Racing Friday

A beautiful sunny day, plus 29 and the course looked fanatastic. Demos at 10 revealed it had a couple of tough moves, one being a nasty stagger that subsequently got moved 50cm . Anyway racing was a complicated affair with the French national champs mixed in so every class had a whole section of French paddlers first. They have a ranking system here for races so if you are N1 you could enter. Being an international ICF ranking race 6 boats from each country were counted in this race so some of the French were in both races.
Up first C1 with 42 C1's it was tough for Shaun to make semis. The main aim for all the juniors is a good performance as in senior races with only 20 going through it will always be a big ask except for the C2 who have only 21 in their race. Shauns first run had a few mistakes and a 50 at the tricky stagger but he learnt from that and posted a pretty solid second run to finish well and ahead of all the Aussie juniors which is always good. I think his final placing was 33rd.
Jane didnt fare so well, same tricky stagger in run one caused her problems and a couple of 50's. The water flowing very fast and small mistakes very costly. Second run she was having a great run until gate 11 which was a downstream then a spin and then across a big wave to get the next downstream. Looked good until she lost balance and rolled. With the power of the water she was past a couple of gates and no chance of recovery. A great learning experience both mentally and physically.
Luuka raced really well and was in 12th after first runs, and after vid review fine tuned her performance to have another 'cracker', as kidda would say and ended up in 8th. If she can repeat that performance then a final and top 10 is very achievable.
Today is the C2 and K1M, I have just dropped Kidda and C2 ff for a big warm up then collected the morning baguettes and a delicious looking raspberry tart for a dessert treat tonight. Think I could get used to the French patisseries very easily but not good for the waistline. Our accommodation has worked out to be fantastic, kids have been in pool, we have had a BBQ and we eat outside at a picnic table that all 8 of us can fit at. Our hosts are really nice and the fact they speak English is a bonus for helping us find things. I have cooked every night here and team enjoying home cooked meals, even if basic spag bol last night.
The washing machine is great and we have dominted the back yard with a makeshift clothesline.
Will be another big day today as 120 K1 men to race. Last night we left the course at 7.30pm and all pretty tired.....More results later fingers crossed they are goodies.

Thursday in Foix

To avoid the crazy mayhem of the organised training with 40 boats we got up at 6am and were on the river at 7am. It was great as we were the only ones there until 8.30 and the athletes all had a good session. Collected croissants, pain au chocolat and baguettes and then back to house for video review and a chill out- homework, movies etc. Made mac cheese for lunch and ate heaps more cherries that Shaun had picked. We are now giving them away to Swiss team and they giving us chocolate.

Next session 2 pm and after that went for a coffee. Some of the team went up to the castle . I walked from town to managers meeting at 5pm, then cooked butter chicken, rice and cooked cabbage. Kids enjoying home cooked meals and flexibility of when and what to eat.Currently lots of guitar playing, bongo drums and singing with Luuka and Kidda. Callum and Bradyn gone to check out cherry trees in garden. Shaun into town to catch up with some of the Swiss.

C1 and K1W tommorrow. Results will be on website http://www.foixcanoe2010.com/en/

Finals on Sunday will be live on website from 1pm-4pm French time ( 11pm NZ?) http://team.sports.orange.fr/videos/orange-sports-tv/lives/index.php

there are 19 nations with 71 K1M, 47 K1W, 21 C2 and 42 C1M with 6 C1W also.

Semis will be 20 boats and finals 10 boats as per ICF rules except C1W when all will go through to promote the new class.

We have spotted Tony Estanguet and Fabien Lefevre so we are among the best French paddlers here.

Wednesday

Massive day today with two training sessions , one at 11 and another at 5.15pm.
In between we did viedo ,had lunch and drove to a small town called Mirepoix. Gorgeous old buildings all very old and still a working town.
Came back did another session, which was crazy with 40 boats. Jane got speared and we had to buy ice on the way home for her ribs. After another vid session , and dinner - a pasta dish with lots veges cooked while kidda did vid review , then some of us met up with Aussies and Swiss in the town square. The kids came back with Swiss team to swim in our pool. Getting up at 6am to have the time on river before all the craziness.
Will post some more phtos tmoro.
Cheers for now

Tuesday in Foix

Up early to buy food, back pack on and good walking footwear, but alas supermarche not open until 9am and closed between 12.30 and 2pm so at last tried my French in the bakery.
Je voudrais six croissants, six brioche and quatre baguettes- have to say it felt good and I even understood the amount to pay 'onze euro vingt'.
After a very French breakfast of baguette and croissants the team headed to the course to have a paddle . Loked like fun, they were all happy , but did comment on how fast the water was flowing.
Supermarket after that and found a very budget one so shouted ourselves steak and potatoes for a BBQ tonight.
Back to a picnic lunch on our garden table and then a chat to our hostess from Glasgow. They have done 'the year in Provence thing' but have stayed 3 years and look permanent as they turn their house into a Chambres d'hote.
She told us of cherries and wild deer at the bottom of the garden. Shaun, Jane and I went exploring in jandals at first attempt- didnt count on the stinging nettle so back a second time with long pants and footwear. The photos tell the story...Yumm!!!
Training again at 3.45pm with our Swiss friends, some Czechs and Slovaks.
Swiss friends are great we have been given delicious chocolate...Yumm again!

Brief spot of homework being done and then to the river which is about a 5 minute drive.

