Well yesterday I got home from a seriously epic weekend at the Tryweryn Festival, and lets just say I was pretty happy and seriously knackered! We set off for the 3 hour drive on Friday night after work and arrived just in time for a few beers and a pub quiz, lots of fun. Sadly my airbed had a hole in it so I slept on the floor for the night, boohoo! We woke up early, quickly threw some paddling gear on and hit the water for a couple of runs before the competitions started.
First up was the rolling competition, I wasn't really looking forward to this one.... Basically your put in a topo duo with a stranger and the first one to roll up wins. Lets just say rolling up someone's body that's fighting you is not easy! Anyway drawing in the first round I bailed in the second as I suffered the worst brain freeze I've ever had! I was glad to have it behind me.
Next was the Pyranha King of the Wave competition! There were about 10 of us at cafe wave battling it out for the longest rides and old school moves to please the judges. There was plenty of carnage and of course some cuts and bruises, lots of fun!
Shortly after was the 8ball Boater X. This was a head to head race from above cafe wave to below NRA bridge. During the race we had to make a number of slalom gates and avoid large inflatables full of mean people paddling at your face! In the first heat I was quick off the line and after bouncing a few inflatables out the way got a big lead and won putting me in the semi finals. In round 2 I was lucky enough to get another good start and managed to keep the lead again whilst battling the inflatables, so I went through again. With some talented paddlers and being made to start near the back I wasn't too confident in the last round. Shortly after starting I managed to get into second and after pushing the leader back as he made an upstream gate I took the lead again. I got nailed by an inflatable and nearly lost the lead but through NRA wave they timed the inflatables wrong and I slipped through and took the win! Super stoked.
You guys remember the cardboard kayak I built? Well that race was last and lets just say that I SUCK at making cardboard boats... It didn't even last a second :) Very funny! After changing we headed to the party where we had some awesome food from pieminister and had some beers and partied. They also did the award ceremony and gave away prizes for the competitions that day and the video+ photo competition. First off I was really surprised and stoked to win the video competition, winning a huge camera bag from Lowepro, very cool! I Also came 2nd or something in the King of the wave, winning some sweet prizes from Pyranha and obviously winning some great prizes for winning the 8 ball race. The band rocked and we had a great night!
I got up quite early and drank 2 Beet-it shots in preparation for the final race and freestyle competitions. The BCU ran the race and tried to combine extreme racing with slalom. Basically we started at the cafe and finished at NRA again. On the way down we had to touch a number of markers with our hands, do a roll in an eddy and a freestyle move at NRA wave. The first heat went well, I held second throughout the race until the very end where I managed to creep up and draw with Nick from Palm. With 4 of us in the final it was on! After some crazyness above Fingers I managed to finish second behind Nick again. Was a really good laugh!
And last but not last was the Big Dog Rodeo at Top hole. Swapping my creek boat for my Allstar I headed up to the top. with about 8 of us competing and the judges wanted old school and entertaining moves as well as serious one we decided to have a relaxed 10 minutes where everyone takes it in turns to show their stuff and and have some fun. After nailing some serious moves and a few air guitars and shudder rudders I was quite confident that I'd done well. But the crowd wanted more so Lowri tried to stand up in her boat and ride the wave, but it didn't work out... So I gave it ago and.. it didn't work! After flopping into the hole and swimming down it was time to head to the centre for the final awards ceremony.
At the final prize giving I took joint first with Nick from Palm for the race and 1st for overall biggest moves for freestyle competition, then I was crowned the Tryweryn festival king! I was seriously pleased and I was given some amazing prizes from Pyranha, Big Dog and Select paddles. Thanks again guys!
It was an amazing weekend and probably the best paddling festival I've been to! Thanks to Will Mead for driving and being my boat muel and Jessica Mead for making me sandwiches ;).
My new Nookie Ti vest was super comfy and and did well against the elements!
I felt strong throughout the races which has reassured me that my training is working! As for stamina I think the Beet-it shots did their job. Happy man!
Thanks to the Tryweryn facebook page for some of photo's.
See you on the river!
No comments:
Post a Comment