Spain Cont...

So yesterday 7 of the Czechs and myself got into some cars and drove out to Andorra! We drove into the hills and went for a nice walk up the mountain. In the winter it is covered in snow so there were chairlifts. Unfortuantely the chairlifts were not working when we were there but the walk was nice anyway. When we reached a lake in ne of the mountain valleys we stopped for a nice summer picnic under the very hot sun!

I have so far had a really good week here in Spain with lots of people helping take care of me as I am the only Kiwi. At night the town is alive with people sitting round the main centre eating ice creams and drinking beers. Its a great atmosphere. Today I am resting up and preparing for the coming race this weekend.

When I was in Augsberg I started to feel ill with a tummy bug and unfortunately it never went away!!I am still not feeling the greatest and my health and training are suffering. I think I am low in some nutrients and am considering going to the doctors to find out whats up as it has gone on for far too long!!

My boat is also very worse for wear now!!I am having to empty it after every run as it is leaking so badly!!!

Better cruize...heres some pics of Augsberg and Andorra and Spain

Spain

Wow!!!Where do I start??? I love this place!

La Seu is just amazing! I will try put some pics up later. I am so glad I came as I am having such a sweet time! This morning I got up early and tried to get in to the supermarket...was closed till like 9am though...But I lukily found the most amazing fruit market!!!Soooo Good! And they sell live snails!!crazy! Bakerys also line the streets which I have been endulging in!!

Today is another beautiful day and I am going with some people from the Czech Republic to Andorra. We are going to the country side to check it out!!Sounds pretty there!!

Paddling is also going really well!!I am enjoying the course. I was considering entering C1W as there is only 3 chicks!!But I havnt practiced and can see it going very wrong as this course is quite technical.

The classes are looking smaller then usual for this weekends comp but they are full of very strong competition!

Better cruize.

Ciao Ciao

Augsberg to La Seu

Hola,

The amount of preperation that goes into a race is huge!!After walking the course several times and studying the water around each gate for about 5mins it all comes down to about 120seconds on the water. 

My Semi-finals run went quite well for me. I didn't have the best start to the race as I caught a bit too much of the first hole which spun me slightly but after that everything went pretty smoothly. It was clean which was good and I felt online and had a good feel for the water. I ended up in 36th which for me is my best International Race thus far. 

James Dawson the other Kiwi to make a Semi final for C1M also had a good race. He ended up in a creditable 26th place. 

After the race I managed to find a ride to La Seu D' Urgel with two of the Japanese... Aki and Szuzi along with Pablo from Chile. We drove for 15 hours through the night until we reached La Seu. Coming into Spain was cool as you could see a big change in the buildings architecture and the landscape became a lot more mountainous as we headed around the Spanish Pyreeness. Pablo from Chile very kindly helped me get sorted with accomodation here in La Seu. I am staying right in the centre of the town and only 5mins walk from the Slalom course!! A lot of countries are also staying at the same place. 

La Seu D' Urgell is a very cool little town with a beautiful town centre square. I have checked out the course and it is looking really fun with lots of sweet features the whole way down the course!!I can't wait to paddle:) 

It looks like it is going to be a good weekend!!

Ciao

I have just been checking out stuff.co.nz it a great website for keeping us travelling Kiwis up to date with New Zealands news.
I found a pretty cool article on Luuka: http://www.stuff.co.nz/stuff/4608032a26500.html
Also if you are keen to check out some footage of the canoe slalom course in China go to: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nH0_QuDdKGw&feature=related
Theres heaps more on You tube too. It is pretty big!!Looks like super fun!
The course im heading to Next week in Spain:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=33uNgMCrbZY

And finally the Website for this weekends results and Startlists:
http://www.kanu-schwaben-augsburg.de/
If there are any live results or Video Feed it will be found on this website.

Sweet thats all for now

World Cup No.3- Augsberg

Today we had the Qualifications for the Augsberg World Cup. In the morning was Mike Dawson for K1M and Bryden and Andrew for C2. The C2 were looking fast and online but had one or two small mistakes and a few too many touches so missed the tight cut for the C2 Semi-finals. Mike incurred two 50Second penalties so was put out of contention for the K1M Semi-finals.
In the Afternoon James Dawson layed down two very solid runs to place 28th, top 30 made it through in C1M for the Semi-finals so he will be racing on Sunday.
I was first off in the girls and put down a okay run. I only had one touch but had 1 spin and was a bit slower then I could have been but all up it wasnt bad. My second run I tried to up my speed. I stayed online but touched 3 gates and had 2spins. It was enough to put me into 34th position, safely in the top 40. I will be racing also on Sunday in the Semi-finals.
Luuka unfortunately incurred a 50Second penalty which put her out of the top 40.
Tommorrow we will go and watch the K1M and C2 Semis and finals. I am now trying to sort a flight or ride to La Seu D Urgell for the Pre World Championships which will be held next weekend! I am the only New Zealander going to the race.
Today is James Birthday, Kathrin made him a cake and we are going out to dinner soon...
Ciao

