Open Adventure Coast to Coast
Going Coast to Coast
Kevin Cordina / 26.08.2009
We first came across adventure racing together in when I visited Liam after he moved to New Zealand and we stumbled across the Coast-to-Coast race. We hatched a plan to tackle the race, but things have rather diverged. While Liam got straight to it and has now raced around the world, I came home, got married, and had kids. In the past couple of years I finally got going and have been doing fairly well in various one-day events. The Coast-to-Coast seemed a great chance to race with a good mate and step up to a longer race.
As with any plan, it soon became clear it wasn't going to be as simple as first thought. Liam was always going to be fitter than me, but it soon became obvious that there was going to be a gulf between us. He's training seriously to be at the front of the NZ version (23rd this year) while I was managing to squash an hour in here and there between kids and work. With him travelling halfway round the world it was silly to hamstring him so we swapped to two solos.
This of course brought some more challenges, not least it meant being up to doing the kayaking legs on my own. A few months of kayak training ensued and after a few false-starts I had the required bit of paper with a good few weeks to spare. More importantly though, I'd learnt how to paddle as opposed to just flapping around making progress by luck which had been the hallmark of my ability when previously forced into boats.
Boy, what a revelation - you really can make a lot of speed for not a lot of effort with good technique. It's even fun too. I must give a mention to Avoncraft canoes and kayaks (www.avoncraft.co.uk) who were possibly the most helpful shop in the world. Not only did they sort me out with all the kit I needed, they piled me high with honest advice, found me a bargain boat and even took over my training when I was let down by the people I was with.
With Liam travelling from NZ we decided to source a boat and bike locally for him, which turned out to be surprisingly easy. His sponsor in NZ hooked him up with the UK importer of Epic kayaks and he soon had a promise of a surf ski for the race. This should be the perfect boat for an experienced paddler. A friend has very kindly trusted him with a gorgeous Pace MTB.
SleepMonsters
