Chapter 1 - Welcome to the Sport     Chapter 2 - The Addiction Begins     Chapter 3 - Can You Say Kaituna
Chapter 5 - The Accelerated Course     Chapter 6 - The Legend Begins     Chapter 7 - Fear and Other Thoughts
Chapter 8 - Spring 2007 - What a Disappointment     Chapter 9 - Just Like Starting Over

CHAPTER FOUR:
SO YOU WANT TO ROLL?

Now that I had my boat, we decided that I should spend the winter learning to roll.  I had seen may paddlers roll and they had made it look so easy. Well, it's not!  I have gone to classes, read books and watched videos and still don't have a roll.  I started out going to the Carnegie Mellon roll sessions on Thursday nights.  Although everyone was extremely helpful, I decided that I needed a more structured environment.  I contacted Jeff Prycl to find out if there was room for me at his Wednesday night Seton Hill roll class.  Luckily there was.  Wednesday arrived and it was snowing like crazy.  Since I had already missed the first two classes, I was determined to get there.  I strapped the boat to my car and made the long drive through the snow to Greensburg.  Jeff had told me on the phone that I would either like him or hate him.  I quickly found out why.  Jeff could be tough and very critical.  This could be a problem for some but not for me.  I was happy to have someone trying to show me how to roll.  Jeff was very patient with me most of the time and really took the time to show me the mechanics of the roll.  Unfortunately, I just haven't been able to get the hang of it.  I have trouble keeping my head down.  I did manage to pull off a couple of ugly ones and pushed up off of the bottom on a couple of others but have absolutely no consistency.  I had the opportunity to meet some great people - some just starting out like me, others were experienced paddlers just trying to perfect their roll.  I had a great time working on my roll with Jason and Mike and appreciate all their help.  After class came the best part of the night - beer and pizza with everyone at Rialto's!  I really looked forward to this every Wednesday.  Although I wasn't successful this time around, I am determined to learn to roll so I'll be heading back there this winter for round two.

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