tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-100176262009-06-30T10:47:35.522+01:00fleanoreply@blogger.comBlogger92125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10017626.post-40009433935687827402009-06-30T10:35:00.002+01:002009-06-30T10:47:23.608+01:00

So, whilst in Lyon I had to decide where to go next to find some waves. Canada, Uganda or staying in Europe were the choices. I chose the option that was logistically easy and certain to have waves: Uganda. I thought Canada would probably be busy and Uganda, although busy with British & irish uni paddlers, would probably be quiet in terms of international paddlers who tend to visit Uganda in Jan/

fleanoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10017626.post-88686162333497493972009-06-17T18:14:00.003+01:002009-06-18T18:53:48.384+01:00

I've just returned from a couple of weeks in Lyon.The levels were low, but it was great to be in my boat and on a wave (which has not happened since March!). The wave has changed a lot since I was last there in 2006 (?or was it 07?), for the last Lyon River Festival and it took a good couple of days to really get the hang of catching it.The main difficulty was positioning from upstream, as the

fleanoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10017626.post-88976033445440736992009-05-05T18:18:00.007+01:002009-05-17T16:26:33.637+01:00

Nearly 2 months without rain :( has meant no Hurley, no boating, which is a shame as this is the first year in several when March/April (and most probably May) has been dry, and this is the year I could really do with Hurley being open to practice for the Worlds in August.So..... where shall I go to paddles some waves?

fleanoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10017626.post-46411907186310207352009-04-14T15:20:00.007+01:002009-04-17T20:41:39.083+01:00

How unusual, a bank holiday weekend in North Wales without rain - how did that happen? Because we took our boats. Yep, weather witch strikes again - metcheck had predicted loads of rain for N.Wales for Thursday, which then changed to Friday, neither of which materialised.As we were dusting the cobwebs off the creek boats and loading them onto the car roof, and later when we were driving 2o mins

fleanoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10017626.post-19528106767793208022009-03-15T18:37:00.005Z2009-03-16T15:59:17.852Z

This year was really hard to make the team, I think I said that last year, but this year I really felt under pressure as the selection event was being held on my local playspot: Hurley weir. The level was what is usually termed a 'perfect 3-gater'. However, whilst 'perfect' for an afternoon paddle in the sunshine with a couple of people in the eddy it was, unfortunately, not quite so 'perfect'

fleanoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10017626.post-48216596879468242112009-03-09T10:13:00.009Z2009-03-13T12:09:12.739Z

I was recently back in Uganda for my regular short winter trip to sunnier climates. Being the weather witch that I am the water levels dropped pretty much the day we arrived, having been at perfect paddle-on levels for Nile Special since November!This did mean that club wave was good, Pringle clean blunts on club wave Peter Csonka - air screw on club wave. though it also meant that the

fleanoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10017626.post-84451403934255748742009-01-05T18:28:00.004Z2009-01-06T12:11:50.793Z

'I'm glad we left the boats at home' was repeated several times during the week especially when looking at numerous frosted boats on top of car roofs in Morrison's car park, Fort William. There were apparently some crazy people that were desperate to paddle even on just a trickle of water amongst a whole lot of ice. Madness.  I was constantly reminded of the time we were in the same area over 10

fleanoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10017626.post-88927351863104307672008-12-23T10:50:00.008Z2008-12-24T14:09:25.905Z

The Hurley rodeo used to be the biggest event of the British Freestyle calendar. Unfortunately, following a couple of cancelled March-events (due to low water), the event became a more low-key event in December (more reliable water-levels, but jolly darn chilly). With the event now being just one-day and the air temperature being a bit nipsome, and the water temperature being a little on the 'too

fleanoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10017626.post-29848898969767164562008-11-14T19:03:00.003Z2008-11-14T20:31:23.422Z

Pg 271 of  this Adventure Sports Physiology textbook.  Full text here

fleanoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10017626.post-56753448275849782972008-10-11T18:04:00.007+01:002008-10-16T21:06:23.880+01:00

Apart from Spain and Thun every other competition I have been to this year seems to have been plagued by the rain and the recent British Champs were no different. The horrendous weather was probably a factor in dissuading paddlers from entering, along with other events happening that weekend, and the competition field was small - it was however no less difficult as plenty of the top guys and

fleanoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10017626.post-48428259975621289542008-09-01T19:21:00.005+01:002008-09-03T21:32:31.780+01:00

The Thun finals all kicked off on Sunday (in more ways than one). It was all very exciting to watch and I was more than glad I wasn't judging. First up were the OC1s and this time James Weir hadn't quite got used to the wave so didn't throw down like he usually does - he came 3rd. Jez from Oz won. In the junior ladies Nouria from France was quite a way ahead of her competitors and took the

fleanoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10017626.post-51919797321978317992008-08-30T17:32:00.002+01:002008-08-30T18:37:22.300+01:00

Here we go again, another final sat on the sidelines! This time I couldn't quite get my blunts going, I think the 'fear of flush' factor was in there (again) and with just one throw-away ride I played it too safe instead of spending time setting up properly to get blunts - therefore I just got roundhouses meaning I dropped from 2nd to 7th, just behind Querine Wegman (NDL). Top 5 were Emily

fleanoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10017626.post-72334467343902790962008-08-30T09:00:00.003+01:002008-08-30T09:22:11.727+01:00

