Half Term Hurley

With a week off school, I was really keen to maximize my time on the water as selections are just around the corner, so again, it was time to get the train. It's quite difficult to carry everything including boat (in a bag), paddle and spare kit - and walking is even more difficult - but it was totally worth it for an extra two days on the water. 

The journey down was fairly straightforward with only one change at Reading, and although the return journey had two changes (as I missed my first train) I managed it even after a full day paddling. I did learn some valuable lessons on my adventure...



Tips for getting a kayak on a train:

  1. Act as if it is normal - people will either not think twice or just presume it is allowed
  2. Avoid talking to train staff - they will often become very concerned with where it is going and try to talk you out of idea 
  3. Find somewhere out the way for the kayak - ideally it can go in the guard's cart, but I usually place it behind the last seats in a carriage
  4. Wear official kit - the public is usually more forgiving
  5. Be polite - kindness can go a long way!

Burners - Wednesday

When I arrived at Maidenhead, Sam was there to pick me up and we took the short drive over to Hurley to meet Jacko and the other Burners. 


To switch the session up, we had the first hour as general paddling and warming up, before a competition at the start of a second session. My first ride was one of my best; but it was short lived as my other two were poor. 


After watching the boys' heat, it was back into our boats to continue work. While also trying to put together a whole routine, I wanted to continue refining blunts (mainly on the left) and also try more back blunts in order to collect more points. 

I had a really great session and feel like I am more prepared for selections. 

Great shot by Seth (@seth_ashworth)

Thursday

Although my arms were still a little sore from Burners, Sam, Heidi and I were on the water early and making the most of the half term. We had the feature to ourselves! 



The paddle up the eddy after flushing early in a ride is never nice. However, I decided that with so few paddlers, and virtually non existent queue, I would try moves and be more risky as the implications of flushing were considerably less than usual. This meant I was throwing left blunts as vertical as possible and experimenting with back blunts in order to push up these weaker moves. 



After lunch, it was difficult to get back on as the sky matched the colour of the Thames and rain lashed down - but once kitted up we were eager to go and even spent longer than planned as we lost track of time (and we didn't have a watch).

Half term is drawing to an end but there is still time for paddling as after just a day at home, I am back down to Hurley (and Lee Valley) for the weekend and final preparations. 

Comments

  1. Nice one Emma, keep up the good work and best of luck for the self selections.

    ReplyDelete

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