How To Use the Kayak Ergo - Part 2

ENTRY 6

Well I never got to do what I planned in the end lol.
Getting quite a conflict on what others say where I should be heading next, one side says just get into the next boat up and worry about technique later, with the idea that if I get the technique on the lower boat I wont want to move to the next boat up, and ill be stuck in that boat throughout the winter
The other side says no, stay in the one you're comfortable with  and get the technique right before moving up.
Both sides have merit, perhaps the latter makes more sense, but too I can see getting too used to something you wont want to move up especially as the waters getting colder.
So a compromise, ill get my technique in the lower boat sorted but on each session dedicate quite a lot of time in the next boat up and be prepared to get wet before the water gets too cold.


OK did just that tonight, next boat up and about 3 dunkings, every time when I slow to turn, straight line not too bad, like I said before it was a knife edge boat to me once and it's feeling a lot better, aint giving up on this one too easy.


Had a few minute's on the Ergo machine (indoor machine) with another member, my stroke wasn't really resembling what the top guys were doing and I was having trouble getting it right and using my arms too much, you'll always find the penny drops at some point and I've now found for me it was simply a case of locking my arms straight at the elbow, this forces the torso movement which is giving a lot of power to each stroke together with the leg and arms, 
the catch (where the paddle enters the water) should be from fairly high and like stabbing something, mmmm E'x's do have a use lol.
Back out on the water I've now got something that resembles  along the lines of a racing technique, definitely faster, and a few more muscles used, now its down to practice. 


Had a go at a few race starts with some of the others, quite amazing what don't come together when you push it hard, caused a few wobbles and found the boats steering does get effected when some boats are ahead from their wakes, again practice and more practice :)

ENTRY 5

Ive opted to stay in the Cirrus boat for a bit longer, although I'm feeling a lot more comfortable in it  I'm getting a little out of shape when I try and push it as I still haven't got fluent with my technique, Ive been told I'm using my arms too much and not enough core movement.
I'm still using the standard paddles, must admit using the wing paddle I did find easier on technique, 
got my new paddle coming in 4 weeks, not in time for the first race though, spoke to Tim from Canoesport and ordered my first carbon wing paddle, wasn't cheap but its a piece of kit that should last a long time, gone for the fully adjustable one.


Training, pushed a little harder and longer this time, managed one capsize in the really weeded part on a turn, got me paddle caught in the weeds and over I went lol, wasn't as cold as I thought it was going to be, but hell trying to swim through the weeds with a 5mtr boat full of water, I'm sure there's many more to come yet.
There's a couple of areas of the river as it passes through the town with concrete sides, areas I don't relish falling in and trying to get the boat sorted, especially one part as you usually get the hecklers and wolf whistler's  having their fag breaks outside a local pub, not a desirable place to have the ejector seat active :(


Got a little further with a training routine and diet, fairly lucky as my job is physical,  Ive started to use squash as another activity, works the leg muscles well and core muscles and certainly gets the lungs working, plus I enjoy it.


No smoking clinic on Wednesday, I wana but the first few weeks I'm not looking forward to, I have 2 boys, by the end of 2 weeks I may have none lol.


Going to set up a time for an 8 mile training run tomorrow with 5 portages and 6 turns on 3 laps of our town circuit, really just to give me a a benchmark as to how well I'm doing each week and how it differs when I change to a different boat, and a few weeks later when Ive stopped smoking :)

ENTRY 4

Just for a laugh I brought a uni-cycle from the local boot-fair, can defiantly confirm the uni-cycle is far harder than a K1 kayak, the only difference is its drier and easier to get back on than a K1, quite a laugh though.

Back out with the club on a different part of the river I hadn't been on before, a real winder of a section, takes some getting used to steering around each bend with something that's got a turning circle of  a dumper truck.
Put a lot more effort into this training session and into leg work, its getting there slowly, played around with seat position again and getting my heals planted down and the rudder pedal between my big toes, can feel a lot more power  on each stroke and a lot less effort required off the arms to maintain a reasonable cruising speed,
one of the notable things I found was trying to catch someone up in front is kinda slow motion compared to say running.
Starting to get a reasonable rhythm going now and finding it fairly easy to keep up a good speed,  and starting to get a good feel for body position but did suffer lower back ache at the end of the evening though but I'm sure that'll get there, correct posture in the kayak is important with a slight lean forward, also allows you to get the paddle bite as far forward as possible and a longer stroke.
Had some fun at the portages at the locks with the banks being quite high from the water level, some not so graceful exits and entry's, something I've got to perfect as nearly all races have portages and especially the Devize's race having 77, lots of time and position can be won and lost at the portages.

