My 2013!

I will try not to blabber on about everything I have done this year but there have been a few key moments that I would like to highlight!

2013 started off with a fairly disappointingly dry Winter and with a work schedule that often collided with boating so in the early months I really didn't get out as much as I wanted too. In April I completed my Level 2 coaching training at Dartmoor and have been working through my course throughout the year and have now booked my assessment. Around this time I decided I wanted to enter the Adidas Sickline in October and began training right away! In May I competed at and pretty much won all the competitions at the Tryweryn Festival which was so much fun!

In June I celebrated the first anniversary of my amazing Wife and I's marriage! Followed shortly by a very messy 22nd birthday. We had a great warm dryish summer and I even managed to get a few boating trips in! In August I took a family vacation to see all the inlaws and I took my parents which was an amazing time. Shortly followed by the Adidas Sickline in Austria which I placed 69th and had an overall sweet time!

I purchased a new paddle wagon and got myself a new speedy kayak :). The last few months of 2013 have seen some amazing kayaking, spent some great time with family and enjoyed the winter holiday season! 2013 as a whole has been quite a busy year with so many ups and a few downs to overcome but it's funny how I only remember the good! Yesterday I wrapped the year up with a bang and paddled a short section of the Mellte in huge flows, unfortunately during this time my car was a victim of a break in, so an amazing and slightly frustrating end to the year but the windows getting fixed today so all smiles and good times :D

Heres a raw and slowmo clip of the 30 footer we did yesterday, it was slightly rowdy! Full video to be put together shortly! Enjoy and HAPPY NEW YEAR!

https://vimeo.com/83025992

2013 Highlight Reel

Recently I noticed everybody putting together their Highlight Reels for 2013, so I thought I'd join in! This year due to awkward weather and work I haven't been in a boat nearly as much as I needed to be, but I did get some good runs in. I plan on doing a write up of 2013 in my next blog post, so stay tuned! 

In the meantime here's the Highlight Reel I managed to put together, unfortunately I still don't have most of my Sickline footage so that will have to wait. Hope you enjoy and hopefully next years one will be a little more epic!

https://vimeo.com/81586336

Beet It Training Diary

So with the racing season over for 2013 it's time to plan 2014! Over the next few months I'll be deciding what I want to do/ achieve and what is feasible. In the mean time Beet It have put together a little edit about myself and what whitewater kayaking is. With Beet It being more linked to mainstream sports such as running and cycling this video is obviously more aimed at people that have no idea what our sport is!

So the edit gives a little detail as to what basic training you need to whitewater kayak and what it's generally all about! There's some sweet action footage thrown in there too from the last 18 months! Have a watch and enjoy! Link is below....

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f2RXFEJoieg

FLo Festival Extreme Slalom

Saturday the 16th saw the first ever Extreme Slalom of the FLO Festival in Llangollen. I only had the Saturday off so I headed up for the day with my wife and friend. This was the first race that I'd be using my Remix so I was excited to see what it could do! After signing in at the Pavilion I headed back to town to change and get some practice on the course.

                                                                                              Carving hard into Gate 3.
At 11.am we had the race briefing letting us know what the plan was. The course was as follows.... Two racers go head to head starting river right just above the small weir. The next ledge was a freestyle zone where racers could do a freestyle move in an attempt to get one of the 'Wildcards' available if the race wasn't going in their favor, this would put them through to the next round if they pulled the best move. After this was a gate in an eddy river right which you had to touch with your hand. There was then a gate river left in the flow halfway down the falls, followed by another deep in an eddy river left. Finally you had to ferry to river right and touch a tricky gate in an awkward eddy then make a dash and touch the final gate by the bridge. If you missed any gates you had to do a 360 spin before finishing.

After getting bibs we were shown the start list. Luckily my first round was up against a 12 year old boy, I was confident! Straight off the start line I broke away, doing a deck grab in the freestyle zone and hitting every gate I won with quite a lead. Feeling slightly guilty for the young guy I shook his hand an congratulated him, he was going to receive £20 for being the youngest competitor!

