Ready for the Alps?

I neglected blogging a bit lately. This is partly because my current focus is a more on biking than on kayaking. In just over a week I'll go the French Alps for a road-bike-holiday with a group of sportive colleagues. I am looking forward to the little break in the busy days. It's a relaxed idea to have some days of. On the other hand, I do feel some tension: although this biking-event is purely recreational, I must admit being a little bit eager to perform ;-) I don't want to lag behind the group climbing the mountain roads. I also want to perform a decent time on the time trail on the Dutch Mountain: the Alpe d'Huez. That's one of the reasons I have spent more time on the bike than in the kayak during the past weeks. (The dominant reason for biking is I enjoy every moment with my good biking friends Linda (on the road-bike) and Alex (on the MTB)!).



I can't tell if all this biking is a truly effective preparation. We biked on the bigger humps nearby to do some climbing: at first glance the tracklog-profile looks impressive. But on the second look it's ridiculous: the highest point is just about 60 meters high (de Amerongse Berg). That's what we call a mountain here: You're biking down before you've even noticed you were climbing...

Jazzin Woerden: Caro Emerald

"Woerden bruist" - the next party in Kajakwoerden's hometown is Jazzin Woerden - the Music Festival. Top-act of the festival is Caro Emerald, successful in the Dutch music charts and outside our borders perhaps known from the latest Martini Moments-campaign:

Caro Emerald is the new kid on the block, but boy does she sound like she's been around! A voice so seductive and sultry it's hard to believe she just recorded her debut album, a mix of 1950's inspired ballroom jazz, cinematic tangoes, groovin' jazz tracks, infectious mambo's and banging beats.

Woerden Triathlon

The Triathlon is every year one big party in Woerden. Volunteers from KV Wyrda escort the athletes in the water-segment.

Meeting of the Salwasserunion coaches and guides on Spiekeroog

SAU BC treffen spiekeroog 2010

Click on the icon above for a slideshow of the pictures of this weekend. It was amazing cold and chilly in Northern Germany (need to wear gloves, scarf and and a warm cap at this time of the year?!) - but a great weekend nevertheless! The theme of the training this year was seakayak-communication with VHF radios. Some interesting results. More on that later.

Low pressure is steadily coming in...

I've seldom seen such a beautiful linear pressure graphic on my watch: alas it's going down ;-)
Better pack the rain-wear for this weekend!

Packing for the next trip

It's a short break in Woerden: Yesterday I returned from the Anglesey Seakayak Symposium, tomorrow I'll leave again to join the meeting of the kayak-guides and instructors of the Salzwasserunion at the German Wadden-Isle Spiekeroog.
On Anglesey it was camping the luxe. At Spiekeroog it will be "back to the basics": everything must fit in the kayak, because we'll paddle to Spiekeroog. And packing volume in a Tahe Greenland kayak is limited...
"Als de kat van huis is, dansen de muizen": because the family wasn't home today I took the opportunity and packed the kayak in the living...

Anglesey paddling week slideshow

Goodbye Anglesey

Anglesey Symposium - Day 3 - Soldiers Point - the Skerries

The third day of the symposium offers no open workshops: the first BCU-courses start on Monday. Guests that don't take part in one of the BCU-courses are invited for half- and whole-day paddles. The paddle to the Skerries was announced for hard core paddlers looking for a struggle: an increasing Northerly wind force 4 Bft. would guarantee 12 km paddling against the wind on the way to the skerries. Well, the wind was not as strong as expected: the trip to the Skerries was a very relaxed paddle - a fitting final of a nice week paddling in Wales!

Anglesey Symposium - the bird

Anglesey Symposium Day 2 - moving water workshop

Fiona and Axel did a workshop on foundation skills on movinbg water: reading the water, ferry gliding, breaking in and out of the eddy-line, feel for the boat: edging and sweep strokes. The Menai-street was an excellent playspot for this workshop.

Anglesey Symposium Day 1 - the Crash and Dash workshop

The Crash and Dash-workshop is about kayak repair on and off the water - but first a kayak has to be crashed. Which turned out to be a hard job. Graham did the first attempt and then Carin threw herself dauntlessly on the rocks - cool lady this Carin ;-)

Anglesey Symposium Day 1 - Freya Talks

Full days at the symposium - in the evening presentations are held. On Saturday-evening Freya Hoffmeister talks about here record breaking "Race around Australia". Shark bytes, the discomforts of sleeping in a kayak at the ocean, motivational and relational issues, magical rudder blades - no detail is forgotten. It was late before the bus drove back to Anglesey Outdoors centre. There an Irish folk band in the lounge of the centre and Karaoke in the Paddlers Return- Bar - hardly any time left to update the daily reports!