Kayakers stir up Midwest's waterways
BY JOE KAY | THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

The bright red paddlewheel smacks the Ohio River in a rolling cadence, churning
a path through the mud-hued water. Trailing the riverboat is a solitary blue
kayak, riding the waves.

Steering with a double-ended paddle, a mustachioed man in a weathered baseball
cap darts through the froth. Passengers on the paddlewheeler are intrigued by
this meeting of Mark Twain-era transportation and jet-age recreation.

"You can get on one of those big waves, and it is unbelievable in terms of the
thrill of the ride," said Brewster Rhoads, a political consultant who kayaks the
river most days. "You can just surf it like with a surfboard. My record is 43
minutes on the same wave."


There aren't many waves like it around these parts. Paddlers in the Midwest have
to be inventive to enjoy one of the country's fastest-growing recreational
activities.

They are. Wherever there's water - pristine or polluted, in the heart of a city
or out in the hinterlands - there's likely to be a paddle stirring it.

Annual surveys indicate that kayaking has doubled in popularity since 1998. The
Outdoor Industry Foundation, which encourages outdoor activities, estimates that
12.6 million people got into a kayak last year. About 2 million of them kayak
regularly.

Most kayakers live in the West and Northeast. Lately, more women have been
taking up the sport - a 5 percent increase in the latest survey. About 45
percent of kayakers are female.

Although kayaking appeals to all age groups, it is particularly attractive to
those between 16 and 24.

"The younger generation is looking for more risky-type sports, something to test
their limits more," said Kara Lorenz, a 21-year-old Northern Kentucky University
student who has two kayaks. "That's what attracts a lot of young people to
kayaking and snowboarding."

In the Midwest, part of the fun is finding unusual places to test the limits.

Only a few strokes from downtown Cleveland, a guide directs five kayakers clear
of the barges and ore freighters in the working harbor on the Cuyahoga River.
Guide Mark Pecot explains the history of the six moving bridges and riverside
businesses they pass.

The group also touches a sore spot in the city's history - the place where
industrial discharge on the river caught fire in 1969.

"We're paddling through our industrial past," said Pecot, co-owner of 41 North
Coastal Kayak Adventures.

This three-hour "Burning River Tour" is one of several river and Lake Erie
excursions offered by the organization, which provides kayak lessons as well.

The trips are popular - business has increased in each of 41 North's four years.

"People find it fascinating," said Pecot, who also teaches history at St. Edward
High School in nearby Lakewood. "When you're in a kayak surrounded by huge
industrial bridges that lift and lower and you get tugboats and barges and the
other traffic moving, it has a way of making you feel very small. It's an
exciting feeling."

Back on the Ohio River, Rhoads paddles up to a dock across from downtown
Cincinnati.

It's a sunny afternoon. A steady stream of traffic rumbles across a nearby
bridge that links Ohio and Kentucky. Sunlight glints off tinted office windows
looking down on the river.

A 30-minute kayak trip has revitalized Rhoads, who married into a family of
paddlers and loves his time on the water.

"Every day is different," he said, after changing back into a dress shirt and
pants for a business meeting. "The wind conditions. The water conditions. The
sun angles. When the sun is reflecting off the downtown skyscrapers, it's just
stunning. So impressive."

He's not surprised to find more kayakers sharing the river these days. The sport
is growing, in part because it can be so captivating.

"There's something about water," Rhoads said. "It's a calming force. It's deep
in my blood."

http://news.enquirer.com/apps/pbcs.d...606170366/1056

Growing popularity
The Outdoor Industry Foundation based its estimates from its 2005 survey on the
results of an annual telephone survey using scientific sampling. The foundation
interviewed 2,000 people over the age of 15 and gauged their participation in 22
outdoor activities.

An estimated 12.6 million people got into a kayak at least once last year. About
2 million of them kayak regularly.

In 1998, about 4.2 million people had kayaked, and about 400,000 did it
regularly.

Kayakers tend to be young. Roughly 31 percent are in the 16-to-24 age group.
About 20 percent are 25-to-34, 21 percent are 35-to-44, and 28 percent are 45 or
older.

More women are kayaking these days. About 45 percent of the total were female, a
5 percent increase from the foundation's 2004 survey.

