Training

I went shopping in London yesterday and bought some toys

For those of you who are iLiterate, I bought Snow Leopard, the latest incarnation of Max OS-X. For those of you who have no idea what I'm talking about, it's just a big pussy cat who lives with Santa!

But aside from my Apple Mac obsession I also did something about my current level of training. I bought a new pair of running shoes.

New Balance 1063- made in USA not in Chinese sweat shops. I have written to Nike, my usual running shoe, who assured me they only used ethical production methods in the far east but despite that time for a change.

I now have to do something other than just looking at them!

Tom

Marsport Condor

Forgot to say anything about the boat!



The Marsport Condor is a long standing classic of the DW, legend says it was created for the DW. It isn't the fastest knife edged sprint machine ever designed but it is a fantastic stable work horse that is capable of a respectable pace.

I first used the Condor for my second DW in 2006 (Junior Vets). At 26h 05m it reduced my DW time by 13h 08m from my 2004 DW. 2004 was senior doubles in a Kirton Mystére, to be fair to Kirton the Mystére isn't that far removed from the Condor except ours was in Land Rover class- it had been repaired so many times it was only 2kg lighter than a Land Rover Discovery (MkI Disco - 3500kg/ 3.5T). The Mystére served us well but I pray I'll never paddle a racing kayak that heavy again!

Richard and I tried out the Condor a couple of weeks ago on the Thames. We got in, we paddled, we portaged, we paddled some more, we did a difficult high portage, we paddled some more and we didn't get wet.


In order to satisfy my curiosity I wanted to try the Marsport Gamma. To me the Gamma is the most stable thin boat there is. It leaves the Vajda Sonics standing. Richard and I managed about 15 cm. This doesn't sound very good but to quantify it Richard had not paddled a kayak for over ten years and we didn't capsize until we tried paddling and considering we had never paddled anything before the Condor together I was happy. I was also happy that I now knew the Condor was the right boat for us.

The team name? Well when we have the champagne launch of our ship we'll put up pictures which will explain all.

Tom

Training

Sunday 16th August 2009- Training session

Sunday, Richard and I did a full on training session in Paignton

Hard session lasting over two hours because our coach Tom (not me) was pushing us hard!

Forgot to take camera so no training pics!

Tom

Saturday 10th August 2010

We need something to keep crocodiles away.

Remko heard an 8 year old said that they live near Dreadnought Reach.

It’s true because one ate my leg!

And the wasps at Crofton are massive.

One of them tried to steal Tom’s watch by eating the steel bracelet!

(Richard)

Tuesday, July 14, 2009

das boot
The boat has been decided upon

The extras chosen

The colour and design scheme are awaiting finalisation
Posted by Tom at 6:11 PM 0 comments
Saturday, June 6, 2009

Paddling
Today I went paddling in a racing K1, JKK Eclipse XL-

It's a bit different from my Epsilon. The hardest part was not having a tiller bar and steering with foot peddles. It's also a metre longer than the Epsilon.Here's my course. A power boat driver actually apologised to me because he powered up his engine. He didn't even affect me in any way. I told him that back in the UK powerboat owners weren't even aware that I existed!I haven't paddled a racing boat on the sea before. The Eclipse is stable but the waves made it a bit of a challenge and the different steering made it harder. The cockpit size is smaller than my Epsilon, I think it's large key hole, which would make portaging on DW difficult.

Posted by Tom at 5:07 PM 0 comments

K2
No, not the mountain
Change of plan with 300 days to go.I'm changing from K1 to K2.I once mentioned to my mate Richard if he ever fancied doing DW K2 ...Well the changes are K1 to K2 and 4 day to 2 day straight through!I best start doing some more trainingThe boat we're hoping to use is the Marsport Condor, that's the one we used in 2006 junior/vets

Posted by Tom at 12:14 AM 0 comments
Monday, June 1, 2009

DW2010
Everything's just gone Pete Tong!Actually that's not quite true, everything's just changed- dramaticallyIf you ever say,"Why don't you do DW with me sometime?", using the power of beer, don't think there won't be consequences!

Posted by Tom at 11:07 PM 0 comments

training 2
Went out on the bike today and this time I took my GPS with me. Unfortunately the battery ran out after less than 2 mins, well nobody can see what a bad training session it was! session mapThe heart rate monitor wasn't working either, I don't know if that was because the battery was low or if I need a need battery in the chest strap. Well at least it was training which I guess is better for me than a Big Mac!

Posted by Tom at 3:53 PM 0 comments
Sunday, May 31, 2009

training 1
Well I've finished procrastinating and, now that I have a bike, I've just been out and done a 12 km training ride. I'm leaking a bit now. Just got to make sure that I keep putting in the training between now and DW.As for paddling, I did get out on the sea yesterday in my little plastic boat just to remember what a kayak is.

Posted by Tom at 2:46 PM 0 comments
Thursday, May 21, 2009

dw2010
DW2004

Well because of distance, 15000km, and work I couldn't do DW 2009

DW2006

Anyway DW2010 is game on
At the moment it's in the planning stage, however, I have started training as there are only 315 training days until the race. I've been advised to wait until the travel expo in November to buy my tickets so I can get them for less than $2000
DW2008
I'm planning to do K1 to redress DW 2008 and this time I intend to use my Epsilon which has completed 1 DW without me!

me & my Epsilon

DW 2010

These are the voyages of the starship GT Condor, on it's 125 mile mission to get from Devizes to Westminster!