Monday 31 January 2011
ENTRY 14 5th race
Cheshunt, young Mariners base 5th race of the winter series.
Out of all honesty perhaps my worst race to date, if I was going to make a mistake or something go wrong it was going to happen, had this horrible feeling that today was going to be a dunking, mmm wasn't wrong.
Cant say I didnt feel to bad, did have a lack of sleep after getting in at 1.30am from a party and did find the cold really biting.
Didnt feel that comfy in the boat as Ive had to use my normal trainers as my diving boots had perished, the boats a little to small on the foot end for me and the trainers do get wedge which is a pain when you want to steer.
Got myself on the start line with the others, just couldnt get a good start, the fast boys were off quick and trying to make headway in the chop wasn't easy, the steering was non responsive and just couldnt settle, first portage was only a short distance, had some prior warning the portages were high and it may be beneficial to portage early, could see Barry about 50 ft ahead and the leaders already clearing the portage,
it wasn't to high for the portage but I just couldnt get out, there was nothing to grab hold on with your fingers, tucked my legs up and pushed up and I still couldnt get up, being out of breath and for the first time really noticing how much smoking was against me it took me a couple of minutes to suss that my life jacket was getting caught on a piece of metal sticking out from the bank, Bu***r
Id lost a lot of time, Toby from group 2 had already got in the water on the other side and Paul from our group had gone past me and was already off before I could get into the water.
My hands were so muddy I had to wash them in the water but it just served to make my hands colder, went past Toby and Paul fairly quickly but still felt like I was in a fuzzy haze lol
The next portage went ok, perhaps a little higher but out fairly clean, really noticed the weight of the boat running on the portage, dont normally notice it.
I could see Barry with another paddler and was slowly starting to pull some ground in, I had one of the junior faster boats go past from our club and heard him shout "get in the wash" tried but just couldnt, went past one of the mixed K2's and then another junior went past, this time I managed to get some wash hanging, looking in the distance I could see what resembled the white painted stone of the next portage, totally transfixed to the back of the junior boat and marvelling how they were making it look so effortless and trying to copy I hadn't taken a blind bit of notice ahead was actually NOT a portage, the junior did their turn and I followed to the bank for the portage, an Un-graceful effort trying to get the boat out from behind the railings and a mad dash up to the road, mmmmm something wrong no marshals on the road, crossed and went down the road and couldnt find a route back to water, back to bridge and over in between the cars and down to the other side, mmmm something very wrong with this portage and confirmed when I saw Paul coming under the bridge (what I had taken as a lock from the distance) Bu***r Bu***r, this truly could have been one of those Panama cigar moments, nearest tree please
What can I say, my true blonde plonker moment lol, aw well boat back in the water from another high bank, didnt realise the bank had quite a deep undercut and as soon as I stepped in the boat it disappeared under the bank, its funny you just know when youre going in, slow motion descends in HD, determined not to go in head first I tucked me legs up and pushed away from the boat, there wasnt nothing to grasp on the bank, up to my armpits and feet on the river bed, result:) only got a little bit of water in the boat so no point in time wasting bailing her out, back in and away again, quickly past Paul again, de ja vou, gota say the dunking did wake me up a bit, but thankfully didnt feel the cold at all, got to the last portage and this was the high one, the K2 had got past me on my extra portage, the young lady I could see standing tip toe in her boat and really struggling to get out, this didnt look good, quick survey along the bank and there didnt seem any better point to try and get out,
decided I'd try where the rails were and take a chance I could grab the rail to pull myself out, worked, only a split second standing up in my boat before I got the rail, it was nearly an on the belly to reach down for the boat who by now was wanting to wonder off, as much as the railings helped me they didnt offer as much in getting the boat out, thankfully the other side was ok to drop back into the water,
short distance out to the turn and back to the high portage, now this was going to be a real test getting back in from a high bank, damned site harder than getting out, chose one spot that needed a bit of mountaineering experience hanging onto some small crevices in the brick work, not easy with the weight of the boat in the other hand, by more luck than judgement Id got back in safely, what a learning curve for portaging, also learnt that if theres any water in the boat get it dumped as soon as, ok when running on the straight and level but when you go up hill or down the water slosh's to the end making it harder.
The run back was uneventful, did manage to dig in reasonably well, and it was very much a day of learning from mistakes, cant believe I added an extra portage, perhaps the ONLY person to have ever done so, what a plonker lol
One more race left in the series at leeside, got 2 weeks to sort myself out, mmmm is that long enough :) till next time
Out of all honesty perhaps my worst race to date, if I was going to make a mistake or something go wrong it was going to happen, had this horrible feeling that today was going to be a dunking, mmm wasn't wrong.
Cant say I didnt feel to bad, did have a lack of sleep after getting in at 1.30am from a party and did find the cold really biting.
Didnt feel that comfy in the boat as Ive had to use my normal trainers as my diving boots had perished, the boats a little to small on the foot end for me and the trainers do get wedge which is a pain when you want to steer.
