C1 FREESTYLE - KNEEL AND FEEL

French freestyle spring

2009-05-30T03:14:00.000-07:00

Heya,
My stay in Geneva is almost over. I ve been doing some paddling, especially Charnay playspot in Burgundy.
I also went to a French competition in the Pyrenees- the FlipFlap party.
Enjoy the photos and the video.
Video courtesy of Filip Karasek and Yannis. Photos by Jo Suc (flipflap) and Laurent Devigne (Charnay).

Rudolph at the FlipFlap

Me at the awesome wave

Alex Jakette styling a cleanpanam

Arguably one of the best photos I ve seen- Val Corrotte backpanam

JB Bal at Charnay

Laurent Devigne

Backloop at Charnay

2009-02-17T10:53:00.001-08:00

see some pictures from Kuchl.............Zoid rocks the wave!!!!

(art des eaux photography by sabrina barm)

Freestyle oldschool...before God invented whitewater

2008-11-20T06:38:00.001-08:00

I dont really know what to say about this my thoughts are somewhere between "WHAT THE FUCK THATS AWESOME" and "POOF-BOY CANU"... This guy should try the WW freestyle

2008-11-14T05:53:00.000-08:00

Here is a video from the last weekend. Kuchl wave in Austria. Enjoy

Some more creeking pics

2008-10-19T13:34:00.000-07:00

Big thanks to Hanka Bubnikova... awesome photos there. Cheers for the comittment

Upper Rauma

Store Ula classic

C1 summer- Norway etc...

2008-10-03T01:12:00.000-07:00

The story behind these photos is quite simple... lots of paddling, partying and having a good time...
Photos taken by Hanka Bubnikova (paddling) and Stepan Vohradsky(party)

(photo courtesy of Ales Dusa)

Special thanks to:
Profiplast- cheers for the paddles
Bemaniaks- the coolest t-shirts around
Dusan Bubnik and Stepan Vohradsky- thanks for the ride
The French team at the Worldcup- awesome parties, awesome people.
Markus Hilbel- thanks for lending me your Cu-fly for the competitions...
Toby Huther, Markus Lepaennen, Norman the German, Alex Besseau, Jan Bubnik, the Czech crew, and pretty much everybody else for the time we had together...
Hanka B. for the photos
Stepan Fiedler for inspiring performance
Zandul, Moucha, Kubanec and all the guys from Pilsen for the trip to Norway
Angela....

Big Air....uhhuh crash

2008-07-09T02:25:00.000-07:00

Just wanted to share this one with you... It wasnt actually as painful as it looks.

Technique-basics-Head leads the way...(Cartwheels)

2008-05-07T03:51:00.000-07:00

Hi,
In freestyle the head movements are of great importance in both K1 and C1. It is stressed in every guidebook or educational DVD. However, many freestyle adepts do not do the head movements properly which causes incomplete moves, flushing and generally non-dynamic moves.

So why is the head movement so important? It is important because if you turn your head you also move a lot of your body in that direction (unconsciously) and moving bodyweight around is crucial for all sorts of rotations.

Simple rule is this -always look where you want the boat to go!

The best way to learn the head rotation are cartwheels.

During cartwheels it is essential that you always turn your head in the direction of the move. Your head has to lead the way-i.e. it should always be turned further in the respective direction than the long axis of the boat. If it is so you continue the rotation not loosing the momentum.
It is also important to focus on hip rotation.
So in the end you have two basic movements

Hip rotation.
Head/bodyweight rotation.

If you initiate the cartwheel (i.e. you plant stroke) these two movements are simultaneous but as soon as the boat starts rotating the head has to be further rotated than the hips.

Watch this video to see the usual trouble resulting from insufficient head rotation.

Watch this video to see the correct head rotation. Notice that as soon as the head stops rotating the boat stops too and another set-up for move is needed...