Once again there was a lot of flushing going on yesterday in the men's prelims but also some really impressive rides, particularly from Stephen Wright who threw a couple of huge aerial McNasties/pistol flips and Peter Csonka who powered back onto the wave after it looked like he was off, he scored just a few more points than Stephen to take 1st place. EJ's run plan looked risky - straight into

fleanoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10017626.post-30678210154343368032008-08-29T09:27:00.003+01:002008-08-29T09:45:34.670+01:00

Another day, another competition! The wave at Thun is set against a picturesque backdrop in a pretty Swiss town. The feature is a fun, smallish wave but quite difficult to get anything vertical (its difficult for me, though the guys make it look quite easy) as the wave is quite flat, it also seems to lack any shoulders and it can deal out some random (and sometimes not so random) flushes. We

fleanoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10017626.post-84694683783700815082008-08-29T09:06:00.002+01:002008-08-29T09:26:16.323+01:00

fleanoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10017626.post-52082942703329823432008-08-26T15:43:00.002+01:002008-08-26T15:55:18.098+01:00

It feels like the Augsburg finals happened quite some time ago now as we’re now in another country and surfing on a wave instead of a trashy hole. They were very exciting though. Emily Jackson got a really high-scoring 2nd ride which included an entry move and McNasty giving her the gold medal. Ruth didn’t quite get it together like she had done in the semis and flushed a few times but she still

fleanoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10017626.post-88649053785474283912008-08-24T10:58:00.004+01:002008-08-24T11:48:28.287+01:00

Familiar scenes of umbrellas and wet kit started the day yesterday. A little ‘de ja vu’ from last week as once again I reluctantly put my damp thermals on, which for some reason I left on the line in the rain rather than putting them under the tarp where it wasn’t raining! 30 women started in the line-up including a couple more Brits: Claire O'Hara and Flic Meares. My first ride was a good

fleanoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10017626.post-42732317990462474512008-08-22T17:43:00.004+01:002008-08-22T18:21:46.329+01:00

It seems like we've only just left Prague and already the next competition has started in Augsburg. The hole is very different to the one in Prague and for me there is a fine line between flushing, a beatdown, or landing a move nicely! However there is a definite opportunity for going big and some paddlers have been getting ridiculously huge air including junior Jonathan Shales from the US (

fleanoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10017626.post-34745989596230184192008-08-18T16:23:00.004+01:002008-08-18T17:12:29.679+01:00

Yesterday was the finals of the first World Cup in Prague. The format was 3 rides 1 counts. We weren't reseeded after each ride which meant, as I had won the semis, I was last up in each round. I was up against some really strong paddlers and despite winning the semis with the highest ride of the ladies competition and getting the 2nd highest scoring ride of the comp in my prelims, I was not

fleanoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10017626.post-23278555707186896262008-08-17T10:18:00.002+01:002008-08-17T10:30:17.999+01:00

Last night’s men’s semi final was pretty spectacular and thankfully it stopped raining long enough so the big crowd could watch without umbrellas/getting soaking wet.The atmosphere was fantastic, almost as good as the floodlit semi I remember at the Sort Worlds (2001), only lacking in the big firework display after the event! The competitors seemed totally fired up to be out there and the

fleanoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10017626.post-34555821325112833622008-08-16T19:09:00.002+01:002008-08-16T19:48:21.156+01:00

It is STILL raining!! Everything is wet: my kit, my towel, my clothes...brrrrr!  Thankfully the competition for me has been a lot more positive than the weather. The ladies were up this morning with a lot of heats! I was in the last one and it seemed to take forever before I was on (I've recently been used to just 3 or 4 heats, but there were 6 today). I had a really good first ride getting a

fleanoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10017626.post-4159371997872343342008-08-15T15:17:00.002+01:002008-08-15T16:19:26.138+01:00

Its been a little damp outside today, to say the least, so there was some tough decision making as to whether to do this (cafes, pancakes, sitting in the van/tent, staying warm/dry inside whilst watching the torrential rain): or watch this (Junior Mens & Mens K1 prelims whilst getting soaking wet in the torrential rain):  I'm

fleanoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10017626.post-57737396464448690322008-08-13T14:30:00.005+01:002008-08-15T15:17:21.246+01:00

This is Prague.  Nice.  As well as wandering around the city and looking at buildings and statues we have also been doing a bit of paddling.  The feature for the first World Cup, starting on Friday, is on an artificial whitewater course in Prague. Obviously a great training spot for slalom paddlers as we've spent a fair amount of time avoiding

fleanoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10017626.post-90811696001882339042008-08-11T15:13:00.004+01:002008-08-11T15:20:47.028+01:00

Photo: James Reeves/Kate Just before I went out to Europe I, along with 300,000 other people, attended the Bedford River Festival. This was a huge event -  a big river-side festival held in Bedford (hence the name!) with fairground rides, food stands, numerous stages with various bands playing and a number of different sporting demonstrations/come-and-try it sessions. A few of us from the UK

fleanoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10017626.post-36040272072048209682008-07-26T16:42:00.006+01:002008-07-28T15:19:22.727+01:00

Today I became European Champion! Pete and Dave both congratulated me in the eddy with words along the lines of ´about time Jarvie´. This was my 1st international Gold medal (they have mostly been Bronze till now!) and 1st European Champs medal since Thun 2002, so it has been a long time coming.The knockout finals for the ladies produced the usual up and down performances and I believe from

fleanoreply@blogger.com1