                                                                                                                Heading to gate 4

Heat 2 I was against a guy my age in a Stomper. Off the start line I again got the lead (remix pulls away fast!). Doing a roll in the freestyle zone and hitting the first gate I maintained my lead. I missed both river left gates but headed straight for the river right gate and then the finish. At the last gate I did my 720 spin and finished in first again!

Heat 3 I was put against a young girl, I had a perfect run and finished with a big lead, again feeling slightly mean... Heat 4 I was put up against Anton Lippek, fellow Sickline competitor and slalomist. We were both nervous at the start line! I'm still blown away by the remix as once again I got the lead from the start, I hit all 3 gates whilst keeping my lead but on the last gate I fell back in the eddy a little and Anton and I were side by side both reaching for the gate. Luckily I managed to stay between him and the gate, touching the gate I broke away for the finish, I was incredibly pleased!

                                                                                     Battling it out with Anton for a spot in the Semi's! 
It was now the top 8 in the semi finals. I was put up against a slalomist in a very skinny Acrobat. I started on the left which was an immediate disadvantage and from the start he managed to pull away into the lead. At the first gate we had a bit of a fight to touch it and I ended up getting pushed away whilst be headed for gate 2. Missing the gate I decided to follow but was at a bad angle to head for gate 2, I missed this as well! As I watched him hit gate 3 and head for number 4 I knew my race was over so I headed straight to the finish line. I wasn't trying to display bad sportsmanship so I hope that this is not how it was taken! I just knew it was over.

                                                                                           Sprinting to the finish line!
Congratulating my opponent I headed to the car to get changed! It was a really fun race and the course was very well set up and challenging! There were a few issues with the race in my opinion. From the start the heats were two people head to head, this made the race very time consuming and it took along time to get through everyone. Communication from the bottom to the top was also not great so there were long waits between heats meaning we all got rather cold standing around. I think having heats of 4 at a time with top 2 going through would obviously speed with up and with radio's to communicate from top to bottom. These are just my thoughts and it is the races first year so obviously it's going to need fine tuning. I really enjoyed it and I was glad to hear that they are trying to make a series next year, I think it will do well!

                                                                                                             The Finish line!
Well done to all the winners and everyone who took part and thank you to the organizers.

See you all next year!

Liquidlogic Remix

Last week was Christmas come early, my new Liquidlogic Remix 79 arrived! Due to standard tradition when getting a new boat I had to drag it through the house into the living room, get the outfitting sorted, then sit in it and watch TV. After a short time I realized maybe I should walk over the road and actually paddle it on the river.....

My first impression just looking at it was that it was HUGE! This thing is long, coming in at 8'11 this is only a little shorter than the Large Jackson Karma, also a huge boat. Before purchasing the boat I looked for lots of advice as to which size to get. I know a lot of racers use the 69, but I was concerned that in high volume rivers or if I chose to do a multi-day trip and pack out the boat with gear that it would not have enough volume. I had paddled the Jefe Grande and the Stomper 90 which I used to race the Sickline and felt comfortable in both. A lot of advice people gave steered toward the 69, but going with my gut I took the risk and went big!

As usual the 'Bad-ass' outfitting in Liquidlogics is in my opinion the best! It's like a compact couch, awesome! As soon as I hit the water the size of the boat seemed to be irrelevant as I span around in the eddy. It's extremely maneuverable despite it's length. Second thing I did was do some sprints, and holy crap this boat shifts! I wasn't expecting to notice a difference in the speed, I was just hoping to notice it on the clock in races. But this boat was noticeably quick off the mark and cut through current like a knife, I was sold!

