Texans conquer the Red River

A four-man, one-woman team from Texas became the first paddlers to complete the grueling first leg of the 410 de Louisiane Monday, finishing the 275-mile Tour de la Rivière Rouge in 49 hours, 43 minutes and 58 seconds.
As of Teche News presstime Tuesday, six other boats, four solos and two tandems, were strung out along the Red River, en route to the finish line here at Port Barre’s public boat launch on Bayou Courtableau. They have until 6 p.m. Thursday, Oct. 1, to finish and log an official time in the inaugural Rivière Rouge, one of three races in the Louisiana Triple Crown of Kayak Racing.
On Friday, Oct. 2, Port Barre becomes the start of the 135-mile, three-day staged race called Tour du Teche, which finishes Sunday, Oct. 4, on the Atchafalaya River in Berwick. Interim finish lines are at St. Martinville on Friday and Franklin on Saturday.
A combination of the two races, back-to-back is the 410 de Louisiane.
It is not clear at this point whether the winners, team “River Fitness” – Phil Bowden of San Marcos, Chris Champion of San Marcos, Heather Harrison of New Braunfels, Bobby Smart, the sole Louisianian from Anacoco, and Wendell Smith of Seguin – will push on in the 410. Two of the team suffered yet undiagnosed injuries to their shoulders or arms taming what one of them called “The Beast.”
Still in the race are solo paddlers Jack Cover of Lafayette, David Dupree of Rayville, Jeffrey Duzan of Breaux Bridge and Cory Werk of Breaux Bridge, and tandem crews Max Dugas of Lafayette and Adam Jones of Austin, aka “Reckless Folly,” and Chip Little of Winnfield and Danny Frazier of Dallas, “Paddle Whackers.” The “Whackers” are entered in the Rivière Rouge only; the others intend to go on to Berwick this weekend.
Dropping out were Laurence Cohen of New Orleans, Denise D’Abundo of Baton Rouge, and Brad Rex of Lafayette, all experienced long-distance paddlers. They are each eligible to start Tour du Teche 135 as a separate race.
This was the first TDT-produced race to use SPOT GPS tracking devices and trackleaders.com to follow the race in near real time on www.tourdutech.com. It worked beautifully despite a few glitches and might become a feature of TDT 135 in the future.
Other races being held this weekend are:

•Friday – “Crawfish,” Port Barre to Poche Bridge, 30 miles; and “Acadian,” Port Barre to St. Martinville, 49 miles.
•Saturday – “Hot Sauce,” St. Martinville to New Iberia, 24 miles; “Sugar,” St. Martinville to Franklin, 59 miles; and “Black Bear,” New Iberia to Franklin, 35 miles.
•Sunday – “Oil & Gas,” Franklin to Berwick, 27 miles.

For more information, visit www.tourduteche.com.