Race day

Since the last post we’ve all completed our final pre-race training sessions, tinkered with boats, ate, rested, stretched and went to the opening ceremony, and now it’s the morning of the race. This is always a surreal occasion: something I have thought about and prepared for the last year or more, and it’s always seemed so distant, merely an idea, yet when I’m racing I know that the thought will strike me ‘Here I am again!’ It’s like memory and a prophecy combined with reality all at once. It can’t be more real, yet the feeling is so fleeting. The ceremony was relatively short and sharp. The wildwater racing interpretive dance was interesting but should have ended before the booty-shaking interpretive dance, but the highlight was when the flags were delivered by an eagle- the pic isn’t that clear, but you can see the French flag dangling from the talons of the eagle. If you’re reading this before 7pm on Wednesday night you can still catch the results live. Go to the race website www.laplagne2012.com there might even be a link for the video of the event. Look for wildwatertv by a crazy Italian guy. The rest of the week will look something like this: Wednesday (today): Individual Classic World Champs (5km race) Thursday: Classic Teams World Champs (5km, teams of 3 racing down the river) Friday: Masters World Champs (5 km, me against the other old bastards) Saturday: Sprint qualifications (400 metres on the most spectacular rapid) Sunday: Team Sprints (chaos- best for spectators) and Individual sprint final. Monday: Drive to Zurich, head home!