The following weekend I headed out with friends and Wyedean Canoe Club for a mellow run down the Usk, Mill Falls. This gave me a chance to throw the boat in some small holes, waves and drops. The flatter hull and small chimes work really well on a wave, it carved and surfed nicely. The first thing I noticed whilst running a 3 foot ledge was that compared to the Jefe, this boat requires a lot more effort to boof! But where boofing is more difficult this boat has been designed to punch through waves and stoppers, which it does very well. The tail of the boat was designed so the end of the tail is flatter and more slicey, this allows you to cut the tail into the flow when paddling into holes or drops, lifting the nose nicely and firing you through the feature.

Whilst sat in an eddy I attempted a pretty impossible ferry into a micro eddy on the far bank. This involved ferrying into the tow back of the falls then paddling against a boil pushing you away from the eddy. Needless to say I hammered across the flow and cut through the boil and into the eddy with relative ease, I'm confident that this wouldn't have been possible in a Jefe!

I'm blown away by the boat and can't wait to you use it on some steeper whitewater. Tomorrow I head to the Flo Festival in Llangollen where I'm competing in the Extreme Slalom, with a prize fund of 500 quid I'm looking to cash in! With this boat I'm confident, fingers crossed!

Sketchy pin!

As I didn't bring a laptop to the Adidas Sickline I had to put some of my files onto a friends laptop, I'm now slowly retrieving this footage. This clip is of the first day in Oetz and my first day paddling. After meeting up with Adriene Levknecht and delivering her Remix I joined her and a group of Swedish paddlers heading up to the middle section and the Wellerbrucke was just huge.

It was a rainy, misty day which gave the river a mysterious and uncomfortable feel about it. I was paddling an LL Stomper 90 which I had borrowed from Max Eberl. I had never paddled one, and had not outfitted myself into it correctly, this didn't install confidence! After launching and running a few rapids I realized that because this group knew the section well this was going to be a grade 5 read and run trip, awesome when you know the river, a little nerve racking when you don't!

But after a few sections of awesome whitewater my confidence grew and I started to get a feel for the boat. So feeling confident as a came through a smallish feature I got pushed hard right toward a small slot. I tried to back paddle and steer left around the rock but it was too late, I was being fed into the slot. As the trees hit me in the chest and covered my deck I pushed up with my hands on the rocks and managed to pull my deck quickly, I knew I didn't want to be in this thing if it went under!

The boat didn't fill up right away so this gave me a chance to simply stand up and step out of the boat directly onto the bank, which in the video looks entertainingly chilled! The boat then submerged and breached under water in the slot, I managed to get a sling clipped to the nose. My team stopped and explained that it would be impossible to rescue the boat till the level dropped and that I'd have to wait.

My Dad, wife and friend were running the shuttle and after my group reached the get out they were told I was sat by the road waiting. As soon as they arrived we got all the rescue kit we had an assessed the situation, the water didn't seem to be dropping at all. I knew the longer we left it in there the more damage would be coursed to the boat.

Under closer inspection we realized that one of the trees pointing straight up in the middle was actually very alive and was holding the boat in place, the nose of the boat wasn't actually pinned on the rock we were stood on. After attempting to move/ break the tree we realized it wasn't budging! We came up with a radical plan...

Using me as a live bait I waded into the water and used a tree branch to anchor under the nose of the boat and lever it up. This moved the boat and made the nose come above the surface of the water. Using group strength we then pulled the nose upward and out of the water, after much struggling it finally came free! To my relief the boat was undamaged, and in one piece!

Great first taste of the Oetz river! Great section, highly recommend it! I put together this raw footage of the trip, enjoy!

https://vimeo.com/78372939

Low water Mellte session

As usual it hammered it down with rain early in the week whilst I was working so the levels were dropping fast by Thursday morning when we were gearing up to head to the Mellte. After picking up Matt Price and meeting up with the other boys in Monmouth we hit the road. On the way we were all given a heavy adrenaline rush by the roof rack flying off Sams car fully loaded with boats. Luckily it was early and the dual carriage way was quiet, so after untying the boats quickly and throwing them in the van we hit the road again!