The clubs younger fast racers were out practising sprints, had a sneaky see if I can keep up, didn't do too bad considering I was in a slower boat lol, hoping to join them in a couple of weeks if they don't mind a Granddad tagging along.

Overall a good evening, no real aches and pains except my lower back which was pretty much gone by next morning, pretty pleased to that I can get a good speed and maintain without out too much effort, totally happy in getting my seat and leg position right every-time now, and miles more comfortable with the "Cirrus", I'm suffering a little bit with my modified wet suit as I'm getting to hot with it, preservation in case of falling in is going to have to take a back seat now.

Back to the club and I pestered Mo for the use of one of the racing carbon wing paddle's, totally different from the standard paddle, the locked in feeling described to me is really evident, wasn't the most graceful of try's but there is a definite faster speed with these paddles, a few more pennies to save before I can get my own, next thing I know Mo's given me the next boat up "Raven" and said this is what you should be playing with not paddles, She did say I'd be moved up before I got too used the current one,
this is the one that I have previously described as like sitting on a knife edge, ah well what the heck the waters warm , a lot more unstable than my now comfy one, but it felt a lot better than the last time I sat in it,
these boats are a lot more stable when you get moving so it was bite the bullet and dig in and move, it didn't feel too bad  once I'd got some speed up, the rudder was a lot more sensitive and could feel the boat was faster straight away,  turning round though at slow speed the ejector seat got me fair and square, I'd got this far and wasn't gona be beaten so all emptied out and second try, an un-graceful u turn turn but I beat the ejector seat this time, well chuffed as this boat seemed impossible the last time I sat in it, but I think I'll need a whole evening to truly get comfy in this boat, could  be a real love and hate relationship we'll have :)

ENTRY 3

Been a busy few days with work and the kids but managed some time back down the club, had a long look at training programmes and diet over the last few days, so much information on the net its a little confusing what's going to be right for me, the Kayak racer web site has some useful information http://www.kayak-race.com/trainingplan.html.


Back out on the water with the Cirrus K1 it just didn't seem right from the last time I went out in it, nope nought wrong with the boat so must be me!!!!! the other club members, most being dedicated to racing are  brilliant when you ask for help, but there's still an element of sussing things out for yourself.
50 yds down the river and it was just to uncomfortable trying to keep upright and an area where the weeds were really bad and not an ideal place to be ejected, so a quick un-graceful U turn back to the club house to suss out the problem, 
Simple solution in the end, my seat was to far forward and my knees too high, a few clicks on the seat and my legs a little straighter made a big difference, still wobbly but controllable.
No format to the evening, Mo's instruction was simply up to the viaduct and turn round, we have a loop to the viaduct and back then to the weir and back which is a short 3miles.
So a simple evening just to paddle and get used to the boat, all fine till I hit the first corner and a new element was thrown at me, the wind, just to upset the balance even more, quite surprising how much the wind can effect you.
As I said there is a huge amount you have to suss for yourself, with questions answered and you tube videos watched it was now simply a case of putting something into practice.
Wasn't getting on to bad, loads of other members on the river, fast K1's and 2's, open canoe and youngsters, kept a reasonable pace to everyone, and found another element that upsets the balance, bow wash from the larger K 2's going past on full steam.
Paddling technique must have been ok as after nearly 8 miles all be it not a pushed evening I didn't have any major aches or pains, had trouble with getting the right toe position on the foot rest and being comfortable and just couldn't deliver the power through the legs on each stroke, there's a little piece of wood that sticks out between your feet that operate your rudder, I'm still looking at the thing when I need to steer as a learner driver looks a the gear stick, 
managed to get it sussed on the last loop in finding the right position, which meant I could start delivering power through the legs on each stroke and in turn using more power from the torso twist into each bite of the paddle and felt like the I'd got into second gear at least lol.


