You know its too windy to paddle when...

The 2014 season has arrived! This weekend was GB Paracanoe assessment and I am relieved to have secured my place on the squad.

This first event succeeded in blowing away the cobwebs - both literally and figuratively with the customary Nottingham uber head wind.

who sunk the jetty?

Fortunately challenging weather was nothing new because the entire winter training weather has been testing... Too much water made finding training venues challenging (who would have thought you couldn't train in a boat because of too much water). The winter has also been consistently windy, causing a few 'hilarious' training sessions. 

My coach Griff is known for his wise words, and at the last session he commented that "if it's too windy to carry the boat from the car to the lake then it's probably too windy to paddle".  In spirit with this helpful observation here is my own "its too windy to paddle when" list - please feel free to add your own;-)

You know it's too windy to paddle when...

- The birds have given up flying and are walking south instead

- Waves on a usually flat lake are braking over the jetty.  Oh, in fact, where is the jetty?

- You Paddle full pelt into the headwind and just stay still

- Dog owners appear to be flying 4 legged kites as owners struggle to keep them on the ground

- Your hair, despite being firmly tied back, escapes and blows sideways/forwards making it look like you have a 'comb over'

- You can hear voices carried on the wind across the lake but the people are too far away to actually see

- You struggle to get out of your car because you can't open your car door

- You find a sphincter you never realise you had whilst clenching really hard to try and keep yourself upright in the boat

- Your "sprint kayak" has the sudden desire to be a Malibu surf board and takes off down the lake on the crest of a wave with you hanging on in surprise

- The wind sock is gradually being reduced to shreds of cloth as the training session goes on

- You begin to wonder if there is a water equivalent of the yellow brick road and if in fact you might not be in Kansas anymore...

comb over

So that summarises the winter training season and did we stay in the cafe drinking hot chocolate? oh no!! But at least we were prepared for the Nottingham assessment day. Bring on the 2014 season!

The Dorney Kitchen- ace for post training refuelling