2005 Cheat Race

Individual Results Class Winners Team Results

10th annual Cheat Canyon Race Summary

May 6th, 2005
Article by Rick Gusic, photos by Chris Herring.

Under a late evening cloudy sky, the 10th annual Cheat Race went off last Friday evening,
May 6th. Conditions were perfect for racing, with the temperatures moderate (low 60’s) and the river running a medium flow of 2.62 (from the Route 26 bridge gauge) For the fifth straight year, the Cheat also set yet another attendance record, reaching a new high of 145 boaters racing. In case you think that’s a misprint, it’s not. 145 boaters showed up, consisting mostly of kayakers with a few open canoes, K2’s and even one brave raft. Those who were able to witness the start of the race were lucky to see one the biggest white-water race mass starts EVER in US history. In fact, the attendance now almost doubles the next closest downriver race. The Cheat Race Staff would like to once again send out a big thanks to everyone who showed up and help support the event! Your attendance is appreciated.

For those who have never attended or raced in this event, the start of this race is unlike anything out there in the kayaking world. Comparisons are hard to find. Every boat lined up next to the old washed out bridge and silently waited for Race sponsor Jeff Prycl (of Rocky Mountain Kayak) to sound off the air horn. Once done, everyone paddled off. What followed next was part gladiator’esque spectacle, part confusion, part collision and part mayhem as the 145 boaters necked down and fought for position. Every boater battled hard for the few token ‘fast lines’ heading into Decision rapid. As the somewhat famous canoe paddler Milt Aiken said, “all I could see for the first ¼ mile was arms, paddles and boats, with that damn %$& bastard kayakers splashing water into my boat!!!”

Safety boaters from within the canyon would report many tight packs of boaters throughout the race, with nearly every racer always in sight of someone. Due to the very high volume of racers, any mistakes early on were costly, as occasional hard core ‘creekboater’ Dan Herring quickly found out when he accidentally eddied out in the middle of Decision. “By the time I swung my cascade back around, approached the eddy and looked to peel out, it looked like an interstate highway…at least 20 boaters had blown by me!!” Dan mumbled later, as he drank down the complimentary free beer at the finish line.

Individual race summary:

We have to mention ‘nearly all’ the racers were near each other because one boater would quickly escape the pack and get out to an early lead. Washington DC native Geoff Calhoun, last year’s overall winner, would prove last year’s win was not a fluke. He gradually wore down and blew out the competition on his way to his second straight Cheat Canyon Downriver Race title. Geoff would also nail down the second fastest time ever in the 2’ to 2’11” foot water range, completing the course in sixty minutes and 49 seconds (1:00:49) Congratulations Geoff, as he now enters into Hall of Fame type notoriety, joining other two time winners Roger Zbel, Andrew McEwen (3x winner) and Steve Kaufman.

Big time racing props go out to the guy’s right behind Geoff. While Geoff raced out to a huge lead, the second place finisher, Jess Whittemore (2000 champion), was equally just as far out from his next closest rival. Jess would finish in a time of 2:05:04. Rounding out the third fastest time of the day was Rodney Rice, a newcomer to the world of wild water boat racing, who blazed into the finish with a time of 1:09:59.

Unlike the men, this year’s women title would feature a new winner. While last year’s overall winner, Heather Rau, would win her class (B class - Race boats), with a time of 1:19:45, that wouldn’t be fast enough to overtake the overall and new women’s Cheat Canyon Downriver Champion, Robin Betz, who would finish at 1:18:30. 1st among all women and 28th overall for the entire race field. Congratulations Robin.

Unlike some other races, the Cheat Canyon Downriver Race offers multiple divisions for the boaters. Kayakers are classified in four divisions. Wild Water boats comprise the ‘A’ category. The ‘B’ category is comprised of any boats over 12’ 6” (that aren’t ww boats.) This category includes Wavehoppers, the old Phoenix style boats, slalom boats, sea kayaks and whatever else people could find in their garages.

The 2005 ‘B’ category would see three past winners are fighting it out for the title. Mike Moore (2003 ‘B’ class champ), Dave Shannon (3x ‘D’ class medalist) and Travis Cowles (medalist in the ‘C’ class in 2004) all battled furiously back and forth over 10 miles, until finally, the massive stork-like wingspan of Travis Cowles would prevail in the last ½ mile. Paddling a very strange looking Prijon Sea Kayak, that looked to have no business being on white-water, Travis would race in at 1:11:15, edging out Moore (1:11:45) and Shannon (1:11:54) for the Class B title, while also finishing 4th overall in the race. Congratulations Travis!

