This particular post is to focus a little bit of attention on one of the amazing paddlers / people I have come across, whom I have the privilege of calling friend. The man is as modest as his story is impressive, I know he will feel uneasy at the notion of being singled out as being considered more special or different than anyone else.

The man himself aka Mark Lyons will be a familiar face to those in the Scottish / UK boating scene who have been around for any reasonable length of time, its possible easier to list the big international destinations that he hasn’t traveled to that where he has been. But Central Europe, Norway, British Colombia, Nepal are just a scratching the surface of his boating experience. I think for me to even label Mark as a “Kayaker” is selling him short a little as he is also a very accomplished Mountaineer , Climber , Mountain Biker and Scuba Diver, to name but a few.

I could add international ladies man to that list of thing but I’m not sure i could get away posting those photographs online Anyway I should really get to the point of this long overdue blog post before I give Mark an even bigger ego if I continue on like this. Last year Mark was asked by a friend to take in the Edinburgh half marathon for charity, not being a runner but always a man to like a challenge / doing something for charity he was all in for taking part. True to form Mark couldn’t just leave it at that.

In February I bought a pair of running shoes and embarked on a mission to run a 1/2 marathon in April , then I set a goal of a marathon in September and achieved this in Amsterdam with Darren Murphy , but instead of taking the foot off the gas like most sensible people would do , I upped the ante’ and embarked on a new far greater challenge , to complete “The Marathon Des Sable” , a multi stage race over 6 days ,racing 156 miles across the Sahara Desert , often called “The toughest foot race in the world”

For those who have never heard of the Marathon Des Sable it doesn’t get it title of “The toughest foot race in the World” for nothing, it is essentially SIX…. that’s right count them, six marathons over six days across the Sahara Desert. This kinda of ultra ultrathon running is the kind of event life long distant runners take two plus years to prepare for, so what chance does a guy does a guy from the Scottish Borders who only took up running 12 months ago have of surviving this kind of challenge? I don’t think there is a single tangible quality you can name that but I reckon grit, courage, determent, crazy would be a fair start.

As if taking on the Marathon Des Sables wasn’t task of huge enormity its self Mark has also signed for the Sand Baggers Scottish Ultra race and the Gobi Challenge, in the ultra running community these are renowned as three of the toughest races in the world, all three of which Mark will complete within a few months of each other.

In the last year Mark has been quiet open about his personal life being a bit hectic combined with how tough it has been for his business all while trying to prepare for his upcoming challenges. Not being one to back hide away in a corner Mark has started a  has started a website to document his journeys for himself and his friends to keep track of his progress.

If you read back from some of the previous posts they give you some idea of the all the training and effort Mark has put into getting to the point where he is now, all set to head to the Sahara in less than seven days to take his place at the Marathon Des Sables start line. True to form Mark added a charity element to all of these challenges, he is trying to raise both awareness and funds for MS Scotland.

Recent events had brought me awareness of the MS Society of Scotland and its borders branch , I learnt that multiple sclerosis is a disease that affects a lot of people and the support they and their family needs is huge , the charity and its members work tirelessly and I really wanted to help , so my new challenge was born , I would attempt not only to race across the Sahara and Scotland  but I would also run in the Gobi Ultrathon , 140+_ miles across the Gobi desert , through Ice gorges , mountain passes , desert and salt plains … so that was it , an Ultra hat trick , 3 of the toughest races in the world , ran in 3 months , anUltra Ultra challenge was born … and hopefully in turn my efforts will make people aware of MS Scotland , its tireless members and help raise awareness of its cause.

It is possible to donate to this cause via Marks “My Charity” page which is embedded right in Mark’s www.runner786.com website using PayPal, credit or debit card. Any amount you might be able to spare is welcome no matter how large or small. Even if you are not in a position to donate please have a look around the website read some of the great stories about how Mark ended up where he is now including some fairly frank stories of marks own past.