We got geared up, piled in the van and hit the river. It was low but good enough to get down the falls. Everyone had a sweet line on the warm up 15 footer and we jumped out to take a look at the 30. The lip was super shallow and the second lip was even worse. On the left it is a double drop, 10 foot too 20. My line was almost sketchy, I caught my nose whilst landing on the shelf which turned me sideways on the lip, luckily I managed to put a stroke in the straighten up during the free fall and landed a pretty awesome boof! Everyone had a bumpy line but the best was Matt Prices in his C1 Nomad. I cartwheeled all the way down and was totally uninjured, epic! Sam landed on his side and unfortunately lost of head cam.

The rest of the river all went, the gorge was bony but all good with no incidents. At the 8 foot weir Sam landed sideways and beatered! After 10 minutes we finally got his boat out using a live bait. Sam was having a great day.... We got off the river in good spirits, good day, sketchy lines, awesome times!

Here's a short clip of some footage I got, enjoy!

https://vimeo.com/77810483

Adidas Sickline 2013!

It was that time of year again, the best extreme kayakers from around travelled to the small alpine town of Oetz to battle for the championship belt! After a long drive from the UK I arrived in evening with my wife, father and friend. We were meant to be camping but to our delight we were offered a free upgrade to a cabin, a good start to the week! It rained hard all night which filled me with a little concern as to how high the river levels would be the next day.

 We awoke to a damp misty day and after eating we packed up and headed to the river! We first took a look at the course, it was extremely high! The course was monstrous and no one was training on it as it was just too full on and dangerous. I met up with a group of Swiss and headed up to the middle section of the Oetz river which has a little less gradient. This was a grade 5 section of river in high water and I had never paddled the kayak I had before and was not fitted into it properly. Needless to say after three big sections I got pinned against some trees and had to exit the boat. After an hour of trying to recover the boat it finally came loose! Interesting first day!

Throughout the week it got drier and the river level dropped everyday to more manageable levels. For the rest of the week I met up with fellow paddlers and competitors and trained on the course. It was extreme water and it was awesome! Throughout the week we witnessed some awesome carnage, luckily no one was hurt. On Thursday I registered for the event, got my bib and goodies and had an early night for the big day ahead, qualification day!

After downing a couple of Beet-it shots I got geared up and headed to the event. The river was a little higher but still manageable. The event has a fantastic safety record, using the local mountain rescue and swift water rescue to help anyone getting into difficulty. The 150 competitors were split into two groups, I was put into the second group, and we then had to do our mandatory training run to ensure we were capable. My training run was one of my best and this filled me with confidence for the race! It was now time for the real thing. There were two qualification runs with both of your times being added together to form your score, the top 45 then go through to the finals, slim pickings!

So calming my nerves I carried my boat down the ramp and launched into the hissing white-water below! My first run was extremely good giving me a time of 1:24, this put me right up there with the pro’s. Feeling pretty chuffed, it was time for lunch! I knew I needed to match my first run or do better to qualify, which I knew I was perfectly capable off. After launching again, my line was good. But after dropping into the crux of the run I got pulled slightly right and slowed down, I paddled as hard as I could to get back on line. This minor mistake cost me six seconds giving me a time of 1:30, bugger!

This dropped me over all to 69th place. I was disappointed but also proud of my first run. My first run was not even my best so I know I have massive potential for the future. This was my first major race and out of roughly 15 GBR competitors I was 5^th fastest.  It’s just the name of the game, nature is unpredictable and sometimes it shows you whose boss! After a good night at the Loser’s party we headed to the course the next morning for the super final! A young Kiwi chap named Sam Sutton had won it three years in a row so all eyes were on him. After and epic final a young slalomist from the UK took the belt!

Needless to say the Champions party was a little nuts! With slightly sore heads we started the long drive back to the UK. This was the most professional, intense and amazing event I have ever taken part in and it was one of the greatest experiences of my life. It’s made me more hungry to do better and put pressure on the racing scene, as we speak I’m working on purchasing a faster boat. With plans to hit the USA racing scene and dominate the UK racing scene, next year is looking full on! I’m very grateful for Beet-it and Nookies support throughout the event and supplying me with that extra beetrooty boost and fantastic gear! Cheers guys, see you on the water!