Other moves:
Split wheels- Look into the hole.
Blunts- on waves always look to where you want the bow of your boat to land. So...
Front blunts(onside)-turn your head snappily behind your shoulder in the direction of the move (you ll actually be looking at the same spot from where your stern has taken off)
Back blunts-turn your head snappily behind your shoulder in the direction of the move (you ll be looking upstream)

I ll be dealing with these moves specifically later on...
So long... hope it helped a bit...

C1 on waves I.- offside carving/balance

2008-04-27T05:53:00.000-07:00

Hey again,
This article is related to other articles that have already been published here. Articles were on Onside roundhouse and Offside roundhouse.
These articles are primarily concerned with freestyle moves. This article should show you the techniques that are essential for successful basic movements like surfing and carving which are essential for successful onset for moves on big waves.

C1 paddlers have serious disadvantages in freestyle paddling. We, however, have advantages as well and bigger waves offer many opportunities to use these advantages to the maximum.

First how do we deal with the disadvantages.

For many C1res the main disadvantage is the absence of the second blade and resulting inability to brace on the offside. The problem with crossdeck brace is that while it can be done on flatwater, in a hole or in the foamy part of a wave it cant be done on the green part.
But we have hands dont we?? The basic technique for regaining balance and/or for carving control is to use the palm of your hand either letting loose of the T-grip or just stretching the fingers while still holding the grip between the thumb and the palm.
Another technique is simply to avoid getting of balance. This is done by keeping your weight center above the boat.
But how to do this while carving to your offside (carving is initiated on the edge by putting weight on it). The essential thing is to shift your shoulders to your onside. So now your lower body part puts weight on the offside edge while the upper part shifts to your onside thus keeping your balance as well as the carving.

bounce for an onside blunt- offside carve/shoulders to the onside

Carving to the offside weight of the upper body above the boat

The same again: shoulders to the onside, your knees pushing the offside rail, head leads the way

Onside cleanblunt landing, notice the desperate effort to keep all weight possible above the boat.

Watch this video to see how to do that. Notice the shoulders are actually mirroring the movements of the lower body part (i.e. going in opposite direction) while the body leans forward to put weight on the offside rail thus initiating the carve. Also notice the arms are copying the direction of the carve and the offside hand controls the carve by touching the green.

More coming soon...
So long and keep practicing. Also let me know if the article helped in any way... or whether anybody actually reads this stuff.
Jan

Support C1FREESTYLE

2008-04-27T04:19:00.000-07:00

Hey,
This message is meant for frequent readers, fans of this website, C1 enthusiasts and basically for all of you who like this site or whom this site helped in any way.

As you probably know I frequently compete in the C1 division in competitions around Europe. I also try to train on different spots as frequently as I can. All this requires money... Being a student I am not able to save enough money for both competitions/training trips and equipment. The fact that I have a paddle manufacturer and local bar for sponsors (free paddles and cheaper beer woohoo..:)) doesn´t help much.

Currently I am sorting out the money needed for the trip to the European Championship... I haven´t actually been able to go to any of the previous Champs (be it World or European) mainly because I lacked funds for the trip...

So if you would like to help me go to the this year´s EuroChamps held in Ourense-Spain (23-26 July 2008) continue reading. If not, thanks for visiting this website. I hope you enjoy it and that it has been and will be of use to you...

The amount needed for the air ticket is approximately 7000 CZK ( app. 410$ ) the registration fee is 60 euros (app. 94 $.

How can you help me?

1. You can just send me an encouraging email and say you like my site or whatever... Every single positive comment I ve read helped...

2. You can post a link to my site anywhere you think it would be noticed.

3. You can help me collect the money for the air ticket and the registration fee for the event and become a C1freestyle sponsor. (No... our association does not pay for its team members registration fees nor for anything else...)

How can you send me the money?