Germany and World Cup no.3

We are now back in Germany staying with Kathrin again!!
The weather has been amazingly good to us and we have been making the most of it by having lots of swims in the EisKanal. Unfortunately I have had a bit of a tummy bug the last few days so I didnt train yesterday. Lukily today I am feeling much better, just in time for tommorrows racing!!
Yesterday the Kiwi Team(Luuka, James, Bryden, Andrew and myself) went for a drive out to a place called Dachau. We visited a concentration camp from back in the 1930s-1940s World War 2. What we saw was pretty crazy. It was like one massive prison and the stories we read and photos we saw blew our minds. I cannot even imagine being in there back then. It was pretty sad to say the least...

Tommorrow all classes will have the Qualification for World Cup No.3. The cut off for K1M and K1W is top 40. C1M is top 30 and C2 is top 20.
The Semis and finals for K1M and C2 are on Saturday and the Semis and Finals for K1W and C1M are on Sunday.

Tacen

It has been 1 big weekend and there is much to say but I have not much time right now.
I unfortunately got a 50 on my first run which put me out for Semis.
James finished in 34th, the 17th Nation. Unfortunately he missed the top 16 Nation placing for the Olmpic Qual.
Luuka made it into the Semis and then placed in 28th, the 15th Nation. She has made a spot for the Beijing Olympics to represent NZL in the K1W!!!!!! Is very exciting. and Congrats to her!!
Gotta cruise,
ciao

Tacen Whitewater

Hail!!!

It has just started pouring down with rain and hail!!!Hopefully the river does not get too big!! Check out some footage of the river when it flooded hardcore last year at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gCDn9izaH-Y

Or try: http://www.youtube.com/ and search 'Tacen in flood Canoe Slalom'

Crazy

World Cup No.2 Tacen

Today we went down to the course and watched demos for tommorrows racing. The course is looking very interesting and I think will be a lot of fun. The field of competitors is not as big as at Praha but there is still 32 Nations competing. The K1M are off first tommorrow morning and then the C2. In the afternoon around 2pm the K1W kickoff and then the C1M.

I am still unsure what the Website is for the Live Video feed but if I find it out I will put up the link. Otherwise I will try to post results asap.

Croatia!!!

Today we drove for about 1.5hours till we reached the coast of Slovenja. We headed along the coastline and into Croatia. It was a very hot and beautiful day!!Was awesome to say the least.
The water was also really warm!!Stoked!
For more pics see Luukas blog: www.luukayaker.blogspot.com

Vid of Racing

I have just been checking out the Slalom Website for Troja(Praha). There is video footage availiable for all people that made the Semis and Finals.
If you are still keen to check out my Semi-Final run:
http://www.slalomtroja.cz/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=144&Itemid=160

Ljubliana

After the epic 7hour drive from Praha to Ljubiana we arrived to find a big town party going on. There was a concert playing in the main square of Ljubiana and the City was alive with many people out walking the streets and the restuarants were packed! We managed to find a sweet Pizzeria and got some really good Pizzas for dinner. James ordered a large 1 and ended up with the biggest Pizza I have ever seen. He hardly ate a quarter of it!
It was a really nice night so we slept at the course outside, under the mint starry sky! Then this morning got up for a big wake up swim in the river that was very refreshing!
All of team Kiwi(Luuka, James, Bryden, Andrew and me) are now staying in an apartment in Ljubiana's town centre, its pretty sweet.

Semi Finals

On Sunday we had the Semi-finals.
I started my run with a small touch on the 1st gate! Lukily I moved on to paddle quite nicely through the next few gates. At about gate 10 I lost my composure a bit and struggled slightly with the tricky stagger. 4 touches and coming a bit low into one of the Ups was all it took to push me down the ranks to finish in 38th. My run definately wasn't my best but it was okay. It was very tough compition and for me making the Semi's was a good step and I think is a reflection on how much I have improved over the last 6weeks. I am really looking forward to this weekends race, World Cup No.2 here in Tacen. I am aiming to make it into the top 20.
James Dawson ended 38th in the C1M and Luuka Jones placed 39th.
Yesterday we packed up our things and drove for 7hours to the venue of World Cup No. 2-Tacen which is in the beautiful city of Ljubiana in Slovenja. Matej Benus(The guy who we bought our Skoda Rapid off) kindly gave us his new, slightly updated Skoda to drive as he didn't think the Skoda Rapid was up to it!! It was really good to have a car that did more then 120 comfortably on the motorway and we have been able to pull out into the fastlane for once! Although I do miss the Skoda Rapid a bit!
It is really nice and hot here and the Tacen whitewater is a lot of fun!!We have been swimming at the river all day, its been great. On Wednesday we are looking at driving to the coast of Croatia(About 2hours away) for some salt water action!
Ciao

