Thursday, May 24, 2007

2 wheeled, 3 venues, 4 riders

Thursday 24th May

We had a mad, hot, but enjoyable biking epic today. Tom KP, his little brother Phil, his mate 'Chief' and I loaded up and hit the dirt. First off we went to East Hill, out past Ottery st. Mary. It was a bit of a mission just finding it! With no map, some (possibly) dubious directions, a lot of getting lost and a lot of phone calls to the people who knew where it was, we finally made it!
However what we found didn't fill us with joy! It was all very steep, very rooty, very loose, very rocky in some places and alot of hard work to get back to the top again! We gave it a quick ride, but decided that it was definitely a place for full suspension, and those with a real love of hardcore Downhill racing. So we headed back to the van and moved on.


Phil on a small jump at east hill

Chief on the same jump


Phil on some loose, steep, rocky berms.

Our next venue was a classic favourite of ours, the Pine ridge jumps on Woodbury common. By now the weather was no longer Hot, it was Really Hot!! We were all sweating buckets, but that couldn't hold us back from riding the big table top over and over and over and........


Chief, styling pine ridge


Me, clearing the table

Tom, clocking some airtime

Phil boosts out of the table lip


Me, jumping and doing a chicken impression at the same time!

Chief pulling a big one footer

Then we finally decide to hit one last spot. The Skate Park next to Exeter Arena. It's not a big park, but it's got enough to keep us entertained for a while. Finally, the heat was too much for us, and the fact that we were getting shown up by a four year old put and end to our riding!!

Me, jumping into the quarter


Tom hipping the box


Tom Jumping from the quarter to the banking


Phil also going from the quarter to the banking

Chief hipping the box


Me going from the quarter to the banking




More Sunday Surf at Saunton

Sunday 20th May
Well the Sun was out and the surf sounded like it should be alright so we set off Saunton again for a another Sunday surf session. Low tide was three-ish so we left it till the afternoon, to get the best of the pushing tide. However the wind beat us too it, we were expecting a light northerly, so were hoping the headland at Saunton would give it good shelter from the wind, but what we got was a direct on-shore westerly. The wind really made a mess of the surf. I had a terrible session on the long board, the waves just seemed mushy and gutless, and trying to catch them was hard work even and a big board.
Greg and Ewart share a wave

Greg (getting nailed??!!) and Andy on a wave

Ewart and Andy had a great time though. They'd brought playboats with them, and were able to take full advantage of the sloppy conditions. It was perfect for them, catch a wave, throw a few moves, fall off the wave, and were then able to paddle back out through the mess easily. Out back they met up with Greg Nicks (local paddle hero and 3rd place world squirt boater!) in his new surf boat, he was loving it and enjoying charging about at high speed! Oh well, you live and learn, I'll have to start taking my kayak with me as well!


Me, just managing to catch a wave

Friday, May 18, 2007

River low, Sun high

Friday 17.05.07

The weather today was blazing hot, and as if that was a good enough excuse to go boating, we finally got a Dagger Agent 6.2 today. So Ewart somehow managed to drag us to the Pots to take it for a spin.

Spot the fatman!

The Exe had dropped quite a bit, but the hole was just high enough to paddle. Ewart and Andy hit the hole early, and by the time I got there they had been on over an hour.


Andy plugging in a back blast


Ewart getting another vert end


Me in the Agent, showing a complete lack of cartwheeling technique

I like the Agent 6.2, it's got a fair bit of volume, but it doesn't feel too big, there's plenty of footroom, and the planning area on the hull is huge, so it'll rock on a wave!

mafia trails session

Thursday 16.05.07

Ewart and I decided to hit the Mafia Trails for a session today. It's the first time Ewart has really ridden any of the trails there. He's spent so long building the trails whilst his thumb was in plaster, but now was his chance to actually ride them.

Ewart on the wall ride/berm

Me, also on the wall ride/berm

Dropping into the wall ride/berm for the first time was an experience for Ewart, but soon he was riding it smooth and clean.


Drifting the berm under the ladder

Ewart just managing to keep his feet up!


Some of the loose drifty berms had Ewart flapping his feet all over the place, but soon he was riding with both feet on the pedals like a pro! The harder and faster you push it the more it drifts but the better it feels.