Got myself on the start line with the others, just couldnt get a good start, the fast boys were off quick and trying to make headway in the chop wasn't easy, the steering was non responsive and just couldnt settle, first portage was only a short distance, had some prior warning the portages were high and it may be beneficial to portage early, could see Barry about 50 ft ahead and the leaders already clearing the portage,
it wasn't to high for the portage but I just couldnt get out, there was nothing to grab hold on with your fingers, tucked my legs up and pushed up and I still couldnt get up, being out of breath and for the first time really noticing how much smoking was against me it took me a couple of minutes to suss that my life jacket was getting caught on a piece of metal sticking out from the bank, Bu***r
Id lost a lot of time, Toby from group 2 had already got in the water on the other side and Paul from our group had gone past me and was already off before I could get into the water.
My hands were so muddy I had to wash them in the water but it just served to make my hands colder, went past Toby and Paul fairly quickly but still felt like I was in a fuzzy haze lol
The next portage went ok, perhaps a little higher but out fairly clean, really noticed the weight of the boat running on the portage, dont normally notice it.
I could see Barry with another paddler and was slowly starting to pull some ground in, I had one of the junior faster boats go past from our club and heard him shout "get in the wash" tried but just couldnt, went past one of the mixed K2's and then another junior went past, this time I managed to get some wash hanging, looking in the distance I could see what resembled the white painted stone of the next portage, totally transfixed to the back of the junior boat and marvelling how they were making it look so effortless and trying to copy I hadn't taken a blind bit of notice ahead was actually NOT a portage, the junior did their turn and I followed to the bank for the portage, an Un-graceful effort trying to get the boat out from behind the railings and a mad dash up to the road, mmmmm something wrong no marshals on the road, crossed and went down the road and couldnt find a route back to water, back to bridge and over in between the cars and down to the other side, mmmm something very wrong with this portage and confirmed when I saw Paul coming under the bridge (what I had taken as a lock from the distance) Bu***r Bu***r, this truly could have been one of those Panama cigar moments, nearest tree please
What can I say, my true blonde plonker moment lol, aw well boat back in the water from another high bank, didnt realise the bank had quite a deep undercut and as soon as I stepped in the boat it disappeared under the bank, its funny you just know when youre going in, slow motion descends in HD, determined not to go in head first I tucked me legs up and pushed away from the boat, there wasnt nothing to grasp on the bank, up to my armpits and feet on the river bed, result:) only got a little bit of water in the boat so no point in time wasting bailing her out, back in and away again, quickly past Paul again, de ja vou, gota say the dunking did wake me up a bit, but thankfully didnt feel the cold at all, got to the last portage and this was the high one, the K2 had got past me on my extra portage, the young lady I could see standing tip toe in her boat and really struggling to get out, this didnt look good, quick survey along the bank and there didnt seem any better point to try and get out,
decided I'd try where the rails were and take a chance I could grab the rail to pull myself out, worked, only a split second standing up in my boat before I got the rail, it was nearly an on the belly to reach down for the boat who by now was wanting to wonder off, as much as the railings helped me they didnt offer as much in getting the boat out, thankfully the other side was ok to drop back into the water,
short distance out to the turn and back to the high portage, now this was going to be a real test getting back in from a high bank, damned site harder than getting out, chose one spot that needed a bit of mountaineering experience hanging onto some small crevices in the brick work, not easy with the weight of the boat in the other hand, by more luck than judgement Id got back in safely, what a learning curve for portaging, also learnt that if theres any water in the boat get it dumped as soon as, ok when running on the straight and level but when you go up hill or down the water slosh's to the end making it harder.
The run back was uneventful, did manage to dig in reasonably well, and it was very much a day of learning from mistakes, cant believe I added an extra portage, perhaps the ONLY person to have ever done so, what a plonker lol
One more race left in the series at leeside, got 2 weeks to sort myself out, mmmm is that long enough :) till next time
Saturday 29 January 2011
ENTRY 13 4th race
Race day again :)
On home turf for the first time, due to the previous weeks weather conditions it had been decided the course will be a slightly shorter one with 2 laps of what we call the town circuit course.
Been looking forward to this race for a while as it was going to be the one race out of the series where I knew the river, and being local could even get a lie in.
Weather wise not to bad but still chilly, cant remember what summer is as this winter really feels like its dragging on,
Briefing finished with and it was down to the start line K2's of first followed by the senior K1's after they had to line up a second time after an attempted rolling start, then it was our groups turn,
determined I was going to have a fair crack at the start so I made sure I got on the start line first,
15 seconds before the start, didnt recognise everyone on the start line and I knew Dean was nearby, started to wish I had swapped our boat numbers over now!!!!!!!! lol
Focused and tried to remember what I had learnt with Stewart on our sprint practice's, knew what I should be doing, just needed some ummmppph, mmmmmm think I had the canoeing's version of wheel spin as the faster guys went of like rockets, but mmm I wasnt watching them on the start line and Im sure they went before the go :( one for the tactic list on the next race.
I knew who was in front but didnt know was behind, no chance of looking behind as it was starting to get choppy, looking at a photo taken of the start I had left some behind, hey result for me
Just had this lot in front of me
The faster ones, well that was until we hit the channel just round the corner, with 2 class's having just already raced through the channel the water more resembled the north sea with a storm, the more wobbly boats suffered a lot for a few seconds, caught up behind Dean and the leaders being a stones throw just in front, then I got rocked by the wash and the waves bouncing off the concrete sides, like riding a bucking bronko and just couldnt do a thing with the steering, the nose had a mind of its own, then I got rocked by a larger wave and screwed the boat to the left whilst my body went right, nearly in the drink, thought I was a gonner,
by the time I recovered the others had sorted themselves and had got back on full steam, managed to pick a few wash's up that were more like surfing with the nose burying itself under half way up to the cockpit, then they would disappear as quick as they started and the back end would sit deep and it was all stop.