Austria Bound...

Well next week is what most of this year has been building up to! This Saturday we will be packing up and leaving for Oetz Austria for the Adidas Sickline. I'm both excited and anxious to get there, hit the water and get into my groove! We're picking up a couple of boats in Munich on the way and planning to arrive Sunday afternoon giving me 3 and half days of practice.

For this last week of training I've added more flat water sprints as a little boost! Next week I'll start my 2 Beet-it shots a day for the week. I've recently discovered the power and importance of visualization for kayaking and other sports, so I have been practicing this over the last few weeks. At the moment fitness wise I feel great and feel that I have done what I can mentally and physically. Now I just need to put it all into the race!

Stay tuned and posted to my facebook and twitter for updates and pictures! Fingers crossed everyone!

A sunny Sunday at the Pyranha Fest!

Yesterday we headed to the Pyranha Fest for the day as a last whitewater warm up for Sickline and a chance to take part in the Boater X race. We had a fantastic day, it was warm and the sun was shining! My wife and I just purchased a fancy camera so she was on photo duty and took some amazing shots!

In the afternoon was the boater X race from below Ski Jump to NRA bridge. As usual it was pretty brutal with lots of paddles flying everywhere and crashing into each other, great fun! I got through to the Semi's but unfortunately got pushed too far right when trying to reach an obstacle which put me out of the race, maybe next time! Was a great day all round. It also showed me what I need to work on for next week!

Getting sooo close!

It's now 10 days until I pack up the car and head to Austria for the Sickline. This year has been flying by as so much training and focus has gone into this event. I've been specifically training for the event since April and in May I won the Tryweryn festival which was a big boost and gave me confidence that I was headed in the right direction.

I've again stepped up the training for the last couple of weeks with longer sprints and heavier weights. I've also now started taking the Beet-it shots daily for the next two weeks and during the week of the event I'll be taking two daily. I'm feeling really good and feel that I have put on a bit more bulk and muscle since returning from the states.

This weekend I'll be heading to the Pyranha fest at the Tryweryn for the Sunday. I'm not sure if I'll be able to compete but it'll be good training never the less. I'd like to get stuck into a couple of races though!

Hoping these next weeks go fast and I feel this good next Saturday!

Astaxanthine, the cure for aches!

I'd never really considered looking for something to help prevent the general aches and pains from training/ exercise, I just get on with it! But whilst in the States my mother in law showed me a supplement called Astaxanthine, which is an epic antioxidant with many health benefits. Needless to say I had never heard of it! 

Because we were due to hike mount Katahdin in a couple of days she suggested we take 2 a day in the days leading up to the hike as apparently the supplement helps prevent aching muscles after strenuous activity. I didn't see any harm in giving it ago although I wasn't too convinced that it would make a difference. 

The hike was a long day, taking 11 and a half hours. We were knackered and sore climbing into the truck to drive back to camp, knowing that in the morning we had to go whitewater rafting! Going to bed that night I was sure that I'd wake up and have to roll out of bad and limp to breakfast. 

But that didn't happen, I woke up and although my muscles were a little tight, I was in no pain at all! I could have gone for a run then and there! Whether this was a coincidence or not I'm pretty convinced that this stuff works and I highly recommend it. Tammy was kind enough to give me the rest to take home and I plan on taking them throughout my training leading up to and during the event. 

I've also started drinking Beet-it's normal juice everyday. This is because of it's general amazing health benefits and I figured it couldn't hurt having a little of that nitrate in my system when not using the concentrated shots. It's great finding these natural supplements that really make a difference to your training and general well being! 

How not to raft the Penobscot, ME....

Whilst on holiday we decided it'd be a good idea to raft the Penobscot river. Having never been rafting before I was pretty excited to be trying something new and experiencing rapids in a different way. After just 5 minutes of being in the raft we flipped in the first fall, awesome! After regrouping we spent the day floating down many awesome rapids, all different grades and super exciting.

