Waterside B (2)

Photos from Ollie Harding's Waterside B Album

Would you want to sit on this wash on a cold day without a spraydeck?

See all Ollie's paddling Albums http://www.flickr.com/photos/paddling

Waterside B 2010

Watching the Winter Olympics till late at night all week didn't help prepare for racing at Newbury too much, but was definately an asset for the drive there. The slips, the slides, the snow ...

Everyone was on time, loaded and on the road before 6:30. Well I say road, my choice of using the A46 may not have been best, as the car tyres never touched the actual road for the first 20 miles or so. When a snow plough we were following turned off, I wondered if we were going to be marooned near Leicester until the thaw set in. Fortunately that happened before we reached the A43.

Newbury by contrast was almost summery and seemed warmer than it was for Waterside A, 2 weeks ago. The good weather obviously attracted a few paddlers out, with over 250 boats racing.

Zyggy and I cannot be said to have had our finest race, although there were people for us to to catch and overtake all the way, nor did we finish last in the Junior/Veteran class. I was a bit disappointed not to beat 7 times World Champion, Ivan Lawler and his junior partner, who not only won our race, but were 3rd fastest boat on the water. Dave and Tadek were much quicker than we were, finishing 3rd in the same class, and I don't suppose they minded being beaten by Brian Greenaway, another legend of the sport and his junior partner. Dave and Tadek were only 3 minutes down on them. Our 6th was almost 1 hour slower than Ivan's time.

Meanwhile, Tom and Becky were putting in a far better performance than on Waterside A ... they finished.  Tom obviously had new legs, or perhaps it was borrowing Geordie's aging boat that did the trick. 6th for them too in the Mixed class.

Craig and Mark may well have sorted their differences on portaging, although the boat still leaks, and the pump needs some serious maintenance. They finished 7th in the Senior K2 race dropping 2 places on their A result, but were the fastest Nottie boat on the water.

Josh was 12th in the Senior K1 and 2nd fastest Nottie boat.

I console myself with the knowledge that across the classes, over 70 K2s were slower than we were, one of them over 2 hours slower!

That's about it, Spring had almost returned to the Midlands, making the journey home almost effortless. Josh, Tadek and Zyggy were completely hyper when they should have been sleeping blissfully - at least there was little chance of feeling tired driving, although Craig didn't seem to notice.

Waterside A 2010

I suppose after the weather we've been having, Waterside A could be described as sultry. Not that I was out in beachwear, even Ricky found long sleeves to wear, but some people still seemed to think shorts and tee-shirt were right for the event.

Ricky pushed me round and wanted to sprint the last mile, but a mixture of old age, cuts, grazes and bruised ribs made anything like that a bit sore. The ribs had nothing to do with Waterside, but Monday's "basketball." Non-contact - hahha!

Meanwhile back in Wiltshire/Berkshire the rest of the NKC lot were having their own traumas. Perhaps worst off were Tom and Becky who knocked it on the head with about 5km to go - they'd actually done the hard part, when Tom's legs failed to communicate with the rest of him, making things like running or steering a bit grim. (Some of us old fogies live our lives like that Tom, perhaps age is catching up with you early.)

Andrew, steering by the stars, his sat-nav, dead reckoning and Craig's course directions, negociated the 13 miles in just over 3 hours. He managed without following too many of Craig's recomended detours, although he will be turning up for technique sessions with Craig this week, alongside TB apparently. Andrew was slower over the shower/food section of the event than the paddling and missed the bus home, but hitched a ride in a passing car.
This gave Mark and Craig the chance to discuss why Mark was finishing each portage just as Craig was getting out of the boat.Obviously a bit of technique practice needed somewhere in that K2 then.

There was a generally good turn out by the Notties, so there was still chance for some glory, with Paul and Harriet winning the Mixed event in under 2 hours.

Chris and Zyggy managed to beat me and Ricky by 7 seconds, but were still shown as seniors on the results. Craig and Mark actually did OK, despite their claims of some slight lack of coordination, finishing as 5th senior crew. Steve and Duncan, 10 minutes behind them were 11th (out of 33 crews.) And actually Chris and Zyggy were 16th if a veteran and a 12 year old can be counted as seniors.

Cathy and Shane (nee Shaune) were 9th in the Mixed race. Mark and Martin were going well in the Veteran race and finished 13th.

Thanks to Dave and Jane for their driving and support. Without them, out lives would have been even harder!
Look out for the photo gallery link on the website.

Full results here

Photo Mick & Rick - Ollie Harding
Photo Andrew - Brian Gandy