Overall a good evening and a little more confident about what I have to do and aim for, was a little surprised  it was nearly 8 miles covered as it didn't seam that far and even better news my first race will be over 8 miles :)
Full training and pushing a lot harder, and work on technique starts this week, not that long before the first race and not helping is Ill loose a week as I'm on holiday a week before the race, so I'm hoping I can bag the use of a canoe and have a paddle around the Mediterranean while I'm there 

ENTRY 2

Back down the club and expecting to jump in the K1 for some more practice I was told I have to complete my BCU 2*  which this time involved the open canoe, mmmmm wasn't impressed as I wasn't interested in a David Crocket style boat that resembled a floating bath tub, I wanted practice and a fast boat and a whole paddle instead of half a one.

No getting out of it club rules in completing the 2* in the open canoes, club instructor Roger was very diligent in explaining what to do, seemed straightforward, so with half a paddle and boat launched the simple instruction was to go straight up the river for 100yds, what seemed straightforward in instruction was not in practice, think I spent the first 20 min's going round in circles or in the left hand bank and advanced about 10 yrds further up the river, and then I think the wind contributed to most of that, got to admit David Crocket made it look easy in the films, this was getting frustrating and it was getting tempting to ditch the paddle and use my hands.

When you paddle from one side of the boat the boat wants to go to the opposite side, to counteract this you use what is called a J stroke where the paddle is twisted to an angle at the end of the stroke and creates a countering rudder effect and keeps the boat tracking straight, it just didn't and wouldn't come together no matter how many times Roger explained, 

it took about another 15 min's and the button suddenly clicked, straight line at last, well that was until I was told to paddle on the other side, and doesn't help as the river in Chelmsford pass's through the shopping area and your lack of finesse is viewed by all.

Eventually it all clicked into place and a little bit more respect for the floating bath tub, and with a new partner added to my boat we could manage a fair speed and the seats were far more comfortable than the K1's.

So with our new found skills Roger put us in more streamlined and narrower and a lot faster boat, got to say I was really starting to enjoy the open canoe as we could manage quite a speed with little effort, just like the opening clip from Hawaii 5 O, 

all in all it ended up being an enjoyable evening and it brought home " don't knock it till you've tried it.

Next session but with Mo was to complete the final part for the 2* and be rescued and rescue, yup back in the cold river again, well I'm kinda getting used to it now, it was all pretty straightforward but quite a laugh, its seems customary that if everyone knows you're going n the river is time to watch, more to laugh than provide sympathy, 

getting from the river  and into your rescuers boat is a bit tricky, needless to say there's no real finesse to it, you'll land like a sack of spuds in the bottom of our rescuers boat, It was hysterical, I did my level best not to rock the boat but as soon as I tried to sit up that was it, back in the river including my rescuer, sorry Sam! well at least you didn't much time to think about how cold the water was lol.

All in all I ended up enjoying the open canoe, another new skill and my 2* completed and ready to get on with K1 training.........................

ENTRY 1

20 plus years out of the sport and after 2 years of thinking about getting down to the local Canoe club I finally managed to get my butt into gear.
Mo from the local club took me out in a general kayak, I was OK till she slid me into the river from the bank, one of the most stable boats going and I resembled a piece of wobbling jelly, 
Luckily after about 10 minutes  everything came flooding back and it looked like I was going to be spared a premature dunking, beautiful sunshine and a lovely saunter through Chelmsford town centre on the river, thoroughly  enjoyed it, well that was until Mo explained I will need to complete the BCU (British Canoe Union)1* and 2* courses, guess what it involved a dunking, 
self rescue and rescue of others, the water was like entering the Baltic, at this point I'd have liked to have sworn but oxygen just wasn't entering my lungs, it took a few minute's to get used to it, wet suits don't keep out the cold shock but they are pretty good after a few minutes.
Having spoken to Mo about my interest in racing she gave me one of the more stable K1 boats to try out,  a little different to a closed cockpit kayak as your knees are on show to the world and the cockpit a lot larger, liked that as getting out would defiantly be a lot easier, as im to find out too easy sometimes later on.


Overall had a fab time and I thought a reasonable achievement for one day and got my BCU 1* and loads of lower back ache for a bargain :)


The backache does get better once you become more relaxed and use the correct posture, stretching of the ham strings is very helpful and has helped a lot.

Bob's first attempt at Marathon K1

Training for Devizes to Westminster Race

Devizes to Westminster 2009 - Part 1