The Associated Press

Kayaking popularity rises

By Joe Kay
Associated Press

ADVERTISEMENT

The bright red paddlewheel smacks the Ohio River in a rolling cadence, churning
a path through the mud-hued water. Trailing the riverboat is a solitary blue
kayak, riding the waves.

Steering with a double-ended paddle, a mustachioed man in a weathered baseball
cap darts through the froth. Passengers on the paddlewheeler are intrigued by
this meeting of Mark Twain-era transportation and jet-age recreation.

"You can get on one of those big waves, and it is unbelievable in terms of the
thrill of the ride," said Brewster Rhoads, a political consultant who kayaks the
river most days. "You can just surf it like with a surfboard. My record is 43
minutes on the same wave."

There aren't many waves like it around these parts. Paddlers in the Midwest have
to be inventive to enjoy one of the country's fastest-growing recreational
activities. They are.

Wherever there's water - pristine or polluted, in the heart of a city or out in
the hinterlands - there's likely to be a paddle stirring it. The Outdoor
Industry Foundation has tracked the popularity of bicycling, hiking, skiing,
kayaking and 18 other recreational activities over the last eight years, looking
for trends.

The paddlers have impressive numbers. Annual surveys indicate that kayaking has
doubled in popularity since 1998. The foundation, which encourages outdoor
activities, estimates that 12.6 million people got into a kayak last year. About
2 million of them kayak regularly.

In the Midwest, part of the fun is finding unusual places to test the limits.

The 28-mile Mill Creek, an industrial dumping spot for generations, got so
polluted that the conservation group American Rivers in 1997 designated it North
America's most endangered urban river. Bruce Koehler, an environmental planner,
sat through dozens of meetings about the roiled creek and heard the horror
stories. "I wanted to go down and see what we were talking about," he said.

In 1994, he first dipped a keel into the witches' brew of sewage and industrial
waste. As he paddled along, he saw a construction company bulldozing material
into the creek. An abandoned easy chair jutted from the middle of the channel.

Since then, he has taken more than 300 people on the creek for a firsthand look
at work that needs to be done. He dubs this hardy group the "Mill Creek Yacht
Club."

http://news.cincypost.com/apps/pbcs....WS01/606170374

Garrison Hilliard wrote:
Growing popularity
The Outdoor Industry Foundation based its estimates from its 2005 survey on the
results of an annual telephone survey using scientific sampling. The foundation
interviewed 2,000 people over the age of 15 and gauged their participation in 22
outdoor activities.

An estimated 12.6 million people got into a kayak at least once last year. About
2 million of them kayak regularly.

In 1998, about 4.2 million people had kayaked, and about 400,000 did it
regularly.

Kayakers tend to be young. Roughly 31 percent are in the 16-to-24 age group.
About 20 percent are 25-to-34, 21 percent are 35-to-44, and 28 percent are 45 or
older.

More women are kayaking these days. About 45 percent of the total were female, a
5 percent increase from the foundation's 2004 survey.

Interesting numbers, Gilliard. I just wonder what kind of kayaking those
45% of women participate in... Because I haven't seen that many yet. :-)


--
Wilko van den Bergh wilkoa t)dse(d o tnl
Eindhoven The Netherlands Europe
---Look at the possibilities, don't worry about the limitations.---
http://kayaker.nl/

More women are kayaking these days. About 45 percent of the total were
female, a
5 percent increase from the foundation's 2004 survey.

Interesting numbers, Gilliard. I just wonder what kind of kayaking those
45% of women participate in... Because I haven't seen that many yet. :-)



Here in the northeastern USA, sea-kayaking is very popular and there
seems to be a fairly high proportion of women.

Bob P wrote:

More women are kayaking these days. About 45 percent of the total
were female, a
5 percent increase from the foundation's 2004 survey.

Interesting numbers, Gilliard. I just wonder what kind of kayaking
those 45% of women participate in... Because I haven't seen that many
yet. :-)


Here in the northeastern USA, sea-kayaking is very popular and there
seems to be a fairly high proportion of women.

Yeah, good point, Bob. I tend to limit myself to whitewater and surfing.
Of course, there are some countries where almost everyone has spent time
in a canoe, like the Czech Republic. There the amount of female
whitewater paddlers is pretty high.

