The only time I remembered my camera was at 5:30 a.m. just before we set off to Newbury, however, with the stiffness and soreness from Waterside A nearly forgotten, there were just as many NKC members turning out for Waterside B.
For those interested in all the results go to the results page. http://www.watersides.fsnet.co.uk/current-b-res.htm
However, if you want to know how our day went, read on ...
It was a slightly later start than for the A race and everyone was there & the trailer loaded on time. There were several Waterside "virgins" opting to do the 17.5 mile downstream/upstream race. Michael (ears featured above) wanted to know what to expect and Norman, sitting next to him, who has been doing Waterside since the 1970s gave an explanation that he thought would be appropriate to a White Water paddler. "Imagine going down "Serpent's Tail" ... 3 abreast ... then imagine paddlers coming towards you ... 3 abreast." This is probably the most apt description ever, especially for the section leading up to Aldermaston. Michael paddled with Tadek (age 12) in the Senior Mens K2 and came 12th out of 44 starters in a time of 2 hours 47 minutes, a great performance by them.
The next newbie would be Lynda - the blonde head on the right - who has done minimal training, just come back to serious paddling after a break of 3 children and about 20 years who was doing Ladies K2 with Cathy - the blond head on the left. She had some novel plans for combatting the dreaded numb bum that might have won prizes in a Renaissance beauty pagent and soaked up enough canal water to fill a bucket. They came 2nd in a time of 3:03:16, so however hard it felt Lynda, it was a pretty good first Waterside for you!
George & Bryan deserve a mention after their second waterside this year with "equipment failure." It was the footrest on Race A when some amazingly good luck in finding bits of wood and steel just the right length allowed them to mackle up a replacement and complete the race. This time it was the seat which partly detached itself from the boat and swivelled round, needing constant attention at portages. Are they doing Race C? I wonder ...? No I won't even think about it! Despite their tribulations they managed 4th in the C2 race out of 22 starters in a time of 3:11:26. Another good performance.
Alison and Norman in the Mixed K2 race, had a good run despite Norman thinking it was hard. 5th out of 30 in a time of 2:45:28 is a pretty good result and much better than some of the crews half their combined age. (I can't reveal what it is, but not quite 100) Alison not only remembers how many portages they've done (I remember the first 3 or 4 and then lose count) but revealed that they had overtaken 121 crews during the race.
Richard Golder & Richard Meyer made their own ways to Waterside, and we only saw them in passing (literally) on the water. 6th and 12th out of 28 in the Senior Mens Race was a reasonable performance although both would have preferred higher no doubt & have been in the past. I don't know about Richard G, but I know Richard M had not done that much training for the event. Richard M's account of his novel approach to tackling the low swing bridge would take too long to relate and would be much better on a video.
Craig was 8th out of 15 in Junior K1 in 3 hours 3 minutes including 2 swims as well as paddling and running, so he made it into a triathlon. I don't think he meant to though.
Chris & Zyggy (aged 11) were 6th in the Junior/Veteran K2 in 3 hours 1 minute. Zyggy was still standing at the end although he did sleep most of the way home. I wonder how school went on Monday morning? Chris looked OK though!
Shob & I were only just ahead of them in the same event, coming 5th in 2:53:50 which is the same time I did with Beth last year. However at the swing bridge, we had not had the benefit of Richards novel approach to negociating it and went for the more classic ducking ... at least I did! Shob obviously was not quite so successful and managed to bang her head. The extent of the damage was not obvious until she took her hat off to get changed, revealing a a mass of matted blood and hair ... and a split over an inch long (2cm.) A quick trip to the local A & E got it glued - the bridge has not yet been inspected for damage.
I owe you Shob! The photo on the Paddlepics website shows that we were in time and paddling well! http://www.paddlepics.com/watersides/wat%20b%202009%20pt%201/index_17.htm (IMG_9909) So it didn't stop her stroking the boat really well and giving me a good race even though neither of us were aware of the blood trickling down her neck for over two and a half hours. Well perhaps because we were unaware!
