Steve and Paul DW - 30-31 March 2013
Still under progress
Friday 29th March
On the Friday, Myles drove us to Devises, after some last minute boat repairs the week before. Our first stop was the boat scrutineering. Whilst Paul's kit was mostly in one place, Steve's was carefully mixed between all bags to reduce damage if a whole bag was lost. After some faffing and running to the car to pull kit out of more bags, questioning looks and comments about Steve's BA and whitewater helmet, the kit check was finished and we left for dinner.
The pizza express in Devises had a number of DW victims getting food - many obvious by their DW or club clothing. Carb loading was the order of the evening and all courses were eaten with gusto. We then moved on to the accomodation, a lovely B and B which promised to serve us a cooked breakfast at 6:30 the next morning - much appreciated. Myself and Paul then retired to bed early, going over the names, order, and instructions for each Thames weir.
Saturday 30th March
Waking early on the Saturday, myself and Paul went over last kit checks in the bedroom and then joined Myles and Louise (who had definitely been having naughty times in the other room). We had as much breakfast as we could manage, then set off to Devises for the final time.
Arriving at Devises, we got changed and checked in. This involved signing various forms about injury and so on, and having some wire identification bracelets attached on. Finally, we were given the boat sticker, and were ready to go. Around 8am, we were ready to leave and so moved past other groups doing morning kit checks, and got into the water. This was to be our home for the next 24 hours.
Devises. Time: 08:08. Elapsed Time: 0:00. Distance: 0.0M. Time awake: 2:08
At 8:08AM, we passed through the start line in Devises, and started the race. This was familiar territory - we had paddled this section on Waterside D, two weeks previous. We held a slightly slower but completely manageable pace, and were in good spirits. The weather was cold, but gradually getting sunny. As we paddled the first few miles we actually overtook a number of crews - unfortunately, most of these crews were unlikely to finish, if getting overtaken so early on.
Our first checkpoint was at All Cannings Bridge. We were fine for supplies, so decided to skip this checkpoint and skip to the next. The next was Pewsey - the start of the Waterside C race. We did have to stop once on this section - Steve's morning alarm clock went off and had to be silenced.
Pewsey. Time: 10:18. Elapsed Time: 2:09. Distance: 11.5M. Time awake: 4:26
The alarm started back up again near Pewsey, and so was removed and thrown towards our support (the Carters) at Pewsey. Here we topped up on supplies, ready for the next paddle to the first portage in 3 miles time. Three miles paddling later took us to the first portage. These were done quickly, including a quick stop for support at Wotton Rivers. The next obstacle was the tunnel - a 3-4 minute long tunnel, in almost complete darkness. All that is visible is a dot of light at the end - taking some faith to just paddle towards it. This was accomplished with much less hassle than the warmup races, when people had swam in the tunnel. The next few miles was the Crofton flight - a series of locks over a mile that are run as a set by the fastest crews, but we decided to run some and paddle some. This was done at good speed, and our support at this point was also very quick and fluid. They were also wearing animal onesies, which entertained us to no end. After Croften comes a significant section made up of lots of long pounds, which were eaten up with ease.
Hungerford. Time: 13:15. Elapsed Time: 5:06. Distance: 25.5M. Time awake: 7:22
This section is reasonably straighforward - some lowish bridges which are passed easily. Two weeks previously, this had been paddled in blizzard conditions. This time, it was sunny and nice. Support quick and professional.
Newbury. Time: 15:01 (approx). Elapsed Time: 6:54. Distance: 34.25M. Time awake: 9:10
At Newbury, we reached the furthest we'd ever been before. This was now new territory to us. However, we were very happy to see and make use of some flow in the river/canal in the section between here and Reading. Other crews were less happy in the turbulent water, and we overtook a few crews during this section as a result. Someway between here and Reading Steve's parents found us using the tracker, and came to watch and support. No time for chat though - portages stayed quick and we were essentially keeping to our predicted times.
Aldermaston. Time: 16:49:00. Elapsed Time: 08:40:19. Distance: 43M. Time awake: 11:56
We didn't really notice going through Aldermaston - the between Newbury and Reading was one section as far as we could tell. Portages stayed strong but were further apart, and it was nice to see the beginnings of Reading. After a tricky portage, we were at the start of the Oracle shopping center, and breezed through it quickly. This had been a site of a previous hairy training run (high flows), but was much easier on the day. We then arrived onto the Thames in style, and quickly pulled into the mandatory portage at Reading.
Reading. Time: 18:53:00. Elapsed Time: 10:44:19. Distance: 54M. Time awake: 14:00
At Reading we spent 20-25 mins having some food and getting completely changed. It also went dark at this point so we broke out the glow sticks and torches, in order to become visible on the wide open Thames. Conditions were good but cold, and we made sure to use all our layers. Steve's parents met us at this point to provide food, and the support teams were switching over, so there was quite a crowd! All too soon it was time to leave, and with much food in mouths we unstably got back into the boat off a slippery gravel bank, and on into the night. At this point, all our training paid off as we were able to remember all of the portages without trouble, and we quickly made work of the next few weirs, being met at some of them. Usefully, the portage at Shiplake (campsite so no support crew allowed) had been lit up with glowsticks to indicate the path!
Marsh. Time: 20:20. Elapsed time: 12:11:19. Distance: 61M. Time awake: 15:27
We were then at Marsh - home territory for Steve, and this all in a previously paddled section. We had our first support of the night here with Suzie and Helen meeting us as we walked the very long portage. In we g Reading.