Once Mark sets off on the Marathon Des Sables all going well his blog should be updated daily with progress reports. Anyway cheers for reading this check it out, drop a few comment if you like or even hit Mark up on Twitter @runner786

www.runner786.com

Adrian

So there it is the year of 2010 all done and dusted apart from a few remaining hours. I had thought about and soon after reconsidered writing one of those how awesome things have been kinda end of year posts including how brilliant business has been for me here at www.adrianshanahan.com. At this stage everyone apart from those whom have their heads buried very deep in the sand know that Ireland’s economy is a state of free fall and our government is in such a state of disarray that politicians are jumping ship at a rate of knots.

In addition to that when I see so many of my former colleagues from the construction industry that are now unemployed and looking to leave or have left the country. You could easily forgive anyone who lives here for going around in a permanent state of disillusion / totally depressed with how things seem to be panning out.

I’m sure most of the kayaking community will be in agreement when I say that 2010 has also been one of the worse years for White Water Kayaking in Ireland in memory with no real constant water of any sort over the space of twelve months.

All that aside anyone who know me well will testify that I’m not one to sit around too long feeling sorry for myself and am for the most part the kinda person that sees in the good in things, it’s with that in mind why I decided to share some photos and thoughts from my year. Some stuff kayaking related, other stuff not, but all of it things I’m grateful to have experienced.

In semi chronological order….

In Jan of 2010 Ireland had what was the first epic snow fall in many years so to make the most of it myself and some friends hiked up to what is Ireland’s highest road in the middle of the Wicklow Mountains and set up camp in –25 .

I have to mention the river Nore as with this years poor water levels the Nore seemed to be like that girl friend you always wish you had back in school… as in the one who always put out. A poor joke I know but hey!  There were high days, low days, trips with both clients and friends old and new.

And even a tiny clip of Chris nailing his first clean spin:

As the year went on and the water dried up I with the help of my mate Paul started to dip my toes back into the world of climbing again. I used to climb (very badly I might add) some years ago but took a fall and decked out from 12m which I never quiet got over. I’ve not conquered “the fear” but I now remember why I used to really enjoy it.

Not at all kayaking or outdoor related but 2010 is the year when my sister gave birth and I became an uncle for the first time along with being honored with being asked to be God father. My nephew Tommy Long on his Christening.

As I have said 2010 was mega dry with very few quality days on the water so to spare me from climbing the walls and going nuts I decided to follow what every Kayaker seems to do at some stage in their career and try my hand at mountain biking. This without doubt is one of the best things I’ve ever done, biking is the only outdoor sport out of the many I have tried over the years that gives me the same enjoyment as kayaking.

I am very lucky to have some friends who are pretty hands on two wheels so started of with some great advice and guidance, I honestly love MTB so much I could write many more posts on it alone as there have been so many good times in such a short period.

If you haven’t it yet your missing out, get out there and get Mountain Biking.

I didn’t get to do this near enough this year but I did realize how much I like spending time with my Dad just having the chats end enjoying Pints in local not far from where my Dad grew up.

As always there were one or two days where pasta solo was the best way to enjoy a day on the river, not for everyone but I enjoy it at times.

Another exciting thing that I was excited about was the birth of Track and Trail, its a new venture by a friend that sets out ” to bringing outdoor adventure sports to people all over Ireland, we aim to encourage an appreciation of the outdoors, through various activities in a safe, enjoyable environment, whilst educationally fostering a positive attitude toward an active lifestyle in the outdoors as a lifelong endeavor.”

Honestly they are savage so check them out on www.trackandtrail.ie

This year I have done more than average amount of freelance of contract work in the outdoor education much like years ago when I was just starting out at all this carry on. On one hand it was a pain with all the travel but it really reminded me of how excited people get when trying stuff out for the first time that some of us take for granted.

During the year I also got to spend a bit more time with the Kayak Club based where I am from in Kilkenny which was formed a bit after I had started boating myself. Along with getting out freestyle paddling with some of the younger guys I was also luck enough to organize and run A River Safety & Rescue course for the member of Kilkenny Aqua Canoe club which I hope to see continue into the world of White Water and freestyle.

