going the rest of the way. You are supposed to count the bridges-seven to know how you are progressing but I always loose count.
Along the way for this event, there were at least three boats that had live music playing. The coast guard is everywhere including their fire boat, spraying a stream of water 100′ into the air. I avoided that. It was still pretty cool for the day. I would guess that later recreational paddlers would welcome the cooling off.
When you finish, the time keeper calls out your name and hometown, you cool down a little then you head to the ramp. Once again, there are helpers there to carry your boat up to the grass area. Trust me, you welcome the assistance.
Mary finished not too long after me so we hung around for a while, talking with friends. Awards were to begin promptly at 10:00AM.
We hung out a little while longer then boarded the shuttle bus back to the starting point. They run these shuttles from 5:30 AM to 1 PM. We got back to our van, changed into dry clothes and headed back to the finish line to load our boats. You can do reverse shuttle, drop off the boats, drive to the finish park, then take the early shuttle back to start. That would save a later trip but we prefer to take the shuttle later. One year, a lightning storm came in and the race was cancelled. We immediately loaded our boats without the shuttle because our van was at the start.
Since we had been up since 5:30 AM we were understandably tired so we thought some caffeine was required for the trip home. We’ve tried to find other coffee shops on our way out of town but BLOC Coffee always seem to come up on the map.
We were a little hungry so Mary ordered the BLT and a cold brew; and David ordered the special (sourdough bread, turkey, pesto, bacon, balsamic vinaigrette and feta cheese) and a coffee. Both sandwiches were delicious!
We enjoyed our food at the neighborhood coffee shop and were on our way home.
About an hour and half into our trip home, we took a detour off the Interstate to The Branch Gathering in Greensburg IN.
We had our sugar and caffeine fixes and were on our way home.
Congratulations on your finishes!