Over the past month or two I have been actively working on the National Student Rodeo.
I have been working on the online registration system, and the scoring system for the event.
In November I was asked to create the website for the event. I did this, as can be seen here.
At the time I asked for details on what else the team would need me to design such that I could get it done while I had no work on. Needless to say I got the details in the middle of January :)
I designed the online registration system in near enough 3 days, then optimized it after it had gone live. It worked flawlessly, was a really good learning experience, and is easily expandable as well as being significantly more efficient than the last system. There was one small period of downtime based on me pushing a broken edit (oops), but no-one really noticed. Apart from that, my logs state it worked flawlessly. I am pretty happy.
The online scoring system is now complete in its most basic form. It also works really well. The hope is that by making the systems extremely efficient we will be able to massively reduce the workload of the technical team at the event.
When I mentioned that I was going to redesign the system, a few people with little knowledge of the area chastised me for making an informed decision. Needless to say, I think I have proved them wrong.
NSR 2012 will be awesome. Using this system the only organizational problem will now be actually getting people on the course :)
This weekend Jack, Jamie, Reuben, and myself headed to North Wales.
Roo very kindly let us stay at his home, and his parents/sister were very hospitable. Given that the other option was to camp in below freezing temperatures, I think it is fair to say that we all appreciated it.
Sadly over the weekend there was not that much water. As such we ended up running the Aberglaslyn gorge on the Friday, and the Cwm Llan on the Saturday. On the Sunday even the Aberglaslyn was too low, so we headed home early.
On the Aberglaslyn, Roo helped me out with my technical stuff - breaking out efficiently, and perfecting my ferry glide. It is a little worrying that at this point I still have not perfected these basic moves. I guess practising and perfecting never hurts.
At the end of the day I had a swim.. I went over the first drop and braced on a rock - it was a trivial very minor injury, but I decided that I was going to whine and complain about it, in the process not paddling. A few moments later, a couple of failed roll attempts on an eddy line and I was swimming.
I don't really like the burn because i got my foot trapped behind the central pillar. It was very scary at the time, and could have ended very badly. Fortunately i slipped out, and the boys were very on the ball with sorting out the situation. I know how to swim, they know how to save - It worked well :)
The Cwm Llan was really fun. Lots of pool drops. I really enjoyed it, although I once again noticed my problem reading white water. Looking at it, it scared me senseless, but in reality it was harmless. There was no real technique to it - it was mainly a fun run. The walk up to it was an absolute killer, but it was well worth it.
All in all an awesome weekend, and definitely worthwhile. The only downside - it was really physically and mentally tiring.. My kayaking preference is more laid back and casual, but then again life is never easy.
On that note.. 7am starts, large amounts of driving, and the fact that kayaking is physical activity annoy me. At the end of days boating I am always really really happy/exhilarated, but I wish it were less work :P
Yesterday Jack, Jamie, Mute, and myself headed down/across to North Wales to drop in on the Upper Tryweryn.
Last year at the clubs 'Alps Training' I ran the upper graveyard section. Max didn't want us to run the rest of the graveyard because we had had a good day, and he did not want us to ruin it.
I still have a massive fear of the unknown. Running the Tryweryn for the first time scared me as much as running the Orchy, the Lyon etc etc. I'm still and probably always will be a confidence boater, but meh.. I am improving.
Jamie is a pretty decent coach - he had me eddy hopping down, and although at first I was hitting the bottom of every eddy, by the end of the day I was hitting some pretty awesome lines. I still don't have the consistency, but it is a start.
The Tryweryn is an awesome place to practice, and now I don't have the fear factor, I'll be sure to go back there to continue my technical development such that in the near future my technical ability will match my ability to get down things :)
I feel like I am getting good. I am going to carry on.
Lakes weekend 2012 was over the weekend of the 20th-22nd of January.
This is a weekend organized by LUUCC each year.
Usually around 60-80 members of the club head up to the lake district and enjoy the whitewater that the area has to offer.
I am not sure if it is intentional, but we usually paddle something a little different to normal over the course of this weekend.
We catered for all ability levels by running an advanced session (Upper Duddon) in the morning of the Saturday followed by an intermediate session (Middle/Lower Duddon). On the Sunday we ran an Intermediate river (Leven) in the morning and a beginners river in the afternoon (Lune).