Getting away from the channel the water smoothed out and time to really start digging in and thinking about what I should be doing, two boats ahead of me, didnt know who they were but the blue boat was the first thing to aim for, I knew he had one of the faster boats but I was gaining ground slowly,
approaching the first turn point I could see a K2 had gone in on the turn, the K1 in front of the one I was chasing had just got to the turn point, mis-judging the strength of the current on the turn he got caught out and flipped over, by the turn I was right on the tail of the blue boat, but just couldnt turn anywhere as quick as he could and lost out on so much ground, heading back down towards the channel the K1 that had tipped at the first turn had gathered himself and went past me and quickly past the blue boat, think the cold dunk had really woken him up, mmmm not a method I was prepared to try out lol, after the turn I had got onto the back of a K2 and into his wash, mis-judged move as they were going to slow and the gap on the blue boat started to open out so time to pull out and make my own course
Fairly uneventful for the next half a lap, started to gain again on the blue boat and thankfully the channel had calmed down, up to the next turn point John and Stewart came thundering down in their K2 shouting encouragement,
not to long after that Dean and the leaders were returning from the second turn, some more encouragement from Dean, caught up with the blue boat again by the second turn, same thing lost so much ground on the turn, made a big effort to catch up with him as quickly as possible and get tucked in behind him on his wash, glad of that as it really allowed me a breather, the boat ahead of him was a long way ahead now,
what do I do now!!!!! sit here, try and go past, no hope of catching the boat ahead of us, unlike the Hasler series this race was more about personnel times and position rather than against the clock,
Hanging in his wash was easy going, around the back and 3rd turn point we pulled level and our pace had slowed down, turned out later the blue boat was a fellow club member called Barry, hadn't met before, so down the back straight it was more resembling a club practice days with introductions and conversations about training nights and the DW, lol I had to laugh, I was in a race, really!!!!
So this race had now turned into a 2 boat personnel race between us, with hind sight I should have kicked heal on the back straight, we sat together reserving some energy which was now looking to end in a sprint for the line,
got to the last turn and saw one of the boats behind had clawed in some ground on us, we had been slacking too much, time to up the pace a little, not long before the final bridge and the final 200 mt straight to the finish line, sprints on, neck and neck, Barry defiantly had the advantage with the faster boat and looked like his tactic of keeping a conversation going had given him the breather he had needed,
I was running to close to him and was being sucked into the side of him, rudder input wasn't doing much, missed one stroke as we come to close together and I was getting a full face-full of water from his paddle with each stroke, over the line and missed out by 1 to 2ft Bu***r lol
but we got a few shout and cheers from the club house
Really enjoyed this race, I usually end up with a solitary race after passing the slower boats so this race was nice to able to employ some tactics this time , not sure they were any benefit though lol, but hey live and learn by mistakes,
defiantly wont sprint so close to another boat and if I have to pass Barrie again Ill do it as soon as I catch him and on the opposite side and avoid any conversations with him until after the race lol, Till next time Barry
Next race tomorrow at Cheshunt, dont know much about it other than it has 8 portages and some of them are high banks, it'll suit my height and I defiantly prefer portages, been lucky enough to have put in some decent training with Stewart and a lot of time self coaching on technique and with some help from Roger, just got to remember to start paddling before the starter says go lol
On home turf for the first time, due to the previous weeks weather conditions it had been decided the course will be a slightly shorter one with 2 laps of what we call the town circuit course.
Been looking forward to this race for a while as it was going to be the one race out of the series where I knew the river, and being local could even get a lie in.
Weather wise not to bad but still chilly, cant remember what summer is as this winter really feels like its dragging on,
Briefing finished with and it was down to the start line K2's of first followed by the senior K1's after they had to line up a second time after an attempted rolling start, then it was our groups turn,
determined I was going to have a fair crack at the start so I made sure I got on the start line first,
15 seconds before the start, didnt recognise everyone on the start line and I knew Dean was nearby, started to wish I had swapped our boat numbers over now!!!!!!!! lol
Focused and tried to remember what I had learnt with Stewart on our sprint practice's, knew what I should be doing, just needed some ummmppph, mmmmmm think I had the canoeing's version of wheel spin as the faster guys went of like rockets, but mmm I wasnt watching them on the start line and Im sure they went before the go :( one for the tactic list on the next race.
I knew who was in front but didnt know was behind, no chance of looking behind as it was starting to get choppy, looking at a photo taken of the start I had left some behind, hey result for me
The faster ones, well that was until we hit the channel just round the corner, with 2 class's having just already raced through the channel the water more resembled the north sea with a storm, the more wobbly boats suffered a lot for a few seconds, caught up behind Dean and the leaders being a stones throw just in front, then I got rocked by the wash and the waves bouncing off the concrete sides, like riding a bucking bronko and just couldnt do a thing with the steering, the nose had a mind of its own, then I got rocked by a larger wave and screwed the boat to the left whilst my body went right, nearly in the drink, thought I was a gonner,
by the time I recovered the others had sorted themselves and had got back on full steam, managed to pick a few wash's up that were more like surfing with the nose burying itself under half way up to the cockpit, then they would disappear as quick as they started and the back end would sit deep and it was all stop.