Ewart on the ladder drop (excuse the rough and ready editing)

The ladder drop had Ewart totally blown away. The more he rode it the bigger and faster and more tweaked he got. I had a bit of a sketchy moment, when I let the front wheel drop a bit too much, for a moment I thought I was going to land hard and go straight over the bars, but somehow I managed to get away with it.


Through the left hand entry berm then snap right

Ewart coming in high then driving hard right


The tight techie berm is always a toughie, now with a choice of two lines in. Ewart preferred the new high line in, I prefer the the original low line, snapping left to right.


Monday, May 14, 2007

Sunny evenings at the Pots

After all the weekends rain the Exe has come up, and with such a large catchment area the Exe will probably stay at a reasonable level for a few days. So with the sun blazing Ewart and Andy decided to hit the Pots for an afterwork session.

Ewart chucks in a good vert end

We were kind of expecting it to be quite busy at the Pots. After so long without water the first chance of a Pots session usually brings everyone out of the wood work. But when we arrived there was no sign of another paddler.


Andy Blunts left

Andy and Ewart enjoyed a session all to themselves. Non stop runs, wash off, paddle up the eddy, get back in the hole. Some moves were pulled, some good rides were had, and some beatdowns were handed out. Within an hour they were exhausted!

What a lovely couple they make!!

Finally, after they'd got off the water, other paddlers started to arrive. What took them so long, this was the first chance for a Pots session in months!

The rain it was a falling

Unless you had your head well buried, you'd have noticed that it rained an awful lot over the weekend. And lots of rain on dry ground means lots of flash flood action, and soaring river levels means excited paddlers.


The slot drop looking fairly evil

Whilst many people set out onto the moor to try and find some action the draw of a lazy day with limited energy output gripped me. I eventually dragged my wife and myself out for a short walk along the river Erme, just above Ivybridge.


The Broken weir looking chunky

I've paddled the section a few times but never seen it looking quite as big as this. I was somewhat glad I'd gone for the lazy option, the idea of being on any raging Dartmoor river, even if the sun was shining, just didn't fill me with joy!


The big boulder drop looking chewy

The afternoon turned into a beautiful sunny day. But the weather forecast looks damp for the rest of the week, so who knows what might happen.

It's a family thing

It's my Grandmothers 80th Birthday this week. So there was a mass family gathering this weekend to celebrate. It was a great event that brought together nearly all of the family from all over the world. It was a great chance for everyone to catch-up with parts of the family that they had not seen for years.


Jean looking good for 80 years old!


The 'Family'. Anyone who can tell me who they all are and how I'm related too them please do!!

Tuesday, May 01, 2007

2ft surf??

Tuesday1st May

After getting a few jobs knocked off this morning my wife, Louise, and I decided to get to the beach to try and catch some waves. What we expected to find was similar to Sundays fare, small clean waves and a light off shore wind. What we found instead was a wind so strong you had to be careful opening the car doors, or they would have been ripped off, and waves that were regularly over head high, and even the little ones seemed to be shoulder high, and a lightening fast close out that threatened to smash anything in it's path!
I really wanted to go for a surf, and I could see plenty of people trying, and many getting good beatings from the waves, but with only a longboard with me I knew it would all end in tears one way or the other! So unfortunately I had to lie around on the beach, sheltering from the wind, enjoying the sun, and watching a load of short boarders alternately ripping it up or getting epic beat down!

An unknown surfer tucks into the pit of a wave

Another big set rolls in


Another unknown surfer takes off on a big wave, with spray blowing 10 feet into the air


The same surfer lining up for a sharp exit, before the wave closes out on him

North Devon surf - Saunton

Sunday 29th April

Thankfully the Surf was looking good on the North coast today, so we set off to Saunton. Ewart, still with cast on his hand, took a composite Valley Rush surf boat and Roger took out his new wave ski. I just stuck to the board!


Ewart and his Manky cast

The surf report had made it sound fairly small but clean, and we were surprised by the size of some of the set waves coming through. At least two foot swell, with upto at least four feet faces. All held up beautifully by a gentle off shore wind.
Saunton was as busy as could be expected on a Sunday afternoon, and with a surf comp running. But the joy of Saunton is that there is loads of space to spread out, and with surf rules just about running as usual there were waves aplenty and some good rides to be had.

