Seek and Destroy

Young Angus and Charlotte are in great shape both physically and mentally for the Glasgow to Edinburgh. Both are looking forward to taking on Dirty D’s “Ladies who Launch” over the 55 mile course and teaching them some table manners as well as giving them a lesson in marathon paddling. Final preparations include studying the […]

Lentil Soup and Edible K2s

A final team sessions for my ladies today – the coach always lurking just round the corner in case of slacking off… And then onto luncheon to finalise the plans for next weekend – paddlers, boats, parking, portages… no stone was left unturned. The use of props was utilised to ensure everyone knows what’s expected […]

Dirty D surrounds herself with Posh Pawns

Dirty D is scaling great heights as she and her crazy Slovakian friend make their final preparations for their Peru expedition in October. She has now climbed so high that she has past the melting of wings altitude and will soon have her name on a table setting at the table of the Gods of […]

Can’t Fight The Feeling….

One light bulb moment, one week, one word apart. … The frustrations and joys of flatwater kayak paddling! I lost my K1 mojo, which was just plain careless.  But it left me wobbling,  losing contact with the boat and at times seriously wondering why I was persevering?  And the boat had been running relatively well […]

Big Bad Ben is revigarated

The 55 mile Glasgow to Edinburgh (G2E) is now 12 days away. Training continues with Morgan and I putting in another hour on the water last might, joined for the session by Ben. Ben is frantically keen to get paddling again. His paddle at Edinburgh has relit his fire. The trouble now is attempting to […]

Surpassed in yet more departments

It is not easy having a 17 year old, very fit and strong training partner. Especially if you are nearing 50, enjoy a drink and carry a spare tire at all times.. Before yesterday I knew Mad Morgan (so called because he is far from Mad) was lighter than me, stronger than me, faster than […]

Time in the K1

The last few weeks have all been about time in the K1. There’s no point spending a lot of time in a K2 at the moment as 1.) it becomes to easy to accept our current boat pace and 2.) There has been a far too obvious performance differential between Mad Morgan and Beaujolais in […]

24 Hours or so of Unknown..

24 Hours. I wonder if we will see Westminster at the end of it. Today’s training has been a 5km run pre work and voting. This evening the plan is to put in a K1 paddle with Mad Morgan. After that I might go out for a pint or maybe even 2- it looks like […]

Team GB does the business.

One of Beaujolais’s previous K2 partners, The Slayer from Kirkcaldy Canoe Club, has been in international action paddling for Great Britain at the 2014 Olympic Hopes regatta in Slovakia. Along with the Slayer are a few of her friends from Linlithgow Kayak Racing, including her K2 partner Amy who also happens to be the daughter […]

Lets start with the least enjoyable.. Developing Core Strength / improving power to weight ratio.

The Core…. Power to Weight ratio… Yes we need to be able to paddle, yes we need to be able to run or move efficiently carrying a boat on land. But we also need to be able to get in and out of the boat approximately 160 times during DW. This last minor detail is […]