Let's just do it

A relaxed portage at Pyrford Lock

After a really good 6 weeks where we had been regularly getting on the water 3 to 4 times a week, our confidence was sky high, but it only took one so-so paddle on Sunday for us to start getting doubts in our minds about our ability. The problem was, was that we actually paddled damn well on Sunday but we just didn't realise it at the time. We were not fast, but it was a blustery evening with quite a bit of chop on the water and we were paddling late at night when we were pretty tired. I really tensed up again as we went through by Kingston Bridge where there are no easy get-outs if we take a swim and Adam's back started to play up again. All we could see was the negatives because it was not as good as it had been for quite a while. We had a couple of occasions where we had to put a support stroke down, for example when I didn't see an outlet pipe spewing out a jet of water until it was pushing the nose of the Mystere well off course; so of course we thought about the fact we'd put down some support strokes. What we failed to see, until yesterday was that actually, we needed to put those strokes down and we did it without fuss and carried on paddling. We stayed upright and never looked like we were going to roll. It was one of those paddles that without us realising at the time has probably helped to make us better paddlers; not faster, but better. We have also become so focussed on every paddle being great and achieving what we needed in 'The Plan' that we forgot to enjoy what we were doing, because that's why we should be doing this, right?

So last night we met up for another paddle. Again, it was very dark but generally conditions were much better, but we set out simply to paddle for an hour, stay relaxed and enjoy it. Within two minutes of pushing off we encountered 2 rowing eights and a support boat moving really fast the other way. :-(  Okay, let's see how relaxed we can stay faced with this little lot. So as I turned in, took a deep breath and started saying 'footbar' to anyone who would listen, namely Ad who's a captive audience anyway, we were greeted with the two biggest waves that we have had to ride so far. I wasn't initially hopeful but we got through them ok with a support stroke or two and we then proceeded to Kingston Bridge with the water bumping us around badly and, even though I say so myself, we rode the bumps really well and never felt like we were going to roll at all. The rest of the paddle was great and we even paddled through the bridges on the way home with some semblence of confidence.

So Ad and I chatted and I felt that we should commit to starting the DW. Up until now we've always hedged our bets and alluded to the fact that we might not be good enough to start; a sort of relaxed 'let's just see how we go.' Well, I believe that we are good enough and it's important that we focus on our ultimate goal. Don't get me wrong; we still have a way to go yet but when I consider our last two paddles and how we've coped with the conditions then as long as we keep training consistently and effectively then there shuld be no reason why we shouldn't make the start in good shape.

Because of this rather non-commital attitude to the start of the DW we have also not really worried about sorting out our support crew, with us just wanting to focus on what we were doing in the boat. The support crew is obviously vital, as this excellent post describes and I really wanted to make sure that we have some experience in our crew to give us the best chance of finishing. Ad and I are really pleased that Alan S is going to support for us; a man who knows all things DW and probably singlehandely saved our race last year at Dreadnaught and I still have the cable-ties attached to my spraydeck that he put on so we could open and close them quicker . His experience and knowledge is a great thing for us to have; a bit like turning up at your local go-kart track to find that Ross Brawn has set up you car. We still need to sort out a second team and a few friends have kindly offered so we are going to have to start organising some training paddles with them.

Ad's away for a few days but next week is a bit of a biggie; paddle Tuesday, long paddle Wednesday and the Waterside A on Sunday. Our first big test before the DW. Exciting times.