Giddy Up on the Concord

I don't often paddle fast these days but when I do I prefer it be while paddling in the Blackburn Challenge.  Since one week from today my plan is to be paddling the event's approximately 20 mile course around Cape Ann, I used this past week for trying to find my fastest sustainable boat speed over 10 miles.

Fortunately, the Concord River was agreeable to playing the part of Cape Ann's  Annisquam River and provided me with two days practice, each having vastly different weather conditions.

This morning cloudy and cool conditions were encountered on the river (opening photo) whereas this past Wednesday things were hot and sticky...

On both days I launched at the Bedford Boat Launch off of Route 225 and followed a training course which had me paddling downriver 2 miles to Route 4 then  4.5 miles upriver to Sawmill Brook and then 3.5 miles downriver to Two Brothers Rocks.

Each year I toy with the idea of improving my forward stroke and each year it seems I end up resorting to the same old stroke that, for me, is time-tested and somehow manages to get me from Point A to Point B.  This year is no different.  Regardless of which stroke I used my time after 10 miles was the same.

So with that matter resolved I continued (at a little slower rate) downriver to Bug Island...

...and rounded it before heading back to the Bedford Boat Launch giving me 15 miles overall.

Didn't see much trash on the water but did manage to get these few pieces "on the fly"...