Getting away from the channel the water smoothed out and time to really start digging in and thinking about what I should be doing, two boats ahead of me, didnt know who they were but the blue boat was the first thing to aim for, I knew he had one of the faster boats but I was gaining ground slowly,
approaching the first turn point I could see a K2 had gone in on the turn, the K1 in front of the one I was chasing had just got to the turn point, mis-judging the strength of the current on the turn he got caught out and flipped over, by the turn I was right on the tail of the blue boat, but just couldnt turn anywhere as quick as he could and lost out on so much ground, heading back down towards the channel the K1 that had tipped at the first turn had gathered himself and went past me and quickly past the blue boat, think the cold dunk had really woken him up, mmmm not a method I was prepared to try out lol, after the turn I had got onto the back of a K2 and into his wash, mis-judged move as they were going to slow and the gap on the blue boat started to open out so time to pull out and make my own course
Fairly uneventful for the next half a lap, started to gain again on the blue boat and thankfully the channel had calmed down, up to the next turn point John and Stewart came thundering down in their K2 shouting encouragement,
not to long after that Dean and the leaders were returning from the second turn, some more encouragement from Dean, caught up with the blue boat again by the second turn, same thing lost so much ground on the turn, made a big effort to catch up with him as quickly as possible and get tucked in behind him on his wash, glad of that as it really allowed me a breather, the boat ahead of him was a long way ahead now,
what do I do now!!!!! sit here, try and go past, no hope of catching the boat ahead of us, unlike the Hasler series this race was more about personnel times and position rather than against the clock,
Hanging in his wash was easy going, around the back and 3rd turn point we pulled level and our pace had slowed down, turned out later the blue boat was a fellow club member called Barry, hadn't met before, so down the back straight it was more resembling a club practice days with introductions and conversations about training nights and the DW, lol I had to laugh, I was in a race, really!!!!
So this race had now turned into a 2 boat personnel race between us, with hind sight I should have kicked heal on the back straight, we sat together reserving some energy which was now looking to end in a sprint for the line,
got to the last turn and saw one of the boats behind had clawed in some ground on us, we had been slacking too much, time to up the pace a little, not long before the final bridge and the final 200 mt straight to the finish line, sprints on, neck and neck, Barry defiantly had the advantage with the faster boat and looked like his tactic of keeping a conversation going had given him the breather he had needed,
I was running to close to him and was being sucked into the side of him, rudder input wasn't doing much, missed one stroke as we come to close together and I was getting a full face-full of water from his paddle with each stroke, over the line and missed out by 1 to 2ft Bu***r lol
but we got a few shout and cheers from the club house
Really enjoyed this race, I usually end up with a solitary race after passing the slower boats so this race was nice to able to employ some tactics this time , not sure they were any benefit though lol, but hey live and learn by mistakes,
defiantly wont sprint so close to another boat and if I have to pass Barrie again Ill do it as soon as I catch him and on the opposite side and avoid any conversations with him until after the race lol, Till next time Barry
Next race tomorrow at Cheshunt, dont know much about it other than it has 8 portages and some of them are high banks, it'll suit my height and I defiantly prefer portages, been lucky enough to have put in some decent training with Stewart and a lot of time self coaching on technique and with some help from Roger, just got to remember to start paddling before the starter says go lol
Saturday 22 January 2011
ENTRY 12
After what I felt was an awful attempt on the last race Ive felt I really got to start getting back into things and looking a little harder at technique, Stuarts really helped me out with the use of his boat, its the same as the club one I use but I know where all the settings are that suit me, Stuarts introduced me a bit more to the ergo machine and training on it for fitness,
We've spent some time on sprint practise over 200 mt's for one of Stuarts up-coming races, been great for me to practice my starts and sprinting of the start line, its given me a little more confidence in pushing hard of the line, ive also spent a lot of time looking at my paddling technique and have found a lot of areas that are starting to improve a lot, overall fitness is ok, could be miles ahead and unfortuanatlly the smoking one is still the major chain around the neck.
Our club chairman does do hypnotherapy and can cover stopping smoking, did sneakily ask if he could as hypnotise for "it dosent hurt" "I will go faster" and "I will win" he laughed and said I can make you think it only lol, aw well worth a try. If you see some nutter coming in last jumping for joy you'll know the hypnotherapy worked lol:)
Had some time out with the C2 boys last Saturday and filled in for the DW training, fastest Ive ever seen the flow on the river, going out was fine, coming back against the current was tough, think we did just on 10 miles, god my arms knew it the next day, we practised the portages as well under the guidance of Roger, also found out a few tactical cheats with passing boats or stopping them cheating, nearly had to ask Stuart for his crutches on one of the portages, dont know what happened but must have been the way I was sitting on the edge of my seat but my leg really had gone to sleep and it was just a piece of jelly and couldnt put any weight on it at all, one leg in the water and slumped over the gun rail lol
Do enjoy the C2's so hope to get some more time out in them again soon, Ive also got my eyes set quite firmly on having a crack in the C1 when the waters warmer, Ive been told their very difficult, got my fingers crossed I can master it quickly, if I can Id really enjoy racing them later in the year.