Most people reading this will not know that I am a proud Irish man and despite being utterly useless at it I do love the Irish language and all that comes with it. So Some time around October following a Twitter conversation with a friend Sharon Ní Icí ( @sherqui ) out of no where we founded an Irish Language website called Cailín Deas, things have been quiet on it as of late but there are great things planned.

This is a day I’ll not forget in a long while but the story is some else to tell or a at least to be told in person where it can be sound far more dramatic than it is.

As 2010 started to come to a close the cold weather struck our small Island again and we got hit with mega snow again in a twelve month period, not being one to stay trapped indoors I hit up my wee gear store and brought the toys out to play.

I even was foolish enough to brave some of the worse driving conditions I have ever seen to make it back to Dublin and took some video of it.

That more or less brings us up to Christmas were for me was pretty sedate with time spent with family and friends oh and not to forget the Kilkenny Santa Charity run.

So there we have it that was a snap shot of my 2010, what strange for me is the more I typed the more I remembered that I have forgotten to include, but I suppose it’s good to keep some stuff unshared. I was trying to think of some sort of really deep and meaningful way of wrapping up the the above and the year in general but failed miserably! What I will say on my own experience of the year gone is that life is what you make of it, get up and do something or like wise sit there and do nothing… Its your life and up to you make what you want of it.

I’m optimistic of what 2011 will bring for not only my self but for those around me and Ireland as a country, we are a resilient lot and things will get better.

If TV has thought us anything its that this time of year is a time for numbers/ countdowns and lists, so here is a few that come to mind and are relevant to me.

1507 – The number of words in this blog posts, well done for getting this far

~96 – The amount of days Kayaking I got this year

0 – The number of swims I had this year , unlike the shit show of 2009

1 – Number of dislocate shoulder incidents sorted

37,665 – Pages views adrianshanahan.com has gotten from Jan first to Dec 31 ( page clicks into 6+ figures)

3 – Number of days cheeky solo river boating I’ve had

0 – Is the amount of new rivers I have paddled in 2010, not great I know but not every year can be classic

Infinite is the number of time I have high fived people this year and also how much I am looking forward to 2011

I hope whomever has read this far had a good year ad that the following one is even better, thanks for reading my ramblings and if even a fraction of the stuff I have ideas for in 2011 there will be some exciting times ahead for both me and my wee website here.

Bliain nua,

Adrian

]]> http://adrianshanahan.com/wordpress/index.php/2010/12/2010-this-time-its-personal/feed/ 5 http://adrianshanahan.com/wordpress/index.php/2010/07/mad-for-the-mountain-biking/ http://adrianshanahan.com/wordpress/index.php/2010/07/mad-for-the-mountain-biking/#comments Wed, 07 Jul 2010 11:05:42 +0000 Adrian Shanahan http://adrianshanahan.com/wordpress/index.php/2010/07/mad-for-the-mountain-biking/ Alright Folks,

Summer is long since here in Ireland and for some insane reason it seems to be all bright, dry and sunny…the result being everyone bar kayakers seems to be in great form. I’ve to article / blogs set to go but as they are about white water stuff I’m going to sit on them until its more in keeping with having some water in the rivers.

Unless you have had your head in the sad you’ll have noticed that pretty much every Kayaker worth their salt seems to spend the majority of their spare time on two wheels spinning around the Mountain Bike trails or Ireland.

If ever wandered how you can check out one of the worlds fastest growing sport for your self you got to check out www.trackandtrail.ie

Track and Trail is a very company founded on the principal of providing Professional MTB Skills courses and a host of other Adventure Activities while not trying to have you break the bank. They have a full fleet of top of the range Mountain Bikes and operate pretty much nation wide.

So while were waiting for the rain to come and fill the rivers why not drop Track & Trail a line and have a savage day with your mates trying your hand at Mountain Biking.

Adrian

As I’m sure you are all well aware boaters seem to be all budding amateur photographers, all you have to do is log onto facebook after a wet weekend and see some pretty pro results.

