Character building?

Opening ceremony

K2 start

Start 2

So the K2 race didn’t quite happen. I woke up feeling well recovered from the singles, and pretty pumped to give the doubles a good go. Bridgie and I felt solid in the boat, and we were really getting excited at teh thought of a god fight. We had a great start, and got onto a nice diamond behind the Portuguese crew. Then disaster struck. The boat veered right, I managed to control it and tried to get us back on the diamond, but suddenly we veered left. That’s when I realised the steering was gone! The T-Bar mechansim had come loose. We stopped and went to the bank, where I managed to sort it out, but the gap was now massive. We started paddling again, and considered chasing the group down. We were so disappointed, and the thought of a long, solitary paddle wasn’t helping, especially after the day before’s effort. Also, we knew we should be in the front bunch, not right at the back. After half a lap, we bailed.

We decided to move on immediatley, and look forward not backwards, as there is nothing we could do about it now. So, 2010, Barcelona here we come. I am taking from this year’s race what I can, and am going to use it to make sure that I am super ready for next time.

 Shaun and Ant had a great race and ended up 2nd to a very fast Spanish crew. Hank and Grant had probably the race of the day, and came back after a terrible start, and finished up 5th. 

Next up is the Fish River Marathon, next Friday and Saturday:)

10th

Just a quick report back on the race:

Not a great start, but had Hank´s words ringing in my ears, “Don´t worry if you are off at the start, you have 5 laps to catch up”. So I took it easy, until after the first portage. A German woman had a bad takeout, so I hopped on her wave, and she pulled me up to Bridge, and within striking distance of the 2nd bunch. The front bunch was made up of 3 boats-Hungarian Renata, a British paddler and local hero from Portugal Beatriz Gomes.

Anyway, I messed up the turn, getting a little squeezed at the turning cans, ending up losing my ride tothe 2nd bunch. Spent the rest of the race in good company with one of Polands marathon legends, and we ended up catching Bridgette, and finished 8th, 9th, and 10th. Beatriz won for Portugal!

Shaun finished 4th, behind Busto, Ben Brown and a Portuguese guy, with Len in 10th. More later, plus  photos.

Now its time to recover for the K2 with Bridge tomorrow.

Portugal

Loving this place so far, the people are super friendly, we are staying in a top hotel (thanks CSA), our team is doing well (more on that later).

The course is pretty tricky, with a very steep portage, on a slippery jetty, then onto sand for the downhill to the beach. I am unfortunately racing at low tide (1245 Sat K1 and 1100 Sun K2), which makes that jetty even steeper, and exposes some obstacles, but its the same for everyone in my race.

Grant van der Walt won the Mens U23 and his brother Brandon “Stomach” won the Junior Mens K1! Awesone stuff!

Tomorrow its the Junior K2 in the morning, then the Senior Men and Women K1 events from lunch.

 Its been great catching up with old friends from around the world. Now its time to race!!

If you would like to watch the event live, there is video streaming on the ICF website – www.canoeicf.com

Plett :)

I am back in Plett, after an epic 12.5hr drive through the most amazing part of South Africa-the Transkei.

Training on the Keurbooms River

 Forgot how beautiful Plett is. The weather has been great so far. On my first day back I had a run along the beach, and spotted a Southern Right Whale just 10m from the shore! Awesome

Bit of a monstrous coldfront pulling through as I type, going to test my dedication to a paddle today. The spin bike could be a good alternative…

Leave for Portugal on Monday coming, here is the race website for more info:

http://www.canoemarathonwc2009.com/

Here’s a picture of the stunning Keurbooms River (doubt it will look like that today…)