Adventures on the world cup tour

August 20, 2008

By Jessie Stone

Europe in the summer can be so beautiful and fantastic – especially for kayaking. We have just finished the first event of the World Cup in Prague and are now happily in Germany. The Prague event was great – terrific feature, well run competition, and good paddlers from around the world. What more could you ask for? The only thing that wasn’t perfect was the weather – it was cold and rainy for the competition and it did not feel much like summer then – but hey, you can’t have it all all the time and we were pretty darn close.

On our last night, Ruth and I made a sightseeing journey to the city center and even saw the stunning Prague Castle – Wow!! If you are ever in Prague, please don’t miss this – flying buttresses, gargoyles, and just awesome in size!! It was pretty neat that