So I dropped my mate Ryan a line who is a Scottish based ( I know he will hate being called) Pro Photographer and solid boater a line to see if he was interested in giving me and those who check in on this blog a few tips that might help us get better results.

Ryan himself

I suppose this is where I should just be quiet for once and let Ryan take the drivers seat…

Righto Mr Shanahahahan,

Top Tips for what NOT to do and perhaps what is good to do when you’re taking and editing your boating pics…at the most basic level.

Rule of thirds – Does every photograph you take have the main subject in the centre? Boring huh! Rule of thirds concentrates on composition…i.e. where you point your camera and what’s in the frame. You can Google the definition and think about how you want to composition a photograph. All I’m saying is don’t keep everything central, it’s boring.

Composition – There’s a famous quote that says if it’s not good enough, you’re not close enough. As much as I would never say get as close as you can. I would 100% advise that before you push the button, if there’s sky, trees, rock etc that doesn’t need to be in the frame…zoom in further or get closer.

Shutter speed – Unless you’re trying to get a specific effect I’ simply recommend get your shutter speed as fast as you can. 500th of a second is great, 300th of a second can still be a bit slow but hey, this ain’t Africa, you have to work with the conditions you’re in.

Aperture – If you don’t know what this is, Google it. In short it refers to how much light your camera lets in which also effects what is known as ‘depth of field’…again, Google it. If you’re photographing the boat & person and not the scenery then a general rule you’ll simply want as much light in as possible, only when you want the boat, person and the scenery all in focus will you have to start letting less light in for a greater depth of field….which coincidentally means a slower shutter speed, which of course doesn’t suit this sport in countries with crappy weather….magic answer, there isn’t one; practice and learn more.

For kayaking – The above have all been pretty general that can be used in many type of photography as well as kayaking. The following works specifically for kayaking.
Tripod & Monopod – Tripod’s take up space and time, a monopod will help for those low light, slow shutter speed moments. When you start to get arty though a tripod is a must. Boats, trees, rocks can all come in handy though so use your imagination.

Focusing – Ok, I once asked a Canon sponsored, award winning, very rich and successful photographer what the most important thing he’s learned how to do in photography over the years…he answered “Focus his lens” and he meant it. Moving water is damn hard to do….but the rock, tree or whatever is right next to the water isn’t….so focus on that instead! Turn off your auto-focus and aim for where the boat will appear and wait. There is nothing I can tell you that will make you perfect at focussing….if you find any ways of getting it right all the time every time please let me know.

Communication – Do you boat with strangers, are you being a paparazzi, are you hiding from those coming downstream? NO! So talk to those you’re going to photograph, tell them where to be, the move to perform, not to pull a stupid face and most of all get the bloody paddle away from their faces!!!! But that last one might have to be part your skill and luck…very few paddle strokes help though!

The final and most important top tip that comes from the award winning photographers out there; get some kind of photo-editing software. You can’t be expected to take the world’s best photograph, first time, under pressure, in less than perfect conditions, of your mates ugly mug….but you can resurrect many of what would be terrible shots! YouTube is by far the best way to learn how to do this…the word ‘tutorial’ is a good place to start.

In summary, when you’re on the river just remember:

Focus – make it sharp;if you can’t focus on the water focus on something the same distance away.

Off Centre – Centre is ok…but not every shot chaps & chicks
Shutter Speed – fast fast fast

Talk – your friends will forgive you when they get a great shot of themselves.
Edit Edit Edit– There’s no reason not to.

Ryan

I’d like to thank Ryan for taking the time to do this for me I know I am defiantly going to try put it into practice, you can check out his Company website Liquid Impact.

I would also like to add a little note of two other Irish Paddlers who are skilled photographers one being Chris Tierney who you can check out HERE. Also I’m sure allot of folks know Kyle Tunney check out his Facebook, Website , Blog who’s images constantly amaze and inspire me to want to be better behind the camera.