The company supplied an awesome BBQ lunch by the river and we had a really good time. If your ever in Maine I highly recommend it! Luckily I had a Gopro on my head throughout the day so we got some funny shots which you can view by following the link below, enjoy!

https://vimeo.com/73690308

The final preparation

Before arriving home from our trip to America I knew that once home I only had about 3 and a half weeks to train before heading out to the Sickline, holy crap! Before the holiday I became lighter than I wanted to be, which was ok because I anticipated some weight gain in the States. Becoming buffer became a little more important yesterday when I was informed that the LL Remix I was borrowing for the race had in fact been given to another athlete, bummer. Fortunately my friend from Munich also has an LL Stomper 90.

This boat is a cross between the Jefe and the Remix so I'm confident of it's ability to race, I'am however a little light for it. I've been told that iconic paddlers such as Tao Berman who was in no way a heavy guy, but a very fast racer, used to use a large Nomad. I'm not concerned at all and the plan is to beef up my arms and torso as much as I can in 3 weeks. My dad has a Jefe Grande so I will borrow that to get used to the extra volume!

So my training has a changed a little, but not much! I'm now dropping down to two runs a week, so I can maintain my cardio but not burn too much muscle. I'm now doing longer and more intense weight sessions targeting a lot more muscles. I am doing paddle sprints at least 4 times a week and I'm putting more focus on my abs and core. So my legs are getting a rest and my torso and arms are getting a beating.

Packing will begin shortly and I'll buy food throughout the month. We are planning a budget trip so we will be camping, could be cold.... Just a little bit looking forward to this one!

An epic American Adventure!

I'm always super stoked to return to the States as I'm lucky enough to have the best family in law on the planet! I headed out there with my wife and parents and just had the best time ever. But two weeks wasn't enough.

We packed so much into our time there that I don't think we really sat down! The first few days we spent shopping, swimming, catching lobsters on a boat and having a lobster party and visiting relatives. Then for a long weekend we headed North to where Jessica's parents camp where we chilled, hiked Katahdin, whitewater rafted, picked blueberries, kayaked, fished and much more! It was my first time rafting so we was great to enjoy the high volume whitewater in something other than a kayak, got a bunch of Gopro footage so a video will be online soon!

Once home again we spent the last few days outlet shopping, celebrating birthdays and site seeing. After some sad goodbyes we had a great flight home and a couple of days off to re-adjust! Throughout the holiday I managed to run most days, but didn't lift as much as I would've wanted. We just didn't have time! But with the 11 hour hike and rafting in the middle I had a descent amount of exercise. I put on a healthy amount of weight which I'm glad about as I can now put time in to using it!

Awesome times! 3ish weeks left till we head to the Sickline. So training has changed a little and increased, more on that soon, stay tuned!!

'Merica!!

This holiday has been a long time coming and to say I'm excited is an understatement! The weather is looking hot and we have a but load of stuff to do. So far the plan is lots of shopping, eating, whitewater rafting, hiking and just general site seeing, gonna be awesome! It's also the first time my parents have been there and met Jessica's parents so it's going to be really cool to show them around and have a good time.

I've really laid on the training in preparation for this holiday as although I'm going to be running and pumping iron out there, we are going to be hitting the food, it's impossible not too.... for me anyway! With all this training I'm actually 5 pounds under my ideal weight so this has made a nice benchmark for growth, I just need to make sure it goes to the right places!

Sprints have been going great and stamina has been increasing, same with running. My weights have been stepped up which is a great confidence boost. When I was at my biggest in NZ I weighed 96kg and I'm now benching 97kg. Not much for the weight lovers but for a skinny guy currently weighing 68kg it's promising to know my strength is in the right areas.

It has raised an issue that with the training I'm doing and active lifestyle, I need to eat more of the right proteins to prevent me losing too much weight before Sickline. I eat a lot, I just don't think it's enough of the good stuff to maintain my weight. More chicken, beans, protein!

