1 Week till the South West canoe Show 2008

It's now only one week till this years South West Canoe Show.

So here is a quick run down of what you will be able to see at this years show; For the whitewater paddlers we have new boats from Pyranha, with the Kanarli and Z:One, Liquid Logic with the Biscuit and XP, Dagger with the Green boat and Axiom and Wavesport with the new Diesel range.

For the Sit on top paddler there will be new range of Tarpons from Wilderness Systems, the new Trident 13 fishing kayak from Ocean Kayak and new boats from Native Watercraft. For the Canoeists there will be new boats from Mad River Canoes to check out.

On the software front there is the complete new range of Yak waterproof cags, on display in the UK for the first time. The new range has something for the recreational paddlers, touring paddlers , and the whitewater paddlers alike. There will be a chance to see the new Sweet range of Helmets and the new Sweet gore-tex cag. Palm have some new gear, including some great new water shoes that look set to rival the mighty 5:10 boots.

And on-top of all this there will be all your favorite tried and tested gear from all our favorite manufactures; Palm; Dagger; Yak; Nookie; Typhoon; Sweet; IR; Astral; Pyranha; P+H; Venture Kayaks; Venture Canoes; Valley Sea Kayaks; Valley Surf Kayaks: Kirton Kayaks; Lettmann; Wavesport; Mad River Canoe; Wilderness Systems; Native Watercraft; Heritage; Ocean Kayak; Old Town; Perception; Exped; Ortlieb; Bending Branches; Pelican Canoes; Aquabound; Eckla.

Plus, as if that wasn't enough, also at the show will be local Colleges for those of you interested in becoming an instructor or coach and coaching and guiding companies like Gene 17; Canoe Control; Sea Kayak South West; Sea Sports South West and Haven Banks.

Don't forget there will be special Deals on Boats and Kit available for the show day only, and a whole range of package deals available on the day as well. For a sneak Preview of what's available check HERE. Plus all your favorite gear will be on sale from the stands and in the shop.

You can also demo a huge range of canoes, kayaks and sit on tops on the canal and river, beat the queue and download the boat demo registration form HERE.

And finally, there will be a BCU Club Forum held in the Exeter Canoe club, a 'Mexican roll' down the river Exe by Exeter School Kayak Club, a BCU White water race down the river Exe and the Hog Roast!

Hip Hop is not Dead!

Hip Hop is Not Dead

New Camo Immersion Research Splash pants now available. Yes you too could look this stylish!!!

A quick bit of fishing.

I managed to pop out for a bit of kayak fishing action yesterday. I went down to Exmouth and enjoyed the calm conditions, and the great sunset. I even managed to catch a few things! I caught the biggest sand eel I have ever seen, it took my biggest lure too. It was the best part of a foot long and wriggled and flapped like a mad man!! And I caught a great big mackerel, it was just a shame that it was only the one mackerel.

The Monster Sand eel!

Looking back towards the beach, over a calm sea.

The sea and the sky turning amazing colours.

What Team AS did next.

Well after our 'Team' day out on the river last weekend we had to do something this weekend. And what could be better? SURF!!!!!

We headed up to Westward Ho! on the North devon coast and had a great afternoon messing about in the surf!

Ewart was trying out his new surf board, Kayleigh was practising her 'Pop' on a long board, Jemma (back with the team at last!) was splashing around on a body board, and I played with a wave ski, before swapping to a bit of swimming and photography before having a go on a longboard. Meanwhile, out back various kayakers in various surf boats and playboats we loving the waves as well. All in all a great day in the water!

What next?

Ewart practising his head stands

Me trying out Ewarts Longboard

Jemma lines up her body board for another wave

Kayleigh getting to her feet

Ewart finds a rare shoulder on an inside wave

Team AS hits the river.

With all this rain around 'Team AS' finally did what we'd all been waiting for, and went for a Whitewater paddle. Ewart, Kayleigh, Sam, Liam and myself hit the water. It was very much a gentle warm up paddle, seeing as Ewart hadn't paddled Whitewater since his first shoulder injury, about 15 months ago, Kayleigh is still recovering from another shoulder injury and Sam hadn't been on whitewater in a while! So we headed off for a classic Grade 2 fest'.

The team, me, Kayleigh, Sam, Liam and Ewart

Just after the get on, and straight into the trees!

As you can see from the photos there were lots of trees to dodge, and the river never let up for a moment, continuous class two rapids straight from the get in until the get out. What a great trip!

Liam, Ewart and Sam catch their breath on a rare calmer moment

Kayleigh takes the lead

Hopefully it'll stay wet, with the exception of Saturday the 4th of October for the South West Canoe Show, and we'll get many more days on the river.