Adrian

I’m sure most paddlers have heard of the river Nore which flows through Kilkenny City but I’d be fairly certain only a small few are aware of the little gem of a play spot that was created some years ago during the flood relief scheme.

To be clear this is no Curragower / Sluice / Clifden or Tuam but it is in my estimation one of the best places I’ve been to to introduce people to the the basics of freestyle kayaking.

The weir itself is a large downstream U shape which creates 3 different features which work at varying river levels. One of the great things is it works when the whole country has almost turned into a dessert right the way through to where its almost washed out.

A location like this is never going to excite the next world champion but it’s being visited by a few folks who can more than hold their own at completions and every one has had a great time here. The moves list that can be done here is not huge but for the beginner and improver you shall be kept busy, we have had spins every which way,Blasts, shuvits, low angle ends, variations of phelixs & pistol flip (type thing..watch your elbows be warned )

Sadly it isn’t not deep enough to loop but I suspect at higher levels some one lighter than my good self might be able to eak out a loop in the centre hole.

You can park and play at the spot or you can take it in as part of a river trip on the Nore itself, there is a nice deep pool above the weir to hone your flat water skills and pools below the weir to collect any possible swimmers.

Three Features, One Location, Clean Water

Good Times!

With the new motorway now open its just on and hour and 10mins form Dublin so all those who seem to live on the Boyne should take a closer look.

Here is a quick bit of video of it at current higher levels, I was just playing with a new camera and editing program so its a bit pants. Gives you a rough idea of what the place is like though.

That’s about it for now, there are a whole bunch of updates going up in the Coaching & Instruction part of the site in the next couple of days along with the 2010 course calendar, have a check back and see if there is anything your interested in.

Adrian

To quote Seanie Byrne over on irishwhitewater.com

2010 has been a disappointment for most Irish paddlers so far

I couldn’t agree more with him, in the last 10 or more years I can’t recall a winter dry spell quiet like this, I can only imagine there there will be a few rude awakenings once the water eventually arrives. Until that happens we have to get our fix of the outdoor live either out on the MTB trails ,surfing, any way we can or even through online videos and articles.

In the last couple of months I have been an abide watcher if “The Season” a weekly online video documentary.

The blurb form Bryan Smith and Fitz Cahall the guys behind it..

The Season. Five lives. A world of possibility.

From the creators of The Dirtbag Diaries and 49 Megawatts comes a new web television project following five athletes through the course of a single season in the Pacific Northwest. A veteran climber invents a new piece of gear.  A pro snowboarder searches for a way to return to the roots of his sport.  A boulder returns from a series of injuries with new perspective.  A family man goes to Whistler to test himself against mountain biking’s elite. A young sea kayaker with a troubled past sets out to reinvent his sport.

Shot entirely in HD, this 22-episode series is available to you for free at a number of locations. Every episode premieres on the Arc’teryx web site.   You can have the HD version delivered right to your computer and find all the old episodes by subscribing on iTunes. Expect new episodes once or twice a week.

P.S. This is our baby.  For months we schlepped ropes, camera gear and tripods through underbrush and up the side of cliffs to present our vision of these sports. Some of these athletes are professionals, some aren’t. They are all unique people who have something to say.  We’ve enjoyed helping them tell their story. We hope you enjoy their stories.

I personally have just subscribed to it on i-tunes and it downloads the show in awesome HD as soon as it becomes available. I really can’t recommend highly enough that you check this out and get watching.

I’ve embedded the show trailer here that will give you a flavour of the whole thing.

The first twelve episodes are up online, subscribe / enjoy and lets keep praying that some water eventually arrives.

Adrian

With what seems to be the driest winter in memory and if the daily updated Facebook & Twitter status of the Irish boating community are to be believed paddlers are being driven to madness and MTB. I’m no exception to this and if anyone who has seen me on a bike they will testify that I’d be better off going mad than embarrass myself any further while biking.

So with that mass amount of time I have to waste these days I had to have something to help pass the time and slow my descent into madness.

I have started to notice more and more top quality video productions of boater x events and extreme races.