On a personal level, it was once again a great weekend. On the Upper Duddon I was involved in a widely discussed incident - I ran the top of Wallowbarrow gorge, messed it up and ended up with a gash to the top of my eyelid. I managed to get back up pushing off a rock, and was pretty much pulled off the water (kudos Beth/Matt). Even though I injured myself I was pretty chuffed that I managed to stay in my boat, and not panic.
The discussion was over the question as to whether the trip had been run in a 'non-safe' manner because there had been an injury. So as to avoid having to type it again, I'm just going to publicly post my 'incident report'. I'm posting it publicly - I stand by it.
"Having discussed the river at length prior to getting on, and noting my ability level I personally decided that I was suitably skilled to run the river. I was aware of the two harder sections on the river. The first gorge was portaged by all, the second (Wallowbarrow) was scouted by all, and people made their own decisions as to if they could run in.
I felt that there was a line that I could hit on the first few rapids on the gorge, but that I could not hit the final grade 5 drop. As such I decided to run the top of the gorge, and then portage the final drop.
On the first drop I missed my line ever so slightly, and ended up upside down. The drop was more rocky than i had initially anticipated, and I ended up with a small laceration to my left eyelid.
I rolled back up using a rock, and got myself into an eddy. I then got off the river, and Beth (Morgan) administered suitable first aid.
I am fully aware of the dangers of kayaking - it is the reason I do the sport. I enjoy an adrenaline rush, and the challenge of hitting my planned lines. That being said, I am not an idiot and am fully aware of my ability level. Some people portaged the rapid, I didn't. I thought I could do it, and I still believe I could. It was an unfortunate incident, needless to say, I am glad I was wearing my helmet. Further to the above, I cannot see any way the situation could have been dealt with better."
Because of the incident I ended up not running the Middle and Lower sections in the afternoon. I was a little disappointed, but i will get around to doing them at some point !
On the Sunday I ran everything. The Leven was awesome - I finally got around to running everything. Backbarrow falls is surprisingly powerful, yet such an odd rapid - it is intimidating, but technically not difficult.
The Lune in the afternoon was one of the hardest rivers that I have ever got on - because we were leading. Well.. Jack and Jamie were leading our group, but I like to think that they were appreciative of my presence as well as that of Paddy and Lee. We had quite a few swims, but the beginners were awesome. Every time they swam, they got back in and battled on. They showed some awesome progression over the day and were really keen to improve. My highlight was Megan's awesome line on 'unnamed v-shape into mini-not-really-a-gorge' rapid, mainly because she followed my line, and i think it was my most technically perfect line on anything in my paddling career (if you can call it that).
Overall, an amazing weekend. Everyone was amazing. Ruth and Sean did an amazing job with the organization - the hall was amazing, and everyone had a lot of fun.
The phrase goes: "I am just going to jump in the shower"
Jumping in the shower is inefficient. Why not stand in the shower, and wash yourself - that is the point of having a shower, and will allow you to get out in a more time efficient manner.
On the night of the 1st January 2012 I had a weird, almost unbelievable experience. If it had happened a day earlier I would have said it was the strangest thing that happened to me in 2011. It did not however, and as such I have 362 days to top it. My first lucid dream.
So.. you know the film Inception.. turns out it is not entirely fiction. If you want a proper explanation of a lucid dream, take a look here. My simple explanation is: "a dream where you are concious and are aware that it is a dream".
So.. if you have a look on the interwebs, there is a lot of cool information about lucid dreams and dream control. There is loads of stuff about getting yourself into a lucid state such that you can fly or have bad ass sex. The whole lucid aspect meaning that when you wake up you feel like it actually happened, and tend not to forget. Sounds very ridiculous, and if I hadn't experienced it I wouldn't believe it.
So, my lucid dream was not a result of training, but I assume due to a lack of sleep, excessive alcohol consumption over the past days, and general disrespect of my body. I did not enjoy it, it was more of a lucid nightmare. I was in my bed being annoyed by people I had hated years before. There was also a cameo appearance by Alice Holland (I punched you - you were harassing me in my bed and I couldn't move..)
Yeh.. people were annoying me and I couldn't move (see Sleep Paralysis), I kept trying to wake myself up but couldn't (see False Awakenings. Eventually woke up, and as Arthur Mercer can probably tell you it scared the living shit out of me.
I could just post everything i have read since here, but I don't want to. If it is of interest, you can read up on it. Very interesting/scary/weird experience - I never wanted to control my dreams.
Two evenings ago, I was looking at river levels and saw that the Swale amongst other things had been dancing around a nice level. Jack said he'd get me down the Swale before Christmas, I was having kayaking withdrawal... I made the proposal.
