The Pyrenees Cups 2012
After a great but slightly disappointing
selection series I quickly planned out my whole year packing it with world
ranking races, world series extreme races and training camps abroad. The first
part of this plan was to travel to France and Spain for the Pyrenees cups which
are held at Foix, site of the 2010 Junior worlds in which I competed at, Pau,
and Seu, neither of which I had raced before.
So 4 weeks before in true British TopGear-esque
fashion My self, Joe Morley, Joe Coombs and Joe Clarke got together and bought
a car for £550 after some serious haggling by the guys. A week after selection
and we were on our way.
Our £550 road trip machine
Just over a day later we arrived in Pau for
some training before the first race at Foix. I was pleasantly surprised by the
course at Pau which I liken to a larger volume run miniaturized with its flowy
back and forth nature. It was really fun to paddle with real importance on key
strokes. After a few days we set back off to Foix for our first race.
Fry camping in Foix
Once camp had been set up, we only had one
day to train on Foix, for me only consisting of one session. Luckily I
remembered the course well from 2010 and felt ready to race almost immediately.
A lot of preparation went in to my first
run, which was fortunate as it turned out being the only run of the race due to
rapidly rising water levels! I ended up 16th in the Pyenees cup
which for my first event I was relatively happy with. Following the race we got
back on the water for some surfing on the waves created by this extra water.
Standing on a rather wet Pier
Camp was again struck and we started the
trip back down to Pau for our second race. I was really excited for this race,
as I knew Pau had the potential for a really fun race with some dynamic
paddling. My qualification and Semi finals went reasonably and secured myself a
place in the final. My final run was neat but not as quick as I would have
wished even still it was a good result and I was happy that I had put down
another performance at an international event.
Racing at Pau
We then set off to Spain, over the
mountains. I had been pre warned about the steepness of these ‘hills’ called
the Pyrenees. It took over an hour to reach the top but when we did get there
it was incredible with a view over the
fantastic range covered in snow still in the middle of may!
After playing in the snow for a hour we
made our way back down freewheeling the car most of the way to Sort, A brief
stop for pizza then we continued to Sau where we stayed at our friend Albertos house.
Snow in May?
We had a few days in Seu before the race,
and after all agreeing that it was far too narrow and shallow we made the most
of the course as it was and prepaired for the races.
I again raced well and bar a mistakenly
given touch all was good for the weekend!
Our trip home was extremely uneventful
stopping at friends houses for sleep breaks on the way home.
Quick Nap
On review it really was a fantastic trip
and I definitely enjoyed the excitement of driving out for a race series as a
group! I cant wait to go again next year.
David Bain
http://www.whitewateractive.co.uk/
