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If you do get hooked on mam}. poGG)TiiVoTVGiiTryau, mth paddle and spray skirt, can be purchased in the $600 to $850 range, while high tech carbon Ctbre Kevlar kayaks run about $1000 to $1500 “Once you get the heme gear, that's probably all you'll ever buy," says Plcken. but he 15 quick to pom! out that a life Jacket and helmet are mendatory for training sesslons. Unlike canoes, there are rarely 1f ever any maintenance costs for kayaks smce they are practically 1ndestructable. Picken even cites the case of a friend whose kayak fell off the roof of his car on a busy hlghway It wasmst a matter of retrieving it, strapping it back on the car, and away he went “We give you the opportunity to go out and try it," he says. "You can make 1t nice and comfortable and relaxing, or right on the edge somewhere on the _lint between a good adrenalin rush and fear." Pieken doei, much of his training 1n the Elora Gorge, and prefers kayakmg m the spring when runoff makes for more challenging wlntewater “Spnng paddling ls always the best, but to get really decent water you have to travel up to Peterborough, Algonquin Park or the Ottawa Rwer There's a mp Just about every weekend somewhere in ()ntano." he says. Kayak training begins with some basic aerobic instruction, "paddling, working on overall fitness, because it's pretty physically demanding," says Picken. Beginners are encouraged to set their own pace. Basically you just have to be in good physical shape, and from there you learn as you want," says Picken. "lt's good to be really patient and work people all the way through their fears." As sdon as a good working" relationship il deVeioHinh the water, kayakmg offers hours of exercise and entertainment, and access to some of the most idyllic venues in the province. Once those fears are allayed, the beginner is free to move on to the more sophisticated skills of kayaking including Eskimo rolling and, m the event you lose your paddle, handrolling. The real trick is working with the water "The %ter puts you where it wants to. Kayaking is more a skill of making the water/io w_h_at you. want , to,'1sayi! Picken. For'canous" Iandlubbers who want" to test their sea legs before investing a lot of money In the sport, Picken offers weekend rentals and mstrumon 1n the basics of kayaking, Picken now instructs the uninitiated in this ancient means of nav1gation which has become one of the fastest-growing recreational spot? in Canada, _ "When I was younger I was out west on a course and tried out a Inge patidhngptMIw_as hooked," says Pickett. While many of the earliest arrivals to the new world trekked across a land bridge during the last ice age, it is likely that some of them made the long trip from Siberia skirting the shoreline in sea-going kayaks PAGE m _ WATERLOO CHROMCLE. WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 11, 199t Bob Picken, of Adventure Gulde Incorporated in Waterloo, has been cheerfully dunkmg himself for years, as well as shooting rapids and Ielsurely crutnng the waterways of Ontario in the oldest means of bransportatlon on the continent. Moi Taylor Chronicle Staff Kayaks have the dubious distinetion of being the only craft which can be capsized and nghted at will without the user leaving the craft to do so Stranger still IS the fact that veteran kayakers take great relish in practising this manoeuvre. known as Eskimo rolling, honing their drrnkyr1g skills P a fine art; _ - _ ___ "The water puts you where it wants to. Kayaking is more a skill of making the water do what you want it to." Take a ride on the wild side Kayaking takes thrill-seekers to the edge and back (tt tt EARN MONEY If you ere Interested In delivering 1%1h'l,Td on Wednesdays met school, please m In the 'ppea.tltre? tom end eend It to our offkte Bob Picken Mail this ad to, Postal Code ----- Atte -- Telephon. ammo}. tkisirGiiGt" - -- 201-75 King St. s., Wmuoo. on m 1P2 wATiitu,ooreArTtt5N-ea or call us at: 886-2830 X1