Friday 15th

Getting serious now, with 3 runs down the full race course today. Three runs here is tiring, but I need to get used to doing 3 or more. Bit high for the first, felt I was getting kicked around, but in the afternoon it was a likely classic level and I feel there is more time to see what's going on.'Le Moutons' has more kick in it at this level: I'm feeling the boat getting shoved sideways a good metre or so in the second stopper of this rapid. 'Le Mouton' means 'The sheep' in French, it's got about 4 fluffy white stoppers in it, but you only hit 2 or 3 depending on your line. It then shoves you out at high speed, where you head towards 'Le Vignes' where, at low levels you're searching for a 50 cm gap while shaking the water out of your eyes and being buffeted by swirly eddies and chunky little waves. Kristy took a swim today and lost a paddle and did some boat damage. It's at least a 3-pot-repair (3 separate pots of resin) which will take a day or two, but she'll be back on the water soon. Rob's doing some good sprint work in addition to classic runs, I reckon he's got the most miles on the river out of all of us, while Foo, Stew and I are doing similar things. We're talking about a lactic session (90 second sprints which blow your forearms apart) at a 2000 metre high lake tomorrow just for something different, should make for some nice pics.