I have some Teva Gnarkosi's waiting for me in the States as I wanted a midway shoe for creeking. I have Canyoneers which I love for creeking but for when I have my creek boat on whitewater courses or less rugged terrain I wanted a water shoe that wasn't too flimsy but didn't quite have the bulk of the canyoneers. So I'm really excited to see how they work out. They will definitely be my shoe of choice for the Sickline.

So stay tuned for photo's etc of our USA adventure coming soon!

Cardiff training

Today I decided it'd be a great idea to do some sprint training at CIWW. So I met up with Ben Coulton and headed to the course. The sun was shining and we hit the water! I wanted to do as many laps as I could and I lost count at around 20, I did a lot more after that so I'm assuming it was around 30. Not bad! The course wasn't that busy and there weren't too many rafts so it was pretty spot on for blasting down the middle at high speeds!

I had a Beet-it shot on arrival and I felt really good throughout the day not really getting majorly fatigued on any of the sprints so it seems to be doing it's thing well! It turned out to be a really good training ground because although it's very easy, the features are pretty much back to back so your often moving from one boof to the next and the water is so pushy and swirly it can be a challenge to hold your line. Also the conveyor belt to bring you back up is an added bonus! A great day with great friends and now I'm knackered! Mission accomplished!

Training weekend at Tryweryn

By some miracle everyone ended up with the weekend off so we headed to the mighty Tryweryn for a spot of paddling and for me to paddle till my arms drop off! We met up with Rob and Andy and made the long drive up to Bala. The weather was meant to be terrible but other than Saturday night we actually got a lot of sun, glorious!

For the first run I spent some time with my better half who is just coming to grips with the grade 3 I keep leading her down. She managed to nail the upper graveyard, ski jump and chapel falls with no problems, super proud! I soon realized with rafts and the volume of other boaters that charging down rapids cleanly was going to be quite challenging. None the less I focused on nailing fast lines through Miss Davies and Fingers.

For training I think the weekend was great. I felt pretty good and fast but I know I need to focus on being able to make these difficult moves when I'm exhausted. I think if I can get an intense day on whitewater at least once a week up to the event I'll be on the right track.

My dad lowered the bar and took a swim on upper graveyard, he was tired.... but nonetheless entertaining! Andy apparently swam at ski jump and Simon took a swim on lower graveyard and lost his blades for most the day, glad you found them mate!

Physically I feel great, feeling strong and fit. My old shoulder injury tweaked occasionally during the weekend but it doesn't seem to be effecting my paddling so that is promising. Heading to the states in three weeks, so I'll be trying not to eat too many burgers and hitting the gym! Overall a great weekend with family and friends!

Heatwave!!

British summer has got a little confused and supplied us with two weeks worth of pure dry, hot, sunny weather! Although this has been more than useless for paddling real rivers, it has been a lot of fun. BBQ's and swimming have most definitely been on the agenda, but training as also been on the menu. Running has been more sweaty and challenging but still good and paddle sprints have been great. The weather has also allowed me to ride my bike to work everyday so this is an added bonus.

Next weekend we are heading to the mighty Tryweryn for a weekend of paddling and training. The stop watch will be brought out and I'll be timing myself down different sections of river and ultimately practice my speedy paddling techniques and reading of the river for the fastest lines. I realized the other day that not including the two weeks I'm in the states I only have 8 weeks of potential paddling and training to go before the Sickline, crazy! But I think I'am on the right track. Heading to the Pyranha fest for some racing in September which is the weekend before I head to Austria. So that'll be a good opportunity to get some last minute boating in!

Has summer finally arrived?

Well here in the UK it seems we are finally getting a little bit of consistent nice weather! Last week I had a week off work and although I kept up my running and weight lifts I took a break from boating and had my 22nd birthday party mid week. So it's been great to hit training hard this week, and I'm quite sore for it! So far this week I've done three runs, three weight lifting sessions, four days at work, 16 miles of intense cycling, kayak sprints and a 7 mile intense paddle from Ross in an hour. I think tomorrow will be my rest day!