--
Wilko van den Bergh wilkoa t)dse(d o tnl
Eindhoven The Netherlands Europe
---Look at the possibilities, don't worry about the limitations.---
http://kayaker.nl/

I ws thinking white water too, and though our club's WW half's women
participants are rapidly growing, the bulk of our ladies are of the flat
water persuasion, 45 % seems a reasonable number.


"Wilko" wrote in message
...
Bob P wrote:

More women are kayaking these days. About 45 percent of the total
were female, a
5 percent increase from the foundation's 2004 survey.

Interesting numbers, Gilliard. I just wonder what kind of kayaking
those 45% of women participate in... Because I haven't seen that many
yet. :-)


Here in the northeastern USA, sea-kayaking is very popular and there
seems to be a fairly high proportion of women.

Yeah, good point, Bob. I tend to limit myself to whitewater and surfing.
Of course, there are some countries where almost everyone has spent time
in a canoe, like the Czech Republic. There the amount of female
whitewater paddlers is pretty high.

--
Wilko van den Bergh wilkoa t)dse(d o tnl
Eindhoven The Netherlands Europe
---Look at the possibilities, don't worry about the limitations.---
http://kayaker.nl/

More interesting numbers: the text says kayaking particularly appears
to 16 to 24 year-olds. But the source material which Garrison quotes
in a second message, says that ~31% are 16-24 and ~28% are 45 and +.
Statistically almost identical. Ditto the 25-34 and 35-44
demographics. 21% aand 20%. One more example of a reporter looking at
the numbers, then writing whatever the heck he believes.

The reporter also quotes a 21-year-old as saying "The younger
generation is looking for more risky-type sports, something to test
their limits more," yet the overwhelming majority of American kayakers
are sea-kayakers or rec-boat paddlers who call themselves kayakers,
neither of which is much of a "risky-type sport".

Somehow, no-one seems to have clued the reporter into the fact that
there are two very different types of kayaking, and so he has made no
effort to adjust his statistics and his quotations to fit the
appropriate kayaking regime.


-Richard, His Kanubic Travesty
--

================================================== ====================
Richard Hopley Winston-Salem, NC, USA
rhopley[at]earthlink[dot]net
Nothing really matters except Boats, Sex, and Rock'n'Roll
rhopley[at]wfubmc[dot]edu
OK, OK; computer programming for scientific research also matters
================================================== ====================



Wilko wrote:
Garrison Hilliard wrote:
Growing popularity
The Outdoor Industry Foundation based its estimates from its 2005 survey on the
results of an annual telephone survey using scientific sampling. The foundation
interviewed 2,000 people over the age of 15 and gauged their participation in 22
outdoor activities.

An estimated 12.6 million people got into a kayak at least once last year. About
2 million of them kayak regularly.

In 1998, about 4.2 million people had kayaked, and about 400,000 did it
regularly.

Kayakers tend to be young. Roughly 31 percent are in the 16-to-24 age group.
About 20 percent are 25-to-34, 21 percent are 35-to-44, and 28 percent are 45 or
older.

More women are kayaking these days. About 45 percent of the total were female, a
5 percent increase from the foundation's 2004 survey.

Interesting numbers, Gilliard. I just wonder what kind of kayaking those
45% of women participate in... Because I haven't seen that many yet. :-)


--
Wilko van den Bergh wilkoa t)dse(d o tnl
Eindhoven The Netherlands Europe
---Look at the possibilities, don't worry about the limitations.---
http://kayaker.nl/

Oci-One Kanubi wrote:

The reporter also quotes a 21-year-old as saying "The younger
generation is looking for more risky-type sports, something to test
their limits more," yet the overwhelming majority of American kayakers
are sea-kayakers or rec-boat paddlers who call themselves kayakers,
neither of which is much of a "risky-type sport".

Obviously you have never canoed the Boundary Waters during mosquito season!
;-)

Oci-One Kanubi wrote:

majority of American kayakers
are sea-kayakers or rec-boat paddlers who call themselves kayakers,
neither of which is much of a "risky-type sport".

I am puzzled why you think sea-kayaking isn't a 'risky-type sport' - it
can include long open crossings, plenty of rough water, commiting coasts
with no landing spots for long distances, etc, etc.