1. You can send it by bank transfer. My bank account details are here:

IBAN code: CZ6101000000358669740277
SWIFT code: KOMBCZPP
Name : Jan Liska
Address: Psohlavcu 1499/55 , Praha 4
Prague
147 00
Czech republic

2. You can send it by PayPal. Just click the button below. 3. You can send it by post. My address is stated above.

What will you receive after you´ve given the donation?

If you provide me with your email address I will send you my personal thanks together with one of my photos in full resolution (it can be a photo of your choice if you specify one... most of the photos are good enough for posters). All the donations and donors will be published on c1freestyle together with specification of the use of their donation (i.e. air ticket or registration fee).
If you do not want to be published as a donor just let me know.

As soon as I´ve collected enough money for the ticket I will let you know on my blog. I will also publish the amount collected so far every week.

Thank you and enjoy c1freestyle blog!

Jan "Zoid"

Plattling OC1 style

2008-04-24T23:21:00.000-07:00

The event in Platling (German Champs)was great. The organizers used session format which was awesome. The session format meant that for every heat the paddlers had 2 x number of paddlers minutes for their rides. Another rule was that a single ride could not exceed 30 secs.

I borrowed an OC1 form German paddler Markus Hilbel... Thanks again Markus!
It was a CU-Fly from Robson. I really enjoyed paddling it because it was something completely new to me. To my surprise it rolled very well and I was even able to do splits/cartwheels in it.

Anyway, it was my first time hole paddling in more than half a year (actually like 9 months...). My practice rides were not that bad so I thought I might be able to do good rides in the competition. It was not so... bugger that the whole event was fun and I rediscovered the joy of holeriding and got enthusiastic into building my own OC1.

In the OC1 I finished second in C1 I came 5th ( I managed to fuck up every single ride in the finals :)))

More photos here

So long

Cartwheeling wooohooo

Me and Daniel Shank sessioning

C1 footage from Lyon

2008-04-16T16:00:00.000-07:00

I quickly stitched this together... It is not the true best-of since the best shots were taken on a different camera and I still havent been able to get that stuff from cassettes to computer...
I, however, think this might be somehow educational as the video shows some of my struggles with the wave especially setting up for moves.

As soon as I get all footage from Lyon and Uganda I will do some sort of my best-of from the waves... It will include Hawaii in Lyon, Nile Special (Uganda) and hopefully Malalu (also Uganda).
Till then you must content yourselves with this :)

Thanks to Jelen who recorded this on his brand new waterproof digital camera (he is not a paddler though :))

Music by Hail Seizures... awesome band and awesome friends... http://hailseizures.net/

Lyon session 08

2008-04-09T00:30:00.001-07:00

It was an awesome week at the Hawaii sur Rhone.The water levels were quite nice, especially since Monday. The wave was better for right moves as usual but if you waited for some time it usually pulsed (especially when the water was rising ) and allowed you to land a left trick. The locals also showed up and we could see they are really one with the wave.
I strongly recommend you to go there. Although there is no eddy service the wave is worth portaging your boat all the day. Especially when the levels are 0.7 m + . You can find more on this playspot on playak.com.
See you there someday....

Here are some photos... enjoy (Courtesy of Jakub Sedivy and Eric Bui)

Girls on water

2008-03-15T12:10:00.001-07:00

Hey I just quickly browsed through my photo archive and here is the result. I hope u like it. If you have some nice lady paddling pics and feel like publishing them dont hesitate to contact me...
Note: This is supposed to be an ode on the female aspect nothing more nothing less...

Thanks to all the people who took the photos...

Kayakcross

Uganda photos

2008-03-04T05:08:00.000-08:00

So I finally got some more pics from the Uganda trip... Enjoy... All courtesy of Tomas Pospisil aka Slunda- Photoshop genius and good friend

Jirka Kopecny right aerial trick specialist

Jakub Nemec Panam

My brand new scar...