Up next was the ‘C’ division. This class is for boats that are between 10’ and 12’6” in length. Heavily populated by Perception Mirages, Dancers, Aquaterra Blazers and such.
Kevan Damm, who narrowly missed placing in the ‘C’ class last year, would leave nothing to chance in ’05, busting an early move out to the front in his trusty Perception Mirage to finish in 1:15:30. Adam Vangrack and Jason Sullivan would round out the other two spots, coming in at 1:16:26 and 1:16:32.

Two of the most heated divisional races would come in next. In the ‘D’ class, which features the short boats (under 10’ in length), last years 1st and 2nd place winners would be back for again in a 1 vs. 2 rematch, as Steven Greybill battled it out with Jonathan Fishbein yet again, and same as last year, he also beat him again. Coming in third would be Jeremy Lauks. Greybill now joins Geoff Calhoun as a two-time consecutive divisional winner!

In the Open Canoe class. Atlanta’s favorite boater, Milt Aiken, would drive 12 hours to Albright, to win the single bladed open canoe title. Congratulations to Milt, who previously had placed second twice, he now becomes champion! In the C1 class, prior champion Neal Fleenor would win again, coming in literally 5’ behind Milt. In the K2 class, the K2 team of Steve Strothers and Kia Jacobson would win their class. In the women’s ‘D’ class (short boats), Julie Wingard would triumph in a time 1:28:16. Last, the first and only entry in the ‘team rafting’ category, would break new ground for the Cheat Race, becoming the first raft to complete the course. Not only did they complete the course, but they also beat 25 of the kayakers. Congratulations to Jeff Ryan, Tim Daly, Charles Wolf, and Amy Drew.

Team Race Summary

For the fourth year in a row, the Cheat Canyon Race has held a ‘team competition’ Growing in leaps and bounds, the team comp had 19 teams this year!!! A big shout out to all the boaters who made the journey to represent their clubs and companies, from as far away as Penn State, Virginia Tech, Baltimore, and DC. Thank you, to all those groups who attended. The Cheat Race is very quietly becoming home to the National Paddling Team Championships, as the groups just keep coming in.

This year saw some VERY heated competition in the ‘Club/Corporate’ division, as the two classes (Club and Corporate) were merged into one group, creating one hell of a contest. Leading the charge this year was the two-time defending ‘Club division winner’ the Kent State Kayaking Club, featuring the some of the oldest known college students to exist. Rumors were rampant pre-race of some of their teammates having to enter the ‘real world’ and work (imagine that) and apparently, those were true. While still placing a very respectable 5th place (out of 17 teams) they weren’t in top form and were just edged out by their hated rivals, the Keelhaulers of Ohio, who would take fourth. Props to the Keelhaulers, who yet again showed their club’s overall boating depth and excellence by fielding THREE paddling teams. An incredible job, especially in light of the fact that some certain rafting companies local to the Cheat River couldn’t even field ONE team in the race.

Third place would fall into the hands of Pittsburgh’s Three River’s Paddling club. Fielding two teams, a men and women’s group, the TRPC guys would finish strong, being led by John Love, Ken ‘Gerinomo’ Gfroerer and Jeff Knechtel. Second place, only 15 points ahead, was the Tom McEwen’s DC paddling club, the Liquid Adventures Kayaking School, featuring the boating legend himself and his companions. First place, by a sizable margin, would fall into the hands of the Cheat River’s best guide staff, the paddling legends of Mountain Streams. Featuring almost a completely revamped team from last year group that won the ‘Corporate Division’, the deeply talented guide staff still fielded yet another winning team, rolling to another title.

In the pro category, those teams using wild-water boats, the Little Falls Wildwater Club, featuring Geoff Calhoun and Jess Whittemore, would edge out the All-Makes cleaning team. Congratulations to both!!

Summary

The Cheat Race staff would like to once again thank every racer who attended this year and have helped the race keep growing the past few years. We would also like to thank each and every sponsor who helped us out. Jeff Prycl of Rocky Mountain Kayak, Dave Hough & Keith Heasley of Mountain Streams, Wendy and Paul at Cheat River Outfitters, Mark at Laurel Highland Outfitters, Glenn Miller Shuttle Service, Immersion Research for the bibs and the Friends of the Cheat. Support all the above companies. They all helped keep the ball rolling, enabling us to offer this race at the continued price of only $20.

For that low price of $20, which has remained the same for five years in a row, the race participants got the Race, a free t-shirt, free beer & snacks at the take out, free beer at the party, prizes raffled off, and a free Cheat Festival pass for the next day ($10 value), all for only $20. We can’t do the above without everyone’s great help so support them. Thanks also to all the volunteers who helped with the registration, the time keeping and hauling all the people and boats back to the Albright. A real monumental task, moving 160 plus boats, at dusk, back to town and still make it for the party! Thank you.

We also hope to add and make things bigger and even better for next year’s event. See you there!