Burners: Hurley - 2 & 3 gates!

Another weekend and another trip down to Hurley. On the way down, the weather forecast predicted sun but also that it was going to be another cold day with highs of just 4 degrees. However, this didn't affect our spirit. When we arrived, the car park was virtually empty and two gates were open but, as we were paddling, the lock keeper arrived and switched Hurley on to the "perfect" 3 gates.

Our morning session, with the exception of the last two or three rides, was on 2 gates, with the slab gate and radials all open. Mornings like this remind me of the beauty of rivers as the mist hung over the water, sun blazed through and sunlight reflected off the ripples. In this first session, I tried to encourage myself to work more in gate 1 as this is the the most consistent section of the feature. In here, I tried blunts, roundhouses and also cartwheels - and still a lot more to work on.

After just a few hours on the water, everyone began to feel the cold and I began feeling fatigue, but with the gates being changed to three - our enthusiasm and motivation was rejuvinated! The mist had risen and Buners were very lucky to have the weir almost all to themselves in the sun.

Then we headed to Jacko's for a video analysis session, focusing in on individiual moves (for me this was the blunt).

When we got back to Hurley, the car park was a lot busier as news had spread. However, it was still relatively quiet, as most people were probably inside keeping warm or doing Christmas shopping. I felt much more confident on three gates, and blunts felt easier as the wave became steeper so you could generate more speed. Now, I just need to work on the timing and recovery of blunts and also do more on my left.

Overall, I did not feel it was the best session and at times became fustrated as progress is feeling very slow - however, I am more motivated to train and with my Christmas holidays coming up, keen to get out on the water even more. I guess you just have to remeber that success is never a straight forward and set backs are inevitable, but determination, persistance and optimising training gains are essential.

I will also be making a video over the next week or so.