This roll thing is tough

[Braznut]

No way WhiteChoco! I was one of the people laughing at you! I was the guy in the neon green Body Glove wetsuit with the giant man-grapes. I didn't mean to hurt your feelings but I was just sitting there, taking a grumper by the side of the river when I looked over and saw what appeared to be a duck getting attacked by a turtle.
I couldn't help but laugh.

[riverrat]

Dude...WC, I'm with Ibyakn. I know you're frustrated, but you really need to relax. Unlike other sports where you can just push harder and faster, you will have more success if you relax. Even if you can push through you're roll, I would bet you will end up fighting the river instead of working with it and end up using that roll a lot more than you would like to.

Also, get used to being laughed at, especially by other boaters. Most boaters laugh because they remember when that was them. You will get laughed at learning to roll. You will get laughed at the first time you come through a class III with that wide eyed look and frantic paddling. You will get laughed at learning the double-pump when you can only get your bow 2 inches underwater and then tip over. You will get laughed at when you swim and are freezing cold waiting for the water to drain out of your boat. You will get laughed at the first time you start surfing a wave and get flushed out in 2 seconds. Even when you're a class V b.a. (which I'm not yet, but I've been around them) your buddies will give you crap and laugh at you for something. The main point is that you get laughed at, but when it comes down to it, they're there for you. If you're in serious danger, those boaters will do everything to save you, and most of them give free advice if you sincerely ask for it and will take time to help you out.

See you out there dude.

[Thunderexpress]

I am in a similar position as you. The first time I "rolled" it wasn't intentional. I was just on flatwater and I decided to let my friend sit on the bow, we flipped. I looked ridiculous and my friend was laughing his ass off. I was kind of pissed at him, but I can only imagine how stupid I looked.

[WhiteChocolate]

Thanks to all the peeps who offered advice, respect. for those of you who think my swimming episodes are funny, best check yourselves, sport aint easy for me, gets me wicked irritated.
cu kayak lady, preciate the offer for private lessons, but I am taken

[carvedog]

Originally Posted by WhiteChocolate

Thanks to all the peeps who offered advice, respect. for those of you who think my swimming episodes are funny, best check yourselves, sport aint easy for me, gets me wicked irritated.
cu kayak lady, preciate the offer for private lessons, but I am taken

I don't know if your episodes are funny or not as I havn't seen one. The truth is that I think almost anyone swimming has a funny element as long as no one gets hurt.

With the lightly veiled threats to the bikers and other posters who were amused, the smackdown you need to worry about is the one the river will rain down on you.

You are not in combat against the other folk or the river. You can learn the grace of flowing with the river and letting things roll off, or you can keep banging your head ( and frustration ) against any thing you can find until you realize you can work with the river or keep getting schooled.

Oh yeah, the river always wins no matter how pissed off you get.

[paddlebizzle]

Originally Posted by WhiteChocolate

cu kayak lady, preciate the offer for private lessons, but I am taken

Very poor taste, WhiteChocolate. Private Messages are for you alone. It's none of my business but CUKayakgirl was probably offering to help you with your roll because you sound frustrated and because she's a cool chick. I highly doubt that it was anything beyond that.

You will quickly alienate everybody and get no help on your roll if you bring Private Messages into the main Buzz.