Trip to Nazigo

Flying

Onside blowcheek cleanblunt

Jirka tucking for the Helix

I love this one... Mira Kodada at Bujagali falls

GuiGui prod team rider Leo Carpene ... Awesome style

kids...

Technique- Offside Roundhouse

2008-02-15T00:05:00.000-08:00

Heya folks...
So lets get down to business... shall we?
Offside roundhouse is gonna be easier than the onside roundhouse, especially for those who feel more confident with their strength than balance. To get the general idea what this move looks like watch the video...

It is easier to get enough speed while doing offside moves because you can do a stroke as you descend from the top of the wave and increase your speed. As far as the angle is considered check Onside Roundhouise Article

Again the most important thing is that the move has to be performed dynamically... Unlike cartwheeling (continuous strength application) blunting requires strength impulse... To be able to deliver such a forceful snappy movement in a C1 you need a lot of balance so if you fail while trying blunts do more carving/clean carving and then try again...

Onset phase. Notice that the boat still carves aggressively to the onside while all the weight and dynamics of the body is thrown to the offside.

Complex weight transition+hand pivot+paddle movement. Onside rail aggressively disengaged (this creates enough rotation dynamics) offside rail almost off the water.

Recovery stroke indicated.

Hope you can figure it out. Any feedback is welcome...
So long

Some pics from the Nile

2008-02-07T03:37:00.000-08:00

Hey...
I am back from the Nile... It has been awesome. I plan to do a lot of technique articles using the footage we got there. For now just a few pics... more coming soon.

Price to pay for boating on the 1st of Jan after a huge party...
so long

White Nile Christmas sessions

2007-12-25T00:52:00.000-08:00

So here we are... Christmas on the White Nile with the mighty Nile Special just 10 min paddle away running all day long... We are all slowly getting used to the slow rhytm of this country... We are also getting better on the wave. The long time without paddling is still apparent though. The weather is not as hot as I expected, it is like 25C, really pleasant. One of my friends - Jirka broke a paddle against his forehead while running Kalagala falls... Otherwise nothing serious happened so far.
We are all going to have a spit roasted pig for lunch today... and then guess what... the wave awaits us. Big up for Slunda for those photos... ingenious work.
So long and Merry Christmas.... Stay tuned for a video update.

C-1 Calendar

2007-12-11T10:35:00.000-08:00

Hey
The C1/OC1 2008 Wall Calendar just issued. I made it to the October page... So check it out here.
I am getting ready for the trip to Uganda... This time next week I should be on the equator.
Stay tuned for frequent updates from the Nile.
So long

Technique-Small waves basics-onside roundhouse

2007-11-05T08:07:00.000-08:00

Hey,
So after a long time I found enough determination to write something new... I ve been out of the WW business for over 2 months so sorry for not having attended the site for such a long time.

Anyway... First of all this article is for those who have started the difficult path of C1 freestyle. The roundhouse is a way to have fun even on small and/or shallow waves. If you want to learn blunts someday the roundhouse is a good start to improve your stability and general behavior on small waves before you try bigger ones.

Roundhouse is basically a low angle blunt (or even more basically slightly angled dynamic half-flatspin)performed on the green water (the part of the wave not covered by foam).
To get the general idea how it looks like watch this video.

The first important thing about the roundhouse as well as any wave maneuver is to get up the wave to the top. I already wrote an article on this see: here
DO NOT attempt to do a roundhouse while surfing on the green water without any upstream speed because you will not learn how to get the speed without losing balance which is MOST important for a C1er to progress to more difficult moves.

Phase 1:
So now you are somewhere up the wave. The first important thing is the angle of the descent to the green water where you want to do the move. There is a comprehensible rule for that: If you want to do a right roundhouse "aim" your boat slightly to the left and consequently in case of a left roundhouse you go slightly to the right.

Phase 2:
Now you are descending down the wave. Since we are talking about small waves it wont be much of a descent...:)) But you need to get as much speed as possible.

