Adam Buckleymissed the 2011 Catalina Classic Paddleboard Race to attend a wedding, after having won the race in 2010.. This year he determined not to let that happen again, even though another wedding posed a conflict. This one was his own.
The 34-year-oldHermosa Beachresident and Ashley Mackenzie plan to marry next month.
“I had doubts about doing this year’s race, but there are only so many pure challenges you can give yourself,” he explained.
One of paddling’s attractions he said, is its simplicity.
“Most paddlers surf, which requires worrying about swell direction, weather, tides, sand bars… But you can paddle everyday, regardless of conditions. All you need is a board,” he said.
The wedding plans, coupled with his work, did force him to alter his training from the routine that proved successful in 2010, he conceded.
“The first time I was ever on a paddleboard was in 2009. That year I finished 19th in the Classic. So in 2010, I got an early start because I was really fired up. I was doing all the races, which is good for training. Plus it lets you gauge how you match up to other paddlers.”
“This year, I did zero races before the Classic, so I didn’t know where I stood, which has its advantages and disadvantages. And because of my schedule, most of my training was long solo paddles.”
In addition to wedding plans, unusually good surf that extended through May meant his paddleboard, like those of many other paddlers, didn’t come down from the rafters until June.
But the two-year layoff from paddling, didn’t mean he was starting from scratch.
“I always like to stay in shape, so in addition to surfing, I was swimming twice a week and working out at BodyOne fitness, where Lou Sidella set me up with a few circuit routines focusing on cardio, explosiveness and balance. But I’ve found there’s no good substitute for getting on a paddleboard,” he said.
Buckley’s strategy this year was to go out fast and take a straight line.
“In the 2010 race, I followed the lead pack north and probably added a mile to the race. Brian Kingston had a photo that year of everyone grazing the R10 buoy with their left shoulder. People think you make a left turn at the R10 to go to the Manhattan Pier. But the pier is really a straight line from the Isthmus. I could see that on the way over this year on Disappearance.”
One thing Buckley didn’t change from his 2010 paddle was his board.
“When I started in 2009, I calledJoe Bark, who didn’t know me from a hole in the wall, and he let me borrow boards. I bought the second one I tried, mostly because I liked the colors. It’s still the fastest board I’ve used,” Buckley said.
In the 2006 Catalina Classic,Los AngelesCountylifeguard Kyle Daniels’ upset Australian lifeguard Jamie Mitchell. Mitchell would win an unprecedented 10 consecutive Molokai Paddleboard Races, an achievement recounted in the recently released video “Decade of Dominance,” edited bySouthBayvideo maker Chris Aguilar.
Daniels’ strategy, according to Donny Southers, his escort captain that year, was to put a gap between himself and Mitchell before the R10. The danger in this mind game is there will be nothing left in the tank for the eightmilesremaining between the R10 and the finish at the Manhattan Pier.San Diegopaddler Brian Zeller tried this strategy against Mitchell in 2002. But despite building a comfortable lead, when he reached the Hermosa pier, just 1.5milesfrom the finish, “the piano dropped,” as Zeller would put it after the race. Mitchell cruised by to add the Catalina Classic to his Decade of Dominance.
This year, the strategy worked.
“I got out real quick. I wasn’t sprinting. I was going about 85 percent, a pace I knew I could keep up. I stayed in the sixmilesper hour range from start to finish. There was an hour when I was in the 6.5 to 7.5 range,” Buckley said.
A GoPro camera mounted on Buckley’s board by Body Glove video maker Greg Browning, shows Buckley knee paddling for relatively short bursts of 10 to 12 rotations, with rests of one to two seconds. But he’s turning his arms over a blistering 72 times a minute and staying on his knees over 60 percent of the time.
It helped that the usually bumpy Catalina Channel was glassy from start to finish this year. Balancing in bumpy water is taxing and in long races can make even elite paddlers reluctant to go to their knees.
Buckley finished in a near record time of 5:11:44, but said he wasn’t concerned about the record when he was paddling.
“After you win once, all that matters is winning again. Anything else is a disappointment,” he said. DZ