Allier Adventure: France 2008

Well its that time of year again, time for the summer holiday. Last year we had such a great time canoeing in France that we decided that we'd do it again! Although we decided this year to take it easy and only paddle one river, the Allier, and spend more time chilling out, eating local food, and drinking cheap wine!

The rapid we walked, complete with pinned raft

The start of the grade 3(+) gorge, before the rain started

The Weather wasn't great this year, the first week was plagued by rain and thunder, but the second week was much better. We warmed up on a lower section of the river that was only grade 2 and everything seemed great. So we decided that we'd jump in at the deep end with our second day on the river, with some great tight and technical grade 3(+), all in the bottom of a steep and wild gorge. Which tandem in an open boat is an exciting experience! We walked one rapid early on, and we were glad as a raft then pinned itself for a couple of minuets, eventually flipping and sending all the clients down the shallow rocky rapid, Ouch!. The Rest of the run was super cool after that, running some drops, upto about 3 feet, and some long bouncy rapids. The weather though was the worst day of the holiday, quickly turning into non-stop rain, low clouds and thunder. By 2 in the afternoon mist was rising off of the water, because the air temperature had dropped below the water temp.

The longest rapid on the section, as seen from the train

Somewhere in the middle of the gorge

Our third day on the river was an absolute blinder, the longest section at 20km, through another wild section of gorge, with little sign of any other person for most of the day and with one rapid after another. The rapids were all Grade 2 with a couple of grade 3s to keep you on your toes. And with the barrage releasing an extra 2cumecs of water it made everything even better. The sun was blazing and we had a great day on the river.

One of the Grade 3 rapids on our last day on the river

Looking back up the valley on the cycle shuttle run!

Off of the river we enjoyed plenty of time lazing about our campsite reading books, some laid back drives through the great scenery to find view points, the 'tourist train' that runs right through all of the gorges, most of the time right next to the river, and of course enjoying all the local produce, wine, cheese, bread and fruit.

Enjoying the sun on our last day on the river

A hitch-hiker on the lower section of the river
There are still a couple of sections of the upper river that we haven't paddled, mainly because they are a little to tight and rocky of a tandem canoe, at grade 3(5) and 4(5), but maybe I'll return with my kayak at some point to tick them off. As for next year I'll have to find a new destination, time to break out the guide books!

South West Canoe Show 2008

The South West Canoe Show 2008 may still be a few months away, but the wheels are already in motion for this years Biggest free canoe show.

Put it in your Diary now Saturday the 4th October 2008.

The Website is now up, and will be updated regularly so check it out.

My new Ride.

The usual peace and tranquility here at 3rider towers has been rudely disturbed this week by the arrival of a loud new bouncing Bike.
I'm now the proud owner of a Mongoose Khyber Elite, with a few extra upgrades. I bought it second hand, but barely used. The previous owner, worked in a bike shop and had too many nice parts and other bikes to play with. The front forks have been barely used, because he changed them for something else, and it sports almost new camo Sunn MTX rims on Hope Pro2 hubs, and some carbon Avid juicy brakes. All in all not a bad little freeride bike for me. It features some lovely marzocchi 55 forks with 160mm travel up front, and a Marzocchi Roco R rear shock putting out something like 6.7" of travel at the rear.
I've only given it the one quick ride at Haldon so far, but it handled everything very well, and it made a great change from being rattled around on the Hardtail.

My new Mongoose Khyber

My Trusty DMR will now handle all the hardtail duties, like dirt jumping, and the odd bit of 4X stomping. It's a great bike and I love the way it rides, so I'll not be getting rid of it. It'll just live in its Moto Tyres and only come out i the dry!

My good old DMR Trailstar LT

And as for my third bike, my trusty old GT still keeps on going. I've ad it for around 10 years now. Now in fully rigid hack bike mode. It's been equipped with all the hand me downs, cast offs and junk parts out of the garage, and not a week goes by with out some part coming loose or falling off whilst in use. Frighteningly either the crank arms while going up hill, or any part of the brakes when trying to stop! But it gets me too and from work quickly, easily and it keeps my spanner skills ready.

My trusty, if scary GT hack Bike

I don't think I need another bike, I seem to have most bases covered now, and anyway, I don't think there's any space left in the garage.

Going green at The Mafia

So, after hacking our way through the jungle that had set in on the top of the trails, there was only one thing to do: RIDE!
After sweeping all the trails they were rolling fast, with dry trails and just enough dirt in the corners to keep you on your toes.

Ewart on the Big Snake

Ewart sends Mother Bear

The big berm on the Main-line

Sam at the top of the Duel Track

Ewart and Sam on the Duel Track

Me at the top of the Duel track

Sam on the Main-line berm

Ewart fires up the see-saw

If you go down to the trails today.....

