by Ellison Smith
My first trip to the USA SUP NorthCentral Region was one of the best I've ever had anywhere! I wasn't quite set on attending until the week leading up to it. I'm subject to change as the wind blows sometimes and I blazed a trail 10.5 hours west to the Windy Cityfor the 5K, 10K technical, and sprint races.
I arrived on Friday to enjoy the sunniest and warmest of the three-day weekend at Ohio Street Beach with the resident city sun revelers. The Columbia Yacht Club, a converted former Canadian rail ferry, hosted the competition the next day.
Race day was changed from a forecasted calm Sunday to a very windy Saturday due to a conflicting event, but what else would you expect on the Illinois coast? The 10K was not your typical out and back, instead, it consisted of a roundabout around the starting pier, then transitioned into four laps around a triangle and finishing with another turnaround before the finish line. Fortunately, most of the course was somewhat protected from the 30mph gusts. The buoy furthest out in Lake Michigan proved to be the most challenging, especially the last two laps. I was very happy with a 5th place finish amongst the very friendly and fast competition. The sprint race that followed proved to be a somewhat chaotic and frantic dash. In the out and back with one close-quarters turn, somehow I escaped the fray with 2nd place showing. The club hosted us for the awards where I got to know some of the Midwest fam and engage with some familiar faces.
Sunday began with a downtown tour led by our newest USA SUP NorthCentral Regional Rep, Kirsten Lefeldt. Her love for paddling led her to start Chicago SUP, a paddle and racing group headquarterednear Goose Island. Being amongst the spectacular views on the North Branch Chicago River was a fantastic experience.
During the trip, I got in some quality beach time with another NorthCentral USA SUP Rep, Troy Hendricks. We also had quite the adventure in search of some deep dish It's hard to summarize the trip in a few paragraphs but I hope the pics will tell the rest of the story.
*Photos by Joe Karp