Heres a short video of Lisa Suttle and C2 partner, one of the few female Uk C1/C2 racers, also a Chelmsford canoe club member, they achieved silver and bronze medals for 200mtr and 500mtr sprint, in the ICF world championships held in Dartmouth Nova Scotia 2009, at present I believe Im right in saying the women are not included in the Olympic games but Men are, more female paddlers are needed in the Uk and worldwide, not sure if they will be included in the 2012 games, hope so
Managed to get a quick sit in Stuarts wobble factor 2 boat, managed to stay sitting upright for a bit, but let that boat go to much to one side and shell just fall over, well it did with me still attached, god that water was Bl***y cold, roll on warmer waters, either that or ill see if I can borrow a dry suit for a day and plug away with the next boat up, starting to get a little itchy for wanting a faster boat but I know im being sensible staying in the slower one for the moment, I think me and Stuart put a guess of having to put about 30% more effort into the slower boat to keep up with a faster slimmer boat, guess the theory might work that I should be able to push a faster boat like a rocket, mmm wished, a lot of energy and effort will be lost in staying upright and taking a safe low paddling technique, patience I guess as it'll all come in time lol.
Ive managed to have a few sessions out in the K2's, had a trip out with John in the Mirage but it was a little unsteady with the choppy waters, so we tried the condor and got on well with that and had a session out with another club member (cant remember his name) considering Im very new to K2's and we've never been out together I think we got on quite well, Hopefully having my first race in a K2 on the race after the Chelmsford one with Paul, at least he cant beat me that day lol
Racing on home turf tomorrow, Id like to say the extra training is going to help out but Ive managed to get one of those real tight chests, its going to be a shorter than normal race racing through the town center rivers, 2 laps of our town center circuit, about 6 miles, it will mean this race will be more of a sprint than a marathon, the hard area is going to be the channel area, this is where you get the wash and wake from the other boats and then it gets re-bounded back at you for a second pop, stability will be fine for me but it severely mucks up the steering and the nose of the boat wants to wander everywhere which slows you down, Im hoping with some effort I can keep in the tow of the faster boats, can only do me best :)
We've spent some time on sprint practise over 200 mt's for one of Stuarts up-coming races, been great for me to practice my starts and sprinting of the start line, its given me a little more confidence in pushing hard of the line, ive also spent a lot of time looking at my paddling technique and have found a lot of areas that are starting to improve a lot, overall fitness is ok, could be miles ahead and unfortuanatlly the smoking one is still the major chain around the neck.
Our club chairman does do hypnotherapy and can cover stopping smoking, did sneakily ask if he could as hypnotise for "it dosent hurt" "I will go faster" and "I will win" he laughed and said I can make you think it only lol, aw well worth a try. If you see some nutter coming in last jumping for joy you'll know the hypnotherapy worked lol:)
Had some time out with the C2 boys last Saturday and filled in for the DW training, fastest Ive ever seen the flow on the river, going out was fine, coming back against the current was tough, think we did just on 10 miles, god my arms knew it the next day, we practised the portages as well under the guidance of Roger, also found out a few tactical cheats with passing boats or stopping them cheating, nearly had to ask Stuart for his crutches on one of the portages, dont know what happened but must have been the way I was sitting on the edge of my seat but my leg really had gone to sleep and it was just a piece of jelly and couldnt put any weight on it at all, one leg in the water and slumped over the gun rail lol
Do enjoy the C2's so hope to get some more time out in them again soon, Ive also got my eyes set quite firmly on having a crack in the C1 when the waters warmer, Ive been told their very difficult, got my fingers crossed I can master it quickly, if I can Id really enjoy racing them later in the year.
Heres a short video of Lisa Suttle and C2 partner, one of the few female Uk C1/C2 racers, also a Chelmsford canoe club member, they achieved silver and bronze medals for 200mtr and 500mtr sprint, in the ICF world championships held in Dartmouth Nova Scotia 2009, at present I believe Im right in saying the women are not included in the Olympic games but Men are, more female paddlers are needed in the Uk and worldwide, not sure if they will be included in the 2012 games, hope so
Managed to get a quick sit in Stuarts wobble factor 2 boat, managed to stay sitting upright for a bit, but let that boat go to much to one side and shell just fall over, well it did with me still attached, god that water was Bl***y cold, roll on warmer waters, either that or ill see if I can borrow a dry suit for a day and plug away with the next boat up, starting to get a little itchy for wanting a faster boat but I know im being sensible staying in the slower one for the moment, I think me and Stuart put a guess of having to put about 30% more effort into the slower boat to keep up with a faster slimmer boat, guess the theory might work that I should be able to push a faster boat like a rocket, mmm wished, a lot of energy and effort will be lost in staying upright and taking a safe low paddling technique, patience I guess as it'll all come in time lol.