....Your in for a big surprise!

Mainly because you couldn't find the trails through the 8 foot high bracken, brambles and stinging nettles.
So Sam, Ewart and I set about clearing the trails. Here's a few before and after shots for you.

The view outside the barns, above the main roll in

and below after clearing

Ewart checks the view from Goldielocks

Looking down the lead in to goldielocks

and below after some gardening

And looking down the trails from the top of goldielocks

and below before we cleared

A quick Trip to Decoy

At work today we had to do a boat delivery to Decoy lake this evening. So Ewart and I thought we'd combine dropping off some boats with a quick spot of biking at Decoy Trails.
There are a few things worth checking out at Decoy, there is the Huge BMX track, there's the HUGE Dirt jumps, and tucked away there are some sneaky bandit run trails through the woods.

Ewart going for it on the bmx track

We started off looking for some of the hidden woodland trails. We found a few, they were all fairly short, but a good laugh with tight corners, slippery roots and poor visibility hacking through the deep under growth! But after a while the heat combined with the effort of pushing back up the hill took its toll, so we decided to check out the BMX track.

This berm was vast, and riding a high line was great fun!

The BMX track is stunning, having fairly recently been re-vamped and re-surfaced. Its a full on world class race track, with enormous berms, step-ups, step-downs, pump bumps and gaps. Even just trying to cruise round the whole track was tiring. Ewart challenged me to a race, but neither of us could make it past the half way mark!!! but we enjoyed sessioning some of the corners and pump bumps.

Ewart on a loose and slippery corner somewhere in the woods!

There is also an area of dirt jumps, the main line through the middle of the jumps is Vast. with lips that seemed to be at least 8 foot high and gaps the looked at least double that. However no one was riding them as they are prepping it for a jam in a couple of weeks, hopefully I'll be able to find the time to go along and watch.

New waterproof camera

Hi There 3Rider fans, sorry its been ages since I last posted anything, I have been up to loads, just not taking any pictures, so I haven't had anything worthy of posting!
Life has a few ups and downs, and as some of you might remember I was burgled a few months back. But it's had a bit of an up side (all be it a rather small up!) but the insurance finally paid out, and we now have a cool new Olympus waterproof camera. I've been itching to give it a proper testing, and I finally got the chance this weekend.
With fuel fairly hard to find we took the short trip down to Ansteys Cove in Torbay. The sea was calm, blue and inviting. So Louise and I suited up and took the plunge.

Louise takes the plunge

The Beach below Ansteys Cove is now a bit of a no go zone. Some landslips above the beach a few years ago meant the closure of the beach, and with the council un-able to find the money the shore it up they have now removed the walk way that used to lead down onto the beach. Its still possible to scramble onto the beach at low tide, but as the tide comes in it becomes very hard to get off the beach!
But none of that is a problem if your wearing 5mm of neoprene, boots, gloves, fins and goggles! Just jump in and swim round!

Just some of the seaweeds to be seen

The water was very clear for the British coast and there was lots to see. Amazing coloured seaweeds, plenty of fish from tiny see through shoals of fry to big Wrasse, and the occasional stone crab.

A stone crab, this one was too small to be worth eating!

The more time I spend swimming around off beaches and coves in the southwest the more I enjoy it. The water may not be that warm but the sights on offer soon stop you worrying about temperature.

Looking out along the cove, The Long Traverse climbs across the wall above the sea, to Sanctuary wall and LQP

It's hot out there

Whew, what a scorcher we had on Sunday. Tom KP, Phil KP, Ewart and I went for a mountain biking mission on what felt like the hottest day of the year!
We first headed off to Cann Woods on the out-skirts of Plymouth, somewhere we hadn't ridden in over a year. Unfortunately I had so much water in my back-pack that i couldn't fit the camera in, so no pictures. But I can tell you that the riding was great. Most of the trails seemed un-changed since our last visit, except that the jumps all seemed a bit bigger than before! In between melting in the extraordinary heat we had a great time riding some flowing trails, and an awesome off camber root fest!

Ewart on a gap jump over a stream on the cafe side at Haldon

Me on the same gap jump, before eating dirt!

Finally, after running out of water, we returned to the van for Ice-creams, loaded up and headed back to Haldon, outside Exeter. Rather than going to the 'regular' side of the hill at Haldon, we headed over to the 'below the radar' trails over on the cafe side of the hill. It was still too hot to ride hard, but we had fun riding some nice trails. I had two crashes, on the same gap jump, the first time was a laugh, but the second time left me limping and sore! After some good riding we finally called it a day and headed on home to try and re-hydrate ourselves!

Phil on a hip-jump lower down the hill at Haldon

Tom stylin' the same Hip