We left the Merano course and drove all the way to Savona. A stunning drive through Northern Italy and we made good time. Everyone amazed at the number of tunnels, massive motorways suspended on bridges and the speed on the autobahns. Although we did get jammed in a Sunday night, end of weekend traffic mayhem at a motorway intersection, for nearly one hour, near Lake Garda, the drive took just over 5 hours.
We kept thinking we would stop for food but all roadside cafes packed with people so we arrive at the pre booked hostel, very late after driving around in circles looking for it. It turned out to be up a massive hill and some kind Italian who we had stopped to ask directions said ’wait 5 minutes and I’ll come back with my car and you can follow’ I guess cheap was for a reason- it was in the wops and looked like it had been a sanitorium. The redeeming feature was the pizzeria next door that stayed open for us and was tasty and cheap.
We all had a good nights sleep despite best efforts of the boys telling scary stories, to wake to a minimal breakfast- a plastic glass of coffee, a couple of biscuits and a pre packaged croissant. Pretty average and hardly enough for the boys.
On our way about 8.30am, although long , it was an easy drive with lots to look at. First stop Monaco and although parking a major problem we found a spot, probably illegal down by the super yachts and oohed and aahed as we checked them out. Back on the motorway and we tried to find the beach at Nice but ended up at the airport so kept going. We were tourists at Carcassone and it was a great stop. Just wandered around the 12thC Medieval castle before hitting the road to Foix to arrive about 7.30pm.
Our hosts Corrine and Andy, 3 year old Kai and 3 dogs and 1 cat are really hospitable. The house is on a hill above Foix and we have 3 bathrooms and all have a nice bed and there is garden with BBQ and pool so will be self catering for the rest of the week. Went out tonight as supermarkets closed , checked out the course, which looks a bit like Kawerau. The old town of Foix looks interesting and has a castle on the skyline.
Costs are quite horrendous- spent over 80E on road tolls today and about the only thing cheap to eat is pizza which is not good for athletes and non athletes waistlines. I tried a local cassoulet on a set menu which was nice but quite heavy for summer.
We have a booked training session tmoro at 3.45pm and will have a reccy at 10am just to get the feel of the water. We have the Swiss and Slovaks in our group . K1W and C1 race Friday with C2 and K1 men on Saturday, again with 20 in each class advancing to semis on Sunday.
Photos are a mix of trophies, Monaco , scenes at Merano, castle at Carsassone and one of the team in Foix tonight with castle on a hill behind.

Merano racing done and dusted

The ICF finals this morning were a little disappointing for Ben and Bradyn, having a solid run but then rolled at gate 19 and the 10th place didnt reflect their run.
The kiwis got behind Jess Fox who finished a fantastic 3rd, and made me all goosey as she is still 14 ( 15 next week) . The Aussies headed to Marseille and we will catch up with them in Foix.

After a short break the junior races started with just two small changes to the course, at gate 5 and 11 to make it slightly easier.
Everyone raced better- the C2 had two clean runs of 122.29 and 123.80 which was great consistency. They take the first place trophies home, although they are rather large metal sculptures so will be a pain in the van for 5 weeks. They beat a Geramn crew from Augsberg by 9.74 seconds.
Shaun in C1 was heaps better too and moved from 3rd to 2nd after his second run, lamenting one touch too many that cost him 1st place behind Italian Matteo Tognetti.
Jane had trouble with the move from 10-11 and got a 50 in her first run but finally found her straps to have a clean second run to finish fourth with Slovakian Kristina Nevalova winning in 119.19 and she takes home a new K1.
The boys race for the other K1 was a fairly intense affair with 28 starters. Callum had an awesome clean first run 103.34 with 15 year old Jiri Prskavec from Czech Republic posting a time around 101. With Callum in 4th place he had to break out something special to be on the podium and although he raced faster he hit 1 gate to finish in 6th. Jiri the winner on 97.55. A good afternoons racing by all, the sun is out and we will head off after prizegiving in 15 minutes.


Seco

River down overnight, still a bit overcast but heaps more manageable. C2 raced this morning, quite solid just dropped too low in an up and had a hard paddle loosing valuable seconds. Finals about to start , Jess Fox Australia quailified in 7th , great effort from her.

Racing Merano

The fantastic weather left us as we awoke to thunder storms and rain. The racing started with C1 and Shaun our padder on the course. A very tricky course with almost no eddies, due to the rain, in a couple of upstreams and proved very challenging. Shaun did pretty well with a couple of recircs to avoid the 50's that seemed to be prevalent. His second run was heaps better but unfortunately a 50 on gate 11 spoiled his time.
Jane had a similiar fate on her first run with a 50 and a roll,and also improved in her second run.
Both missed the cut of top twenty for ICF race but still have the junior comp in the afternoon tommorrow, Sunday. The C2 looked great and had a very creditable 1st run with a time around 136 seconds finishing in 7th from the small, classy field of 11. They go through anyway tommorrow so second runs didnt have the same meaning and gave them a chance to work on a couple of ideas to go even better.
The afternoon was K1 men and Callum went pretty well to end up 28th after first runs from 44.
By second runs the river was even higher and I think more people got 50's than didnt so virtually no one improved their placing.
A pretty good effort overall in this race of heaps of top international paddlers. I keep reminding them that it is a mostly senior race and it is a great experience to be here at this level.
The C2 will race semis and hopefully get into finals (only 1 will miss). Then all will race the junior race in the afternoon where a brand new boat is up for grabs for the fastest... something to aim for. After that driving south to Savona for the night.
Still raining but fingers crossed for a sunny day tommorrow. Hope all well in NZ, cheers from us all website for results www.scm-kanu.org