Ive managed to have a few sessions out in the K2's, had a trip out with John in the Mirage but it was a little unsteady with the choppy waters, so we tried the condor and got on well with that and had a session out with another club member (cant remember his name) considering Im very new to K2's and we've never been out together I think we got on quite well, Hopefully having my first race in a K2 on the race after the Chelmsford one with Paul, at least he cant beat me that day lol
Racing on home turf tomorrow, Id like to say the extra training is going to help out but Ive managed to get one of those real tight chests, its going to be a shorter than normal race racing through the town center rivers, 2 laps of our town center circuit, about 6 miles, it will mean this race will be more of a sprint than a marathon, the hard area is going to be the channel area, this is where you get the wash and wake from the other boats and then it gets re-bounded back at you for a second pop, stability will be fine for me but it severely mucks up the steering and the nose of the boat wants to wander everywhere which slows you down, Im hoping with some effort I can keep in the tow of the faster boats, can only do me best :)
ENTRY 11 3rd Race Cambridge
The scheduled Cheshunt race had been cancelled due to the river and lake being frozen over, also due to the extreme weather and Christmas I had done virtually no training at all, I may look stupid but ice on the water just didnt appeal for a possible dunking in the water lol.
9th January Cambridge race
Desperately tried to get some training in at the last moment just before this race, didnt think it was going to do much good though lol,
day of the race and it couldnt have felt any colder, mmmmm not good, cant say I felt totally fit and well after getting over the usual Xmas colds.
The race seemed a straightforward one, 2 portages out and 2 back, the first being only 500 yds from the start line and a final turn point out in the distance, with a warning that there are other boat users on the water including the rowing boats and the public punts.
Actually managed to get myself on the front of the start line and some room either side of me before the off was called, had a reasonable run up to the first portage, the faster boats had gone past me fairly quick but I was feeling kaput already, I was struggling with the boat as I had the one where the footplate wont move forward on the pegs to give me the legroom, the stability feeling dosent bother me now but every time I pushed hard with my legs my back was being pushed against the back of the cockpit and was very uncomfortable, the further I got into the race the more uncomfortable it got and was starting to rub skin away.
The first portage didnt go that well, felt like I was carrying a ton of spuds with the boat, back on the water and I could see club member Paul in his really wobbly boat not to far ahead of me after steaming past me at the start, I could see him struggling with stability going through the channel area with the wave re-bound, time to get the teeth between my bit, my target was Paul, for once I had an advantage over him as I wasnt suffering stability problems in my boat like he was, started to meet the first of the public punts to navigate around, I was starting to gain ground on Paul now I'd started to concentrate, got to the second portage with Paul about 50 ft ahead, thought id play tactics and portage at the same time as him, all be it further back and hope that I could make up quicker ground with a longer portage run, mmmmmmm may have worked but he managed to get in line on the steps before the K2 guys got there, I didnt make it and got stuck in the queue of K2's, had no choice but to wait as there was only a small narrow staircase down to the portage, the grass either side was way to slippery to even think of trying, perhaps in the summer it may have been worth a try, before I even got in the water I could see Paul disappearing of in the distance, not a hope of catching him now, next target was the K2's in front of me, it did feel odd as I was going past quite a few K2's, the slog out to the turn point just seemed to go on forever, by now the punts had been put behind but now there was the racing rowing boats ahead so a bit more tactful navigation was needed, I knew Paul would be pulling way ahead of me now as the water had become more open and less choppy, which was more suited to his boat.
My back rubbing was really starting to hurt and a reluctance to push hard with the legs, went past one of the shorter distance class's marker, kept thinking that was a long slog to get to that marker, got a little worried it was my marker and being and I was the only twit heading off somewhere to the coast on my own, but then I hadn't seen any of the other class,s come back from their turn point, mmm must be ahead for our turn, the run was starting to get a bit solitary and every corner thinking the turn point must be just ahead, no!!!! nor the next or the next, eventually I got site of Keith coming back on his return leg, cant mistake seeing him ain the distance as he's always got the correct posture and so smooth, he never looks knackered lol,
a few more turns and Stuart and John came into sight, John without his hat looked knackered, they had their own battle placed in second and chasing for the lead, still a few more corners and Paul came into sight on his return leg, but it wasnt to far for the turn point, thank god!!!! I wasnt as far behind Paul as I thought, but I didnt feel I had any reserves to try and claw some time of him, especially when I hit one of the long straights and couldnt see him in the distance,Bu***r, most of the long run back was solitary with some of the rowing boats for company, tried to keep pace with an 8 man crew boat and tried to be sneaky and get a toe in their wash, but they just dont seem to generate a usable wash like the canoes, again it seemed one hell of a slog back to the second portage, all energy had drained and couldnt muster the effort to run with the boat on the portage, by now my back was really tender and I could see a blister on my left hand had opened and gone red raw, dug in as much as possible to the finish line, I was paying the price for the lack of training and not prep-ping myself properly with the boat and letting the mental side of things wander all over the place, but it was sweet to cross the line and stop paddling, first time Ive felt really cold whilst racing, roll on the summer :)
After checking the results board I'd managed 5th in the end on my class, the gap between the faster guys and me were still roughly on par with other races and no one ahead of me in the so called slower boats like mine.
Managed to get a look at a short video of me passing the club house after the start, looked more like I was off on a Sunday play paddle.....mmmmmmmmmmm got some work ahead yet
9th January Cambridge race
Desperately tried to get some training in at the last moment just before this race, didnt think it was going to do much good though lol,
day of the race and it couldnt have felt any colder, mmmmm not good, cant say I felt totally fit and well after getting over the usual Xmas colds.