In all of these productions we see the use of cable cams and get massive and cool sweeping and tracking shots of runs down sections of river. Over the years loads of boaters have chatted after a few beers saying “we should so do something like that on the < insert river name here >.

I’m not sure if it was a moment of stupidity or inspiration but the other day I went I might have a go of doing a DIY one of those. I went to the the shed and in 30mins I had come up with a wee bit of a “proof of concept”.

Now I know what I came up with is as rough as a Bear’s rear end but it was enough for me to think it might be worth a bit more effort.

I came up with a bit of a list of features I’d love to have, not saying I could manage them all but sure what harm in thinking about it.

Power driven
Stable (gyros / counterweight)
Pan & Tilt movement
Video sender
Oh and the whole thing has to be radio control

My knowledge of miniature electronic and robotics is limited enough but sure I wasn’t about to let that stop or slow me down at all. Here was my first concept.

The two red areas would represent two 24v motors to drive the unit on the cable while the yellow thing would be a weighted pendulum to counter left/right swing. I wasn’t really able to get pan & tilt to work with this idea so I had to do a bit of re design.

I hit up Google to see if it could help me out a bit and this is my latest rough concept.

I have started to get a few bits like the RC gear and a couple of motors / servos so I can start construction soon as possible. Where I am a little stuck is how to engineer the centre 360deg swivel point, I was considering using a lazy Susan type thing mounted inverted but I know there has to be a better way.

I’ve been on the the folks over on Robots.ie but I know there is a mass of experience out there amound boaters so I would love to hear from folks whom might know more than me or have some ideas or suggestions.

That’s all on this for now but if things start to come together I may post a few updates. Lets all start praying from some rain before the madness sets in any further.

Adrian

So I have broke the onlyish kinda rule I set my self when I started this blog thin up, “to keep it updated regularly”. The only positive is that I’ve had loads of stuff on as of late which included some boating & good times.

Clifden Fun Rodeo 09

So for the few weeks leading up to the weekend of 20th/21st of June myself , Bowsie & some of the NUIG/GMIT kayak club crew were busy making plans for Event 2 of the IFS league which was to be held in Clifden Co. Galway.

The idea of the event was was pretty straight forward, “lets get everyone over to Clifden do a training / freestyle event lash a BBQ & beach party in the middle of it all and hope every one has a savage time”. From the feed back we have gotten I say it’s safe to say we did what we set out to do.

We had to limit the numbers to 50 for the competition itself but the training day was open to more and the BBQ was all comers welcome.

After the feature had stopped working on day one we held a quick flatwater rodeo so all the folks cold show their skills to the judges. This was only put in for a bit of “Fun” but I did notice allot or serious faces in the eddy & even heard talk of “ride plan’s”. It was a great spectacle showing off a variety of paddle spins / self reasuces / huge loops and epic cartwheel sequences. In the end Ger O Reily in his pink boat took first place.

That evening were had a BBQ out in the dunes in Dunloughin (or however its spelt), Colm Healy /Ethan / Michelle / Donna cooked up a storm on the BBQ’s making sure everyone was stuffed to the gills with food before they had a social drink. We had DJ Shmenda ( NUIG Oldie) was manning the decks of our make shift mobile night club and blasted the tunes out late late into the night.

I reckon Caitriona O Brein’s photo sums up how most people felt the next day.

After a clean up of the camp site we headed back into clifden to set up for the competition itself!

There was a super turn out for the event with some great runs being put down across all of the classes, a special mention has to be made to Conor Bredin & Adrian Durrant who put down some some nice entry loops.

All in all it was a cracking weekend and folks who were there are really looking forward to hitting up Cork for next months event. There will be a full rundown of results & league standings on IFS in the next day or so, but here is an over all of the weekends scores.

On a personal note I would like to thank everyone who made the event possible, all the guys in NUIG , the people who traveled, the time keepers , judges , scribes, River Deep mountain high, Peak UK, DJ Shmenda, to Bowsie for going to going to bed early so he would be fresh to judge on Sunday and thanks to all those who said thanks.