Day 1- Qualifications

Today racing for World Cup No.1 began for all classes. The C1Men were off first and James Dawson put down a very solid run putting him into 27th position. His 2nd run was not as smooth but still enough to place safely in the top 40 with a 30th placing.
Next up was K1Women... Ella Nicholas(Whos from NZL but is representing the Cook Islands) was first off. Unfortunately she missed 2 gates which put her out of contention for Qualification into the Semifinals. She did manage to put down a solid 2nd run though.
I was up next. I was feeling pretty nervous but knew what I needed to do. So I put down a resonably solid run. I was on line as per usual but lacked a bit of pace. I had 2 touches also. This put me into 43rd. My second run I knew I had nothing to lose so I picked up my pace and managed to go about 5seconds faster which was just enough to secure me a spot in tommorrows semi-final race, I ended up in 39th and the top 40 go through!!
Luuka was next and she finished her 1st run in 45th. She also knew she had nothing to lose so picked up her pace and moved up into 38th!
The C2 boys(Bryden Nicholas and Andrew Robinson) raced in the afternoon but unfortunately missed the cut for the C2 Semi's.
It was a very tense but excitin g day of racing. I felt pretty happy to have made it though as this is my first ever World Cup!
Tommorrows course is looking very tricky so will be a lot of fun! It is also really exciting as this race is a selection for both Luuka Jones and James Dawson to go to the Beijing Olympics. They must place in the Top 16 Nations. For James there are 20 Nations in the Semi-Final tommorrow and for Luuka there are 18 Nations. So Hopefully all going to plan they will get some Olympic spots!!

Racing begins tommorrow with C1Men: James Dawson races at 10:16am Europe time, so 8:16pm NZL time.
K1Womens: I am off at 11:16am Europe Time, so 9:16pm NZL time
Luuka Jones at 9:17pm NZL time.

You can check out results at www.slalomtroja.cz There is also Live TV that you can watch online!!!Which is awesome as you will get to see me racing Live all the way back in lil ol NZL!
If you go onto the above website there will be links to the live footage and results.

Lead up to World Cup 1

After a sweet week of chilling out in Augsberg we drove back to Praha. We moved into A1 apartments with the rest of the Kiwi team... Luuka, and the C2 of Bryden and Andrew along with Ella who will be racing for the Cook Islands and Sue who is here managing the Cook Island team. We also now have Kidda (Andy Raspin from England) coaching us. It is great to have a coach again and Kidda is pretty awesome so its sweet! The weather has turned beautiful and hot again which is great.
Coming back to Praha is a bit of a contrast to when we left. There are now a lot of countries that have arrived for the World Cup and we have set training times. We have been training with AUS, BLR, and BAS. There are about 37 countries racing in the World Cup here in Praha.
On Friday racing begins with all classes competing for a spot in the Semi finals. On Saturday the K1W and C1M will have the Semi finals(Top 40) and then Finals(Top 10). On Sunday the C2 and K1M will have their Semi finals and then finals.

Deutchland

We decided it was time to take a break. We packed our things and drove to Germany!!Along the way we had a few intersesting encounters with our brakes that decided to stop working for a bit!!Lukily after not long they started working again and we worked out if you pump them for a bit they come back to life. Its okay Mum and Dad, we will be getting this checked out soon probably.
Anyway we finally made it to Kathrins house in Augsberg. It was great to see her again! Her and her mother kindly cooked us some dinner and gave us some beds. It is great to be back in Augsberg. We are here this week to chill out, hang with Kathrin and play on the white water. We are hoping to go Wakeboarding on Friday if it is nice, Kathrin has the day off exams too. Yesterday was a beautiful 29 degrees!We spent the day chilling at the Eiskanal and went swimming lots. There are a few countries here training at the moment including Greece, America, Canada, France, us and of course the Germans.
Tonight we are cooking a Kiwi dinner for Kathrin and her parents. We tried to buy some kebab sticks to make kebabs but had no luck so James went into the garden and found some wooden sticks, true Kiwi style. We are also making a Pavlova for Dessert(Neither of us have made 1 before) It should be interesting! I will put some pics up soon of the result of our Pavlova creation.

A bit of the action

Racing Day 2

Unfortunately racing went equally as bad today. I managed to get another 50!! It was hard as we had only once paddled on the course before the race in Roudnice and the course was tight.

We are back to training on Prague now which is good!!It is good to be back on familiar water!

Another beautiful day under the sun...