The next morning Jack called to say it was too low, a no go. I was somewhat relieved. Then Jamie called saying it would go, so we went.
We got to the Swale.. it was low.. we jumped on, got to Rainby and decided it was too dangerous. Now.. Rainby when too low looked horrible.. the 'normal' line was pointed out, and things were put into a little perspective as regards height and consequences on the Swale. In some respects i'm happy it was too low.
We ended up running the upper tees (standard) which was surprisingly good fun. I got down everything, stayed in my boat, and got to experience low force with a tow back. I need to work on my boof.
I learned that taking your time and looking at stuff, back paddling etc is actually really good.. no point rushing and messing it up.
After we got off, the fun really started. I politely made the point that we were getting off in a field full of bulls. Jamie quite rudely informed me that i was wrong as they did not have horns. Turns out bulls do not always have horns.
I was a little behind the others having practised a few rolls. Shouting across the field I jested that the 'cows' were plotting something. Then they started charging. A dramatic few seconds, and a good adrenaline pump saw four grown men run across a field and over a wall, having decided that boats were not suitable 'cover'. The result five angry bulls surrounding a Jackson hero in the middle of a field, with no intention of leaving.
Fast forward twenty minutes, a series of staring competitions, some throw bag handy work, some childish jokes, and a lack of appreciation for the danger of the situation, the boat was recovered, and everyone survived.
It was so surreal it was incredibly amusing. Matt did not believe us when we got back to the car.. Just as well Bryn got photos :) All in all good end to a bad day.. and maybe i won't be so eager to run the Swale so soon.
This Sunday the club headed to the Wharfe for a beginners club trip. I popped along to have a play with my new Werner carbon cranked Sherpas. They work.
So we paddled the Wharfe - the bit with Conniston falls on it. It is reasonably flat with a few bumps, then there is Conniston, and i believe what is called Ghastrills strid.
The beginners were awesome. They all ran the left hand line on Conniston without any problems. I had a play running every line 1,000,000 times and enjoyed a little side surf at the bottom of the right hand drop.
Ghastrills strid was a nice bit/rapid/thing to practice. I took a left hand line, and then did a grade 5 inverse portage to run the right hand line. I didn't run the far right slot.. because.. well.. I pussied out.
At the end a few of us ran Linton Falls. I got out and had a look. It was a lot higher than the last time I'd run it. I ran it 4 times or so.. a few goes on each line. The right hand line was easier IMO. My final attempt of the boof line went a little wrong. I have attached an image of where I ended up. Please note that it was much higher water, and i was being surfed. Please also note everyone except for Raffan had gone back to the car, and he looked more scared by the situation than me.
In general my lines on Linton Falls were good ish on the right hand line, and less than good on the left hand line. There is room for improvement.. mainly technically - actually hitting my lines, but i stayed in my boats although I rolled after the bottom drop at least a few times.
Good day in all. The freshers were awesome, my paddles were nice. Bon !
Our group was: Harry; Big Rob; Charley; Jack; Jamie; Tom (me)
Wednesday. 8am. The chapel.
Wednesday. 8:15am. The road (with all the correct kit).
After an insanely early start, we headed to the lakes. The night before rumors of everything being in spate were heard. We had intended to run the Mint and Sprint, but overnight they had dropped off. We changed to plan B - the Clough from as high up as there was water. On arrival we were bitterly disappointed. The Clough was down as was the Rawthey.
Having driven around for a ridiculous length of time we headed to the Leven which being fed from Windermere had retained its level. Having never run the river, once again... I was apprehensive :)It was a nice run, at a nice level which (once again) for me was slightly spoiled by my lack of confidence. I portaged backbarrow falls because it looked pretty intimidating, and I was definitely not in the zone. Although i stayed in my boat, my lines weren't as good as they should have been.. but meh.. shit happens.. one day.
We got off the Leven at 2pm, legged it to the Kent, ran the shuttle, and were on the water by 3.15pm. By 3.40pm we were off the water. The first time i ran the Kent i was led down touching cloth, inspecting everything for months. The second time I lead but we inspected everything. This time we read and ran in 25 minutes. Boss.
Apart from the 5+ hours on the road, the petrol catastrophe on the return leg, and the early start,the day was pretty good. Lets just say it could have been worse :)
I'm not really sure where to go with my kayaking at the moment because this confidence/uber fear is less than ideal..
Follow Me On Twitter
Become A Fan