I-Canoe video night for Irish Freestyle team.

Adrian D & Colm in i-canoe decided to run a bit of a video / social night in the shop to show case the entries for a video comp they had run along with trying to raise some funds for the Irish Freestyle Team who are heading to Thun at the end of the summer. I didn’t make it to the night myself as I was across the far side of the country at the time but I’m informed that it was great craic and loads of prizes were given out.

Well when I say I wasn’t there myself…. Mr Healy owner of i-canoe decided to show a bit of film he made a couple of weeks ago of a spin we had on the Dargle where I had a “paddle malfunction”. I reckon whit friends like this who need enemies…lol Anyway have a laugh at my expense.

After we had gotten of the Dargle we made a quick dash across to Laragh we we got a speed / dusk descent of the Avonmore followed by a pint in Lynamhs. Not a bad round up to a funny evening of after woork boating.

Prior to that paddle incident on the Dargle I had being using Select W1 paddles and really liked but finally gave in to the temptation of Foam Core Werners. In waiting for my custom Werners to arrive I had put my Select’s up for sale not thinking they would shift quick with money being tighter for everyone these but two days later and I had to fall back on some 10 year old Rough Stuff Tempests which were long long past their best before I brought them on the Dargle that evening.

Happy days yesterday when I package arrived in i-canoe for me of two new sets of paddles, 191cm Double Diamonds & 200cm Sho-guns . I know some of ye are thinking 200cm that’s massive but trust me its the forwards for rivers ( or more like back to Slalom style paddles) . Initial impressions apart from they fuel my Carbon fetish is that they feel, super light , rigid & responsive. I am really looking forward to getting some quality river time with them as opposed to the canal outside the shop.

A day out for the dogs..

Last weekend Tullamore Canoe Club held an open day for members of the public to come along and try canoeing and kayaking which also doubled up as a social gathering for friend to catch up and try some new boats. Colm and myself headed along for the day and brought loads of different boats from wild water racers / crossover boats and the worlds newest boat manufactures “Big Dog Kayaks”.

We had a couple of different sizes of the Havoc (playboat) and one of the Kaos ( river play) there on the day and folks were lining up to see how they handled. Most people seemed quiet impressed, myself and Colm had to wait until the very end of the day before we got a shot in them. I had spent the the the previous while doing some freestyle coaching so when I eventually managed to get a go I was pretty spent. What I would say is that the sizing is quiet strange and the outfitting would need a bit more tweaking before I would be happy with it, overall not a bad boat and it give the impression that to would be responsive and loose on a wave.

Last night we had them on the canal with our team looping monkey AD just to make sure they go big on the loops.

So that’s about it for now, there has been loads more happening and the next couple of months it looking good with the Cork Rodeo coming up , a trip to Canada boating and a trip to the World Freestyle Champs in Thun also, not to mention what ever summer boating the Irish weather allows.

Fair play for reading this far, chat to ye later.

Adrian

]]> http://adrianshanahan.com/wordpress/index.php/2009/06/bumper-blog-update/feed/ 0 http://adrianshanahan.com/wordpress/index.php/2009/05/getting-back-to-basics/ http://adrianshanahan.com/wordpress/index.php/2009/05/getting-back-to-basics/#comments Sat, 02 May 2009 20:40:25 +0000 Adrian Shanahan http://adrianshanahan.wordpress.com/?p=35

With the May bank holiday weekend rolling around and there not being any quality water around at all I was going to be around Kilkenny for the weekend. As the sun was shining myself and fellow Kilkenny paddler Mickie Brennan decided to hit up the little known King’s river 5km from Kilkenny city. Its a nice little class 2+/-3 that would be a super little training ground for introduction white water skills. We got back to basics trying to use every little feature available to practice almost everything we could think of, sure it wasn’t the most exciting boating either of us had ever done but with a little bit of competition going on between us to add a competitive element to the day it was good times all round.

Me and my game face lol.

Getting my best side surf on.

Mick approves of my demo.

Ferry glyding 101 from Mickie.