The race seemed a straightforward one, 2 portages out and 2 back, the first being only 500 yds from the start line and a final turn point out in the distance, with a warning that there are other boat users on the water including the rowing boats and the public punts.
Actually managed to get myself on the front of the start line and some room either side of me before the off was called, had a reasonable run up to the first portage, the faster boats had gone past me fairly quick but I was feeling kaput already, I was struggling with the boat as I had the one where the footplate wont move forward on the pegs to give me the legroom, the stability feeling dosent bother me now but every time I pushed hard with my legs my back was being pushed against the back of the cockpit and was very uncomfortable, the further I got into the race the more uncomfortable it got and was starting to rub skin away.
The first portage didnt go that well, felt like I was carrying a ton of spuds with the boat, back on the water and I could see club member Paul in his really wobbly boat not to far ahead of me after steaming past me at the start, I could see him struggling with stability going through the channel area with the wave re-bound, time to get the teeth between my bit, my target was Paul, for once I had an advantage over him as I wasnt suffering stability problems in my boat like he was, started to meet the first of the public punts to navigate around, I was starting to gain ground on Paul now I'd started to concentrate, got to the second portage with Paul about 50 ft ahead, thought id play tactics and portage at the same time as him, all be it further back and hope that I could make up quicker ground with a longer portage run, mmmmmmm may have worked but he managed to get in line on the steps before the K2 guys got there, I didnt make it and got stuck in the queue of K2's, had no choice but to wait as there was only a small narrow staircase down to the portage, the grass either side was way to slippery to even think of trying, perhaps in the summer it may have been worth a try, before I even got in the water I could see Paul disappearing of in the distance, not a hope of catching him now, next target was the K2's in front of me, it did feel odd as I was going past quite a few K2's, the slog out to the turn point just seemed to go on forever, by now the punts had been put behind but now there was the racing rowing boats ahead so a bit more tactful navigation was needed, I knew Paul would be pulling way ahead of me now as the water had become more open and less choppy, which was more suited to his boat.
My back rubbing was really starting to hurt and a reluctance to push hard with the legs, went past one of the shorter distance class's marker, kept thinking that was a long slog to get to that marker, got a little worried it was my marker and being and I was the only twit heading off somewhere to the coast on my own, but then I hadn't seen any of the other class,s come back from their turn point, mmm must be ahead for our turn, the run was starting to get a bit solitary and every corner thinking the turn point must be just ahead, no!!!! nor the next or the next, eventually I got site of Keith coming back on his return leg, cant mistake seeing him ain the distance as he's always got the correct posture and so smooth, he never looks knackered lol,
a few more turns and Stuart and John came into sight, John without his hat looked knackered, they had their own battle placed in second and chasing for the lead, still a few more corners and Paul came into sight on his return leg, but it wasnt to far for the turn point, thank god!!!! I wasnt as far behind Paul as I thought, but I didnt feel I had any reserves to try and claw some time of him, especially when I hit one of the long straights and couldnt see him in the distance,Bu***r, most of the long run back was solitary with some of the rowing boats for company, tried to keep pace with an 8 man crew boat and tried to be sneaky and get a toe in their wash, but they just dont seem to generate a usable wash like the canoes, again it seemed one hell of a slog back to the second portage, all energy had drained and couldnt muster the effort to run with the boat on the portage, by now my back was really tender and I could see a blister on my left hand had opened and gone red raw, dug in as much as possible to the finish line, I was paying the price for the lack of training and not prep-ping myself properly with the boat and letting the mental side of things wander all over the place, but it was sweet to cross the line and stop paddling, first time Ive felt really cold whilst racing, roll on the summer :)
After checking the results board I'd managed 5th in the end on my class, the gap between the faster guys and me were still roughly on par with other races and no one ahead of me in the so called slower boats like mine.
Managed to get a look at a short video of me passing the club house after the start, looked more like I was off on a Sunday play paddle.....mmmmmmmmmmm got some work ahead yet
ENTRY 10 2nd race
I hope to catch up over the next couple of days, managed to get behind with entries over Christmas and with work
Barking and Dagenham race 21/11/09
Managed to get a reasonable amount of training in for this 3rd race of the winter series, had no idea what I was up against for this race other than there were going to be no portages.
Took a little while to find the club as the sat nav only took me near it, they had good facilities with the clubs home being in the base of a tower block and the 1st floor, unusual but a good friendly atmosphere.
Now I find out were on a tidal water, the river leading down to the Thames and massive in width compared to the usual rivers Ive been on so far, it did make it a little more daunting, you could see a flow on the river that didn't look too bad, well that was until the tide changed and was quite surprised at how quick the flow picked up with the changing tide.
With the briefing it was made clear where our course was to run, from the club to the tidal barrier, then back to near the club for the second turn, back down the river for a midway marker turn and back to the club for the finish.
The start was a bit hectic as everyone descended on the water in one go, It wasnt until I got on the water that I realised my footplate was not far enough forward, which meant my knees were a lot higher than usual which makes you feel less stable, mmmmm didnt like it, but I couldnt return to the jetty to adjust it as they were quick to call everyone to the start line so no spare time, it made things a little more nerve racking as it wasnt a river I wanted to fall into and feeling unstable wasnt helping.
