#kmka

[kingswoman]

(via https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0Z4vmKV13A8)

Part of how I spent my Christmas... The men of my kayaking club cook Christmas dinner for 20 very, very fast.

[kingswoman]

I'm off to France soon to do some whitewater kayaking with the Captain. Charmingly, the French call white water 'eau vive' - living water. With that in mind, I'm going to be practicing my throwlining over the next two weeks. Sadly, I am the one most likely to need rescuing!

[kingswoman]

The Captain has fun with the newest feature - a 'rock' made out of rapid blocks - on the Lee Valley Legacy Loop! It has a very interesting set of currents, with a chicken chute to the left, and a stopper to the right. It's easy to surf middle to right, harder to surf right to middle (the wave flows slightly down stream, so you surf very fast off to river right). It's possible to force your way back up river left nd run it again (and again and again...)

[kingswoman]

I'm not feeling very Christmas-y so far this year, perhaps because I haven't done much Christmas shopping and the weather has been mild and vilely wet, rather than dry and cold (as it should be!). But the weather has finally turned, the end of term Christmas party is tonight, the graduate Christmas formal is next week, and I now know what present I'm getting my boyfriend! So here's a taste of how my kayaking club do Christmas dinner...

[kingswoman]

So, I made another montage! This time I tried Youtube smoothify function, and I'm not a fan. It's made everything look funky - lines bend, faces stretch, the final image is screwed. I disapprove!

[kingswoman]

Lee Valley Rolling Clinic - a damp squib

I was really excited to be heading to Lee Valley last night for their 90 minute rolling clinics - an opportunity to roll somewhere cleaner than the Cam, with close supervision, and most importantly "with the progression to rolling in moving water at the exit of the Olympic white water course."

I knew it was going to be cold, so myself, AJ and ADS from KMKA got suited and booted in as many layers as possible (boots, 3mm wetsuit, fleece-lined rash vest, dry cag, skull cap and boots). They had racks of kit to hand out, most of it culled from the rafting at Lee Valley (wetsuits, boots, helmets and buoyancy aids) and a fleet of club-issue boats, mostly Inazones, with the plastic-raincoat-style spray decks and squared-off paddles. This is where we hit our first issues. The boats weren't organised in any way after the previous session, so it was a case of looking around in the dark for a boat of a suitable fit, and myself and AJ just couldn't find boats small enough! I recognise that the demographic at LV is mostly male and on the tall side, but they run kids classes and don't have any small boats! We went into the main storage area and found a small playboat for AJ, and then I had to have a medium playboat (the next smallest playboat was too short), with no footrest and no air bags. Even after bringing the back rest right forward, it was too big, and I found one knee fell out on my first roll.

Our coach (Captain Coach) was with us, running the Olympic course and checking up on us, and is my height and build. He swapped me for a club Dagger ("Urgh" was the verdict of one of the LV coaches on seeing said boat. I'm sorry it's not a new model, mate, but at least it fits, and it does just fine on the Olympic and Legacy courses!) and took the playboat off to run the Olympic course. Apparently it loves to surf and puts the 'stick' in sticky holes, but wasn't suitable for a small person wanting to perfect their rolls in!

Niamh, one the coaches, was really great during the technique work on the lake, working one on one with us. She talked to us about different techniques for different situations, was really patient in watching us, and gave us tips for follow-through stokes and posture to get extra power and finish up upright and ready to face that next feature.

The coach who designed the course was doing great work teaching beginners to roll, for sure. When tackling our little group, who could all roll already, she seemed intent on teaching us an entirely new roll technique rather than working with what we'd got - and this was 50 mins in, as we all got colder and more tired. Mostly colder. I resorted to neoprene gloves at this point. We asked if the plan was still to take us onto the fast, flat water at the bottom of the Olympic course - we'd driven an hour to do just that.

I think what followed was probably a break down in communication, but came across as a total professionalism failure. She said that rolling on moving water "wasn't what the rolling course is for" and she was feeling "too lazy" to walk round there. When I told her that the website and the info sheets talked about progression to moving on rolling water, she got increasingly short with me, saying that she had written all the information and had definitely not said anything about moving water. I hope the quotes and links here demonstrate why Captain Coach and I were pretty convinced we could expect some training on moving water! After this, Captain Coach went and had a word with her, and after a rather pissed-off exchange on both sides (I imagine the LV coach in charge was pretty cold and exhausted by now, so fair enough), she walked round, as did Captain Coach, and we paddled up.

I can now say I have rolled on the Olympic course (ahem). We sat in an eddy, waited for a raft free patch, and then paddle across to an eddy just above some blocks. The flow is so much stronger than the Legacy! I'll need to get a lot fitter before I tackle the Olympic assessment. ADS also rolled successfully several times, and AJ would have managed it too if she weren't totally exhausted and incredibly cold at that point. Niamh brought across a few people who had been learning to roll who seemed to find it a bit much (lots of swimming), and she did what must have been a gruelling tow of a tall bloke, his paddle and boat. By then, time was up and we were all ready for a hot shower and dry clothes. I also felt a little let down about the content and structure of the 'clinic', although I really appreciate that the coaches DID take us up to the Olympic water, although they didn't want to.

If you want to learn to roll and are still at the basic stage, then I think this clinic/course is a good idea. However, if you can roll and want to "develop a more dynamic and bomb proof roll", I wouldn't bother. The coach who designed the clinic seems to envisage it as a course (NOT how it is pitched online or at the centre!), where you come every week, and by the end of November maybe they'll take you up to the Olympic course. It's not set up for people who can already roll to pitch up and try their rolls a more challenging environment.

If you have your own boat and kit, absolutely take them with you, especially if you're small. If you have a spray deck that fits a lot of boats, take that too - you'll stay drier.

Where do I go now in my quest for a bombproof roll? I'll be back to Lee Valley soon, with more time booked on the Legacy loop, and I think that's my best bet - practice, practice, practice on white water, as well as at home on the flat Cam. There are drills I can and do do, and I'm going to keep up with that. I'm also going to spend more time in the gym building my upperbody strength (it's already helped, my shoulders are far looser and more comfortable that I could have hoped). And I won't be recommending this clinic to my friends and club members.

[kingswoman]

Rough Cuts!

The first draft of the epic Lee Valley montage I have planned...

[kingswoman]

Here's a really useful page from Canoe London about kayaking at Lee Valley, full of details I wasn't aware of, eg.

While under coached supervision, you can use the Olympic course without having passed the assessment - great if you're not sure you're up to standard yet

The private hire rates for each course (looks like they only need to run a couple of rafts an hour to make having the Olympic course running cost-effective. Good news for kayakers/canoeists, as it means this course will be open more often!)

Details of the new kit hire scheme (£15 for a boat, or £20 all in). Not as cheap as Brookbank, but more convenient if you're on foot.