Roger and his sit-on-top, sorry Wave ski

Ewart took a while to get into the 'Flow' with the Rush, not helped by a lack of footrests and padding. But soon was carving top and bottom turns, and getting some good rides. Roger taking his Ski out for only the second time was ripping it up. Getting good long rides with nice bottom turns, snappy top turns and always with a big grin on his face. It looks like he has been seduced by the dark side, he's become a surf ski-er. Or has he become a sit-on-top paddler, there's a very fine line between the two, whats the difference? answers on a card to AS Watersports! I enjoyed to nice long rides, with a few hang fives, I must be getting better!!!

Don't try this at home

Saturday 28th April

DO NOT TRY THIS AT HOME
What ever you do, do not play Edward cider-hands, do not allow your 'mates' to tape a two litre bottle of cider to each of your hands, do not attempt to drink all the cider without going to the toilet, and do not attempt to finish all your cider before your mates.


Attempting to do any of the above will lead to drunkenness, falling over, looking silly, sickness, and the mother of all hangovers.

South coast surf - Bantham

Thursday 26th April

Well the swell, tides and winds pointed to a South coast surf session this week. So I took a trip down some winding south hams lanes to see what I could find. I have recently been shown some pictures of a small out of the way Secret Spot on the south coast and so thought I'd check that out first.
What I found, when I finally got there, was fantastic, a small sheltered bay, with waves peeling in over a sand bar. However there just wasn't enough swell getting in for it to be big enough. But I know what conditions to look for next time. So it was back in the motor and onwards to the south Devon classic Bantham.

Bantham rules in action, 5 people on one wave

I'm not much of a fan of Bantham. I learnt to surf there, and have really gone off of it! It has a relatively small take off area for a couple of peaks, and when it get busy, like at weekends and holidays, it can be absolute hell. You end up with masses of people all trying to take off on the same wave.


A clean river mouth wave with only one person on it!

This Over crowding I reckon has lead to Bantham developing it's own set of surf rules. At most breaks around the world it's generally one person to a wave, and either whoever stands up first or is closest to the breaking shoulder of the wave has right of way, over everyone else. But not at Bantham. At Bantham, as many people on a wave is excepted as the norm, as is, dropping in on people already on a wave and not giving way to people on a wave. It drives me totally nuts.


A wave ski going off the top

There were only a dozen or so of us in the water, it was pretty chilled out, but people still kept on dropping in on each other. I got totally taken out by some old geezer, I was cruising down the line, when he paddled in, and tried to join me on my wave, however I didn't give way and was quietly hoping I might run him over and teach him a lesson. But instead he managed to hit me in the chest with his board taking both of us out. Then he just climbed back on his board and paddled off as if nothing had happened. Old *******************!

Tiny waves peeling into the Secret Spot


It Totally reminded me of why I hate Bantham so much. Next time the swell, tides and wind point to a south coast session I think I'll go biking, or climbing or..............

South Devon Sea Kayaking

Sunday 22nd April

I took a dark step into the nether regions of kayaking this weekend, and went sea kayaking! My Wifes' good friend 'The Witch' is a mad (keen) sea kayaker and has been keen to take me for a paddle for a while. And while it may not be playboating, whitewater or high on the adrenaline factor, it's nice to get out and explore bits of the local coast line.

Leaden skies hang over Thurlestone

We put on at the little beach at Thurlestone, on a dull, gray slightly misty afternoon, but at least the air was warm and still, and there was minimal swell or tides to worry about. We paddled past hope, round Bolt Tail and along the cliffs until we reached Soar Mill Cove. Along the way we explored some of the many, and huge sea caves. We even ended up waking a snoozing seal in the dark recess of one cave. We also came across the remains of an old ship wreck, Some very rust steam boilers and a huge crank shaft.


Packing food, ready for the epic trip!

Then After a quick snack on the beach at Soar Mill Cove it was back in the water to cruise back to the car, making the most of the slack water in the tide. The sun even manged to pop out briefly! While it may not have the exciting edge that some paddle sports do, it's great exercise, and it's nice to explore some very out of the way parts of the coast line. Hopefully I'll be back in a sea boat soon, but not too soon!!