Here comes the first problem of the onside roundhouse/blunt. You cant use a paddle stroke for higher speed like the kayakers do because it would a) get you out of balance b) affect the onset angle c) move your paddle backwards where you cannot use it for the rotation. However you can plant a stroke while still on the foam pile but such a stroke wont affect the speed much... You can increase the speed by leaning forward dynamically on the foam pile.

The second important thing is the "edge transition" which simply means that you firstly engage left edge of the boat for a right blunt and right for the left. You engage the respective edge by pushing it into the water (your weight on the respective edge) while the other edge stays out of water. The body position at this stage should be neutral (no leaning forward at this stage!! The weight shift should be done by pushing by the respective knee and tilting the boat a bit).

Left edge/rail not engaged (left roundhouse)

Right edge/rail engaged (left roundhouse)

Phase 3: IMPORTANT
Then when you ve felt the strength of the water forcing the boat into a carve/turn to the respective side you have to change the edges fiercely. This creates enough energy to do the roundhouse. As you change the edges you also plant the paddle (you actually lean on the paddle thus changing the edges). You should plant your paddle somewhere near your hips. The closer to the boat you plant it the more vertical the move will be (but also the more demanding as far as strength and dynamics is considered.) Body position- lean aggressively forward just as the boat starts to turn to your onside (on bigger waves while doing air blunts it should be backwards..)

After the edge transition you have enough energy to complete the move.

Onside edge engaged. Paddle position indicated

Phase 4: The rotation
One of the mistakes I used to make was that I simply thought that during the rotation I shoul apply the strength just as during the bow end of the onside cartwheel. During the cartwheel you should apply the strength continually but during wave maneuvers you must pack all the strength in one dynamic impulse (if you don t you usually end up with a washout...). Your paddle serves as a pivot point of the rotation.

The rotation

Phase 5: Paddle movements
This is the most problematic phase of any onside wave move. If a kayaker does a blunt he may use the second blade for the "recovery" stroke thus regaining balance and staying on the wave. What often happens in a C1 is that you lose your balance after completing the rotation and you fall to your offside like a bag of shit...
There are three basic strategies how to avoid losing balance.
A) You move the paddle to your offside and use it as a backwards rudder. Tip: shift your hand that holds the paddle up the shaft as you complete the rotation before trying to use it to regain balance. Another tip: If you feel dragged to your offside by the water pushing against the blade let go of the shaft!! Then fling the arm to your onside- this often saves the day... can be seen in the video above...

Blade to your offside - backwards rudder

B) Hand stroke. This technique is more advanced. You simply do the recovery stroke with the palm of the hand on the T-grip just as the kayakers do their stroke with a paddle. I personally use a combination of these two techniques. You can see it in the video.

Hand and paddle movements

C) Spin-out. For me this is the most difficult technique. It is, however, most natural. As you end the 180 degree rotation you simply cleanspin round and end in front surf... :))

So this is it... hope it helps... Please let me know if it did.
Thanks
So long
Z.

Devil´s Extreme race 2007

2007-08-19T10:34:00.000-07:00

C1 Freestyle proudly presents:

Dear friends and courageous paddlers,

In cooperation with CNAWR, we prepared for you the first year of an extreme kayakcross and slalom competition. The competition takes place from the 31.8. – 1.9. 2007 on the river Moldau (Vltava) on the well known rapid – Devil´s cataract. All proffesionals are invited as well as other paddlers. Flawless paddling, action alpine superpipe start, great party with DJ Happy and Dj Eja, mixed drinks, sunny weather and warm water (21°C) guaranteed.

