Adventure in Oetz

Ros, Kate and myself decided to take a break from our hard training schedule at Augsburg and get away for a weekend of fun and adventure in Oetz, Austria. Over the 2 days we managed to fit in 2 river trips (Oetz and Inns) and climbed a 200m vertical cliff face using a via ferrate (a cable to which you are attached by 2 carabineers). We made some new raft guiding friends who taught us a traditional Austrian game called nails and witnessed the cost cutting measures taken in Austria for road works (using manikins rather than real humans!) I am now back in Augsburg for a final week of training before heading over to meet the rest of Team Guinea in Liepzig.

The Team Guinea C2 is going to the World Championships!!!

The final selection race for a place on the Australian Team for the 2009 World Championships has been completed and all 3 members of Team Guinea will be competing in La Seu d’Urgell!
On day 1 of selection Chris and Scott managed to make the required 126% in their 2nd run meaning they only had to make it again on one of their 2 runs on day 2.
The course for day 2 was much more difficult, however the boys had an exception run… until the very bottom and finished with 126.00036%. Unfortunately selection policy states that you need to be under 126% however the result was appealed and selection onto the team was confirmed.
However, that’s were the boys luck ended as the roof racks were ripped off their car while passing a truck on the drive back to Melbourne. This caused some minor damage to their boat, which will have to be repaired in record speed (for them) before their flight on Saturday.
Other results from the selection race include Sam Lyons being selected for Mens K1 and Jess Fox selected to field a full team for the C1W class.
Next stop for the Team Guinea boys is Liepzig where they will meet up with Leanne and start their under 22’s tour of the World Series events.

Augsburg Training Camp

Following the 3 weeks of intense racing on the World Cup circuit, Ros, Kat, Elena and myself have settled down into a nice appartment in Augsburg for the next 3 weeks so we can have a solid block of training. Then we move onto the World series circuit before finishing in La Seu d'Urgell for the World Championships. Unfortunately in typical Augsburg style we have seen very little sun however that hasn't stopped us purchasing a fleet of very cool bikes which we use to get around town. Augusta, Cycho, Bella and Alf have done us proud and although there has been a few minor incidents (exploding tire and multiple bruises) they have been a very welcomed addition to the team.

World Cup 3 - Augsburg, Germany.

The World Cup series has finished for 2009! Unfortunately it wasn't the fairytale ending I was hoping for. After finishing second in the semi final I improved my final run and had solid lines down to gate 20, where it all became unstuck and I missed the stopper crossing into the upstream gate causing a 50 second penalty putting me back into 4th position. However Roz Lawrence (AUS) had a great run winning the World Cup gold! We now stay in Augsburg for the next 3 weeks for a solid block of training before starting on the World Series ciruit.

World Cup 2, Bratislava – Slovakia

The majority of last week was spent on the road as we had to journey from Pau in Southern France to Bratislava, Slovakia. Luckily the 2000km road trip was broken up as the course in Bratislava had been flooded and there were queries as to whether or not the 2nd World Cup would run. We spent a few extra days in Ljubljiana to get in some decent whitewater training and luckily the river level dropped and reached a normal height by Thursday leaving 2 days of training on the course before the race.

Racing went well for the Aussies with 6 athletes competing in the semi finals and all 4 girls battling it out in the final. Kate had a fantastic final run and finished with a silver behind Elena Kaliska (SVK). I managed to markedly improved upon my semi final run and although hitting 3 gates finished also with a silver behind Jana Dukatova (SVK).

We are currently in Augsburg, Germany training for the final World Cup competition with heats being held on Friday and finals for the C1W class on Saturday.