Last weekend I went on a none paddling camping trip to St.Davids with Jessica which was great! No surf but the sun came out so we had plenty of fun. I got to wear my new Nookie boardies which are now my favorite boardies! They are a fantastic fit and look pretty swish! I haven't used my full length strides yet as it's been hot! but after trying them on I know they are going to be spot on for the Sickline.

This week made it exactly three months until the Sickline in October, it's creeping up very fast! I'm currently reading Brad Wiggins's new book about winning the Tour De France in 2012. It's a really inspiring book and for anyone who is into competing or sport it's a great read. It's made me realize that although I've been training hard, now is the time to push it harder as I don't want to go into it wondering if I could have done more. I want to go there knowing that I prepared the best I could and that means whatever result I get I know I gave it my all.

This week is definitely a step up and I intend to maintain it if not push a little harder. The new addition of a 7 mile intense flat water paddle turned out to be great and I think it will benefit me big time with endurance. I'm not saying I sprinted for 7 miles but I put on a pace I knew I could withstand but that still hurt a lot! So this July is going to be a big training month including the beginning of August. I then have a two week holiday to the States where I will be hiking and hitting the gym there. Then it's the last and most important month... September, I will need to make sure I'm at my peak. With this dry summer and not being able to paddle abroad it's becoming more apparent that I'm probably not going to get on much serious whitewater before the Sickline, this is concerning. But at the same time it's just pushing me to focus on my fitness. I may not be as well practiced as some of the guys out there but I will make sure I can paddle just as hard.

Enjoy the sun everyone! See you on the water.

Shallow ditches and fun times at the Tryweryn

Friday night and Saturday morning looked quite promising with a lot of heavy rain forecast in the South Wales area so after training I arranged to meet Sion Way in Abergavenny and pick Ben Coulton up on the way and see what we could find to paddle. After driving around and stopping a few times to check the weather forecasts we arrived at a little river/ stream called the Dringarth. 

We got changed in the rain quite confident of a descent run. Needless to say, it was a grade 2 tree infested rock fest! Anymore water and it wouldn't have been paddleable (we barely got down it anyway). Obviously this was quite disappointing and by the time we got to look at the Mellte we were a little over it and decided to call it a day as levels weren't exactly fantastic. 

Sunday Morning I got up early and headed to the Malverns to meet Jules and Simon to head up to the mighty Tryweryn! It was raininy, cold and cloudy but plenty of fun to be had and it's all great training. My dad unfortunately snapped his Werners whilst trying to roll after Miss Davies, bummer! Other than that, was a great day! Took plenty of shots with the gopro and got a few interesting shots.... 

Pray for rain and see you on the water! 

 

Gopro times..

For Christmas I got a handlebar mount for my Gopro and for some reasons I haven't really had a play with it yet. So during training yesterday I got a cool shots from my paddle! As for the paddle, loving my new Selects! Super powerful and comfortable to paddle with, love it! Got some new full length Nookie strides and boardies on the way for my birthday, can't wait! 

New toys!

Well we've had some awesome weather and that meant for some warm sunny training! Last few weeks have been super busy between work and working out so I'm pretty knackered, I have a holiday in a week or two thank god!

At the Tryweryn festival I won a voucher for some Select paddles so last week I ordered a set of Select blasts, cranked with large blades. Today they arrived!! Exciting stuff, first off the paddles look and feel great, super comfy to hold and great to paddle with. Obviously I went paddling with them straight away! The paddles are all carbon so they are nice and stiff and I feel I get the maximum power out of them. I can't wait to try them on moving water but so far I'm stoked!

Trainings been going great, runs have been fine and paddling continues to get faster and with more stamina. With a holiday coming up and a weekend at the Tryweryn planned there's some fun times ahead... I love summer!!