Starting fee- 500CZK (23euro), CNAWR members 350CZK

INCLUDES- campingplace, dinner, breakfast, a drink at the party, SHOCK drink, souvenir from the event

Program:

Friday: meeting, free training, dinner

Saturday: morning- meeting at the starting point in Loučovice

Track inspection with slalom following (touch the banner style)

Special start alpine free pipe

Afternoon free training

Evening party on the football stadium in Loučovice with barbecue (included in starting fee), bar, mixed drinks, DJs, camping on the location

Sunday: kayakcross cca. At 12:00

Results, prizegiving, huge raffle, free riding

Registration deadline 28.8.07

See you there

The Czech Freestyle Championship 2007

2007-08-14T02:24:00.000-07:00

Hi again,
this weekend we organized a great event in Prague. It was both National Championship and a part of the CNAWR Rodeo Tour. There were serious problems with the playspot since the obstacle that was supposed to shape the playhole was installed on Wednesday with only two attemps to "tune" the playspot. So in the end the competition had to be done on our local shallow wave, because the desired playspot wasn´t any good.
The best thing about the event was the ramp we built. It was not the usual type of ramp that throws you in the air... The end of our ramp was leveled with the water so that you bounced of the water and had a chance to do completely aerial wave tricks.
The event itself consisted of funslalom, boatercross, team race, freestyle and big air contest. I ended up second in the freestyle competition, the C1 category was won by Stepan Fiedler (8 times Czech champion) who is a brand new father and hasn´t been training for over a year.... Respect...

I really enjoyed the ramp and i landed some very good pan-ams airblunts and even one clean airblunt... wooohoo

I also managed to win the whole event (combination of all the competitions) for which the prize was a nice Axon backpack... a great gift for my mom....

Photos follow... thanks Peter....

Karel Boukal aka Jan Bouchal (Old Bastards category 1st place)

Tomo Andrassy clean blunt (1st place K1m)

Stepan Vohradsky entry kickflip (2nd place K1m)

Maty Kucera donkeyflip (4th place K1m)

Stepan Fiedler blunt (C1 1st place -for the eighth time in a row...)

Jan Spindler(3rd place K1m) airscrew bounced from the ramp

Tomo ramp helix

Peter Prauze ramp panam

My two nice onside panams

Jan Bubnik fisherking

Me launching big clean back something...:)

The Slovak Championship 2007

2007-08-13T00:29:00.000-07:00

I went to the Slovak championship for the weekend 5.-6.8.
It was a great competition and I particularly liked the kayakcross which was immense fun. The playspot was really not my cup of tea since it was quite shallow and it was pulsating a lot. But I still think it is a better hole than we will ever have in Prague.
In holeriding I ended on the 8th place, basically not completing a single move... well shame on me. The C1 category was won by Jakub Micka.
I did far better in the C1 kayakcross. I won the first heat! And I won it against three creekboats... That was the one piece of satisfaction I needed... Huh I ended last in the finals though.... The party was really great and that´s what matters the most....

Here are some pictures from the event....

Before the eddy I was the last one...

But I managed the eddy better than the others...

Stepan Fiedler (red boat) -the winner of the C1 kayakcross

You can find more photos here.

An article about the 2007 Czech Open Freestyle Championship coming soon

C1 lady experience

2007-08-07T13:10:00.000-07:00

Cheers people...
This article was written by a C1 lady beginner. I asked her to write it because I think it might interest you since you cannot see a girl paddling a C1 every day.... Translation to English done by me....
Enjoy

English version

I ve been living right next to a river for my whole life, but I got involved in paddling as late as in 2004, when a guy took me on a canoeing trip. So I started with touring recreational paddling. And since I liked the rocking of the boat as well as the guy, I was dragged into the paddler´s world. I frequently went paddling with him and watched him paddling a kayak and in my mind I saw myself riding on the waves.