The starter started everyone off very quick, I hadn't even got near the start line before the start was called on our group, guess for the best as I didnt want to get caught in a manic startline, it took about 5 min's before I started to feel comfortable and for my brain to start kicking in as to what I should be doing, were going against the flow of the river so that meant keeping away from the centre flow where its at its strongest and keep to the edges, and as sheltered as possible from the wind which was difficult.
Once I got myself sorted it didnt take long to get past a few boats, then Toby from the group in front of me, took me a little bit longer to get past the next boat, didnt know who they were but he seemed evenly matched to me, really had to dig in to get past, I had a couple of the faster boats go past me from the group who started behind me fairly early on, manage to hang on behind them without loosing any more ground to them, was pleased with that, getting near the turn point Stuart and John from our club came into view heading back to the club house for their second turn after doing there 1st turn, was preying that the turn point was just round the next bend, no luck I was still some distance away so not a hope in hell of catching them, one day boys!!!!!!! lol
Heading back after the 1st turn the wind was head on, by rights I should be heading with the flow, couldnt get any indication of it though by looking at the water, so ducked and dive a little from shelter to the open water, I seem to be doing ok, was loosing ground very slowly to 2 of the faster boats that had gone past me early on but a 3rd one I seem to be catching back up with, mmmm must be doing better than I thought, got past him, dead chuffed with that in my slow boat, but he caught back up with me on the second turn, mmmm not doing as good as I thought, think he was just having a rest, he soon disappeared off in the distance, Bu****r, I think my energy levels were dropping rapidly in the last stages of the race,
back down river to the midway point I had lost sight of the boats I was either chasing or trying to keep up with as the shorter distance class's were also mixed on the water now so knowing who was who had gone completely, with the last turn it was it was a short stint to the finish line
I enjoyed this race in the end, was pleased the wobbly feel of the boat had gone quickly after the start, but it did show Ive got to concentrate on better fitness and technique and my slow starts, I still appreciate Ive got a long way to go still but the more I do the better everything is coming together, can at least to some of it slowly coming together, till the next race :)
Barking and Dagenham race 21/11/09
Managed to get a reasonable amount of training in for this 3rd race of the winter series, had no idea what I was up against for this race other than there were going to be no portages.
Took a little while to find the club as the sat nav only took me near it, they had good facilities with the clubs home being in the base of a tower block and the 1st floor, unusual but a good friendly atmosphere.
Now I find out were on a tidal water, the river leading down to the Thames and massive in width compared to the usual rivers Ive been on so far, it did make it a little more daunting, you could see a flow on the river that didn't look too bad, well that was until the tide changed and was quite surprised at how quick the flow picked up with the changing tide.
With the briefing it was made clear where our course was to run, from the club to the tidal barrier, then back to near the club for the second turn, back down the river for a midway marker turn and back to the club for the finish.
The start was a bit hectic as everyone descended on the water in one go, It wasnt until I got on the water that I realised my footplate was not far enough forward, which meant my knees were a lot higher than usual which makes you feel less stable, mmmmm didnt like it, but I couldnt return to the jetty to adjust it as they were quick to call everyone to the start line so no spare time, it made things a little more nerve racking as it wasnt a river I wanted to fall into and feeling unstable wasnt helping.
The starter started everyone off very quick, I hadn't even got near the start line before the start was called on our group, guess for the best as I didnt want to get caught in a manic startline, it took about 5 min's before I started to feel comfortable and for my brain to start kicking in as to what I should be doing, were going against the flow of the river so that meant keeping away from the centre flow where its at its strongest and keep to the edges, and as sheltered as possible from the wind which was difficult.
Once I got myself sorted it didnt take long to get past a few boats, then Toby from the group in front of me, took me a little bit longer to get past the next boat, didnt know who they were but he seemed evenly matched to me, really had to dig in to get past, I had a couple of the faster boats go past me from the group who started behind me fairly early on, manage to hang on behind them without loosing any more ground to them, was pleased with that, getting near the turn point Stuart and John from our club came into view heading back to the club house for their second turn after doing there 1st turn, was preying that the turn point was just round the next bend, no luck I was still some distance away so not a hope in hell of catching them, one day boys!!!!!!! lol
Heading back after the 1st turn the wind was head on, by rights I should be heading with the flow, couldnt get any indication of it though by looking at the water, so ducked and dive a little from shelter to the open water, I seem to be doing ok, was loosing ground very slowly to 2 of the faster boats that had gone past me early on but a 3rd one I seem to be catching back up with, mmmm must be doing better than I thought, got past him, dead chuffed with that in my slow boat, but he caught back up with me on the second turn, mmmm not doing as good as I thought, think he was just having a rest, he soon disappeared off in the distance, Bu****r, I think my energy levels were dropping rapidly in the last stages of the race,
back down river to the midway point I had lost sight of the boats I was either chasing or trying to keep up with as the shorter distance class's were also mixed on the water now so knowing who was who had gone completely, with the last turn it was it was a short stint to the finish line
I enjoyed this race in the end, was pleased the wobbly feel of the boat had gone quickly after the start, but it did show Ive got to concentrate on better fitness and technique and my slow starts, I still appreciate Ive got a long way to go still but the more I do the better everything is coming together, can at least to some of it slowly coming together, till the next race :)
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