From: "Gene Smith" <SmithFrow@worldnet.att.net>
To: <baidarka@lists.intelenet.net>
Subject: Re: [baidarka] Paddles
Date: Thu, 23 Jul 1998 16:37:09 -0000
Great series of comments on paddle usage as well as design. My insight as I
was paddling was that there was a similarity to bicycle gearing - the
untrained rider tends to select a gear where they are pushing harder - but
pedaling more slowly. The experienced/fit rider will be in a gear that
trades effort for more revolutions. It is not intuitively obvious to us
inexperienced pedalers that there is an advantage in keeping those
revolutions up - seems like more work - but then we tire because we are
pushing harder/slower.
It did seem to me while I was thinking about it that the sound of the stroke
gave a number of clues. It seemed as if keeping my stroking speed up and
attending to disturbing the water as little as possible allowed me to move
at a good clip with very small increments of "push" on each stroke. Your
more experienced insights have really helped me clarify my own experience in
the water.
Gene Smith