After a short time I said to myself I should try a kayak. My boyfriend was happy with that and he seated me into a kayak called Bert, thinking this is the best boat for me. I paddled an easy WWI… But the Bert is one hell of a boat and I am 161 cm tall and 53 kg (115 pounds) so you might imagine how I did in that… Well.. and there were like ten people on the bank shouting „Lean downstream!“ and even though I got the hang of handling the boat, the boat did not react… So I ceased my efforts saying to myself I will try it again, but I not soon… But I wanted to paddle all the same… And then came the great idea of trying a C1… Whooa! C1 ROCKS!
Right at the moment I first knelt into the boat I imediately knew this is what I want. I don´t mind kneeling in the boat. I actually find it more comfortable because my back, unlike in kayak, doesn´t hurt. The knees are pretty much all right but ankles are giving me one hell of a hard time. But I can handle this. Well… I won´t freak out for such thing. I like being higher, I got better view of what´s coming and the overall control of the boat is better.

So i began to learn despite my friend discouraging me all time. As my friend Fantomas (nick) says :“ Barenka, you´re doing well, but fuck C1 and go to kayak.“ C1 is a challenge to me. And even though all others think I am out of my wits, I find the movement in a C1 more natural.

This year I´d like to run Hamr creek, Vavrinec creek ( famous czech creeks class WWII-WWIII that are runnable in autumn when the lakes release water) and other runs. The roll is still to be perfected, but I can surely handle that. I am most enthusiastic about C1. Fantomas taught me to roll, right after I bought my boat. It was a great motivation for me. I lerned it in an hour so I was even more enthusiastic.

I like C1 despite that everybody says I won´t keep up with the kayakers. So what?! I´ll simply paddle because I like it not because I want to rock the river more than somebody else.

I paddle my way- relaxed and laid back. The Wavesport Z I recently bought seems to be an ideal boat for me and I am still training on flatwater and easier runs. I don´t want any rush. To chase some goal… wait … I got one… My dream is to run the Devil´s stair (class WWIII-WWIV rapid in south Bohemia. Location of one of the World Championships in rafting) But I don´t need to rush into it. On the other hand I am pretty sure I will handle it someday.

When I ran Jizera rapid ( class WWII-III river in northern Bohemia runable in spring) it was great and it gave me motivation once again and I thought I mustn´t be satisfied with what I got. I feel I´ll do much better if I put enough effort into it. If you get my point :).

It´s a shame many people think C1 is dead… What a bullshit. Why? It certainly is harder and slower than kayak but in this age of speed we should relax a bit.

Relax all the same….

On the other hand I do not completely forsake kayak. I will probably learn it someday…

So I hope there will be more and more C1 paddlers and even C1 lady paddlers on the river.

As I say : Hail C1 and be happy. :)

Barenka

On the Jizera river

Training in Ceske Budejovice

Czech version

Celý život bydlím u řeky, ale k pádlování jsem se dostala až v roce 2004, kdy mě můj kamarád vzal na kanoe. Takže jsem s tím začala rekreačně.

A protože se mi houpání lodí zalíbilo a zalíbil se mi i kamarád, vtáhl mě do světa vodáků. Často jsem s ním jezdila a koukala jak pádluje na kajaku a viděla sama sebe, jak si dávám tu, nebo jinou vlnku.

Po delší době jsem si řekla, že zkusím kajak. Přítel to přivítal a v domění, že mě posadí do té správné lodě jménem Bert, mě vyslal ve Vrbným na jedničku. Jenže Bert je blbuvzdorná loď a já jsem 161 cm vysoká a vážím 53 kg. Takže si dokážete představit, co to pro mě bylo. Navíc se na břeh vyskládalo asi deset lidí, co na mě řvalo: „Nákon!!!“ a i když jsem to měla všechno vyčíhnutý, jakej náklon, Bert prostě nic.

Takže jsem s tím sekla a řekla si, že to asi zase někdy zkusím, ale za hodně dlouho.

Jenže jezdit jsem chtěla. A tak jsem měla spásnej nápad. Co zkusit singla.

UAU! Singl je ale věc!!!

Když jsem na to sedla, okamžitě jsem věděla, že to je ono. Klečení mi nevadí. Vyhovuje mi to víc, protože když jsem později ještě zkoušela kajak, bolely mě hrozně záda. V singlu mě záda nebolí. Kolena jsou taky v poho, jen nárty. Ale to se dá zvládnout. Přece nejsem žádný mejdlo. Vyhovuje mi když jsem výš, mám větší přehled o tom, co mě čeká a celkové ovládání lodi v zákleku je lepší.

A tak jsem se začala učit, i přez odrazování mého okolí. Jak říká můj kamarád Fantomas: „Bařenko, máš našlápnuto, ale vyser se na singla a jezdi na kajaku.“

Singl je pro mě výzva. A i když všichni kroutí hlavou, je to pro mě přirozenější pohyb, než na kajaku.

Asi na tom něco bude.

Letos bych určitě chtěla jet na Hamerák, Vavřinec a všechny tyhle prásky. Zvedání musim sice ještě dopilovat, ale to se zmákne. Jsem hrozně nadšená. Eskymovat mě naučil Fantomas, hned jak jsem si koupila loď. Bylo to pro mě hrozně motivující. Naučila jsem se to za hodinu, takže moje nadšení stouplo ještě víc.

Baví mě to a i když mi říkají, že nebudu stačit kajakářům. Co na tom. Prostě budu pádlovat, protože mě to baví a ne proto, abych někomu natřela prdel.

Pádluju si pěkně pomalu a v poklidu. Svojí loď, co mi sedí jak hrnec na prdel Wave sprot Z, jsem si koupila v lednu a tak se učím zatím na klidné vodě a na menších peřejích. Nechci nic uspěchat. Hnát se za něčim. Hm.

Mám se za čím hnát. Můj sen je sjet Čerťáky. Ale nepotřebuju to uspěchat. Na druhou stranu ale vím, že to jednou zvládnu. Když jsem jela horní Jizeru, bylo to super a opjet mě to nakoplo a řekla jsem si, že nesmim usnout na vavřínech. Cítím, že když budu chtít, bude to fakt dobrý. Teda jestli mi rozumíte :o)

Mrzí mě, že si někteří lidi myslí, že singl nemá budoucnost.

Co je to za hovadinu. Proč? Je to sice těžší, učit se na tom a v závěru pomalejší než kajak, ale v dnešní uspěchané době,.... :o)

Prostě pohoda.

Na druhou stranu, kajak určitě nezatracuju. Asi se to taky jednou naučim na sedometu, abych pořád nepádlovala nakřivo :o)

Takže doufám, že se singlířů a singlířek objeví víc a podpoří to snažení, aby bylo víc singlířů na řekách.

A jak říkám, přijpíjejte na singlíře a buďte šťastní :o)

Bařenka

Plattling playspot all inclusive

2007-07-28T02:42:00.000-07:00

Hi,
Last weekend my friends and me went to Plattling. Since the weather forecast promised rains on Saturday and the water level was good we were looking forward to a great weekend on one of the best playspots in Europe.

Leaving Prague with an extra boat.

Jakub Nemec launching a McNasty

In the middle of the river there was a nice wave with a green shoulder that allowed dynamic right blunts

Eva Fillova- Slovak team member- going huge

Ain´t this beautiful...?

The Plattling playspot allows HUGE airloops- Karas in mid-air

The promised rains came on Saturday night. Three storms collided just above our heads. The wind almost blew our tents away. It didn´t stop the party though...:)

Next weekend I am going to Bratislava to participate on Slovak Championship 2007. They say the competition hole has improved since last year (it was a small and shallow hole) and that now it allows right blunts on the left shoulder. So I count on my right cleanblunt during the competition... :)
to be honest- the main reason I go there is not the actual competition but the PARTY. It is certainly going to be great.

Well one last piece of information. I persuaded the single C1 lady paddler I know to write a short article about her C1 experience. So look forward to the article, the translation will be ready by Thursday.

So long,
Z.