The Pine Creek Race was this weekend out here in the beautiful Arkansas valley. It was a spectacular sight. There were some smooth lines and some smooth beatdowns. In the end Bryan Kirk took it all. He came from behind in the final heat and slicked his way past the Demshitz crew for the win. Here are some photos of the happenings.
- Spectators along the river bank. Safety was a big issue, so anyone down on the rocks had to wear a PFD.
- Charging for the hole.
- Trying to recollect after the big move. Some didn’t quite make it.
- The local media was also on the scene to capture the event.
- Beatdown
- More beatdown
The beatdowns were great. Props to the guys that hung in there. The great thing was that you could see it coming. You would know when someone wasn’t going to make the move around the hole. Only two swims occurred. Once again, props to the racers for stepping up to the plate and playing chicken with the biggest hole on the Arkansas.
On a side note, I ran into somebody that I met in New Mexico at the Upper Taos Box. I won’t mention any names, but this person made fun of us for wearing drytops and drysuits when we ran into him at the put in. He claimed that it was warm water and that we were pansies for suiting up so much. There were some other interactions that day that I won’t go into, but point being, he was a rather unpleasant person to be around at the time. Well, as I was hiking down to the Pine Creek hole, and I ran into him again, and he called me out as being one of those pansies in the drysuit on the Taos Box. And then, to top it off, he asked me to carry his boat to the put-in! What nerve. Well, all said, karma is a bitch. Here he is getting hammered on his qualifying run.
- Ha…
Well until next time something goes down here in the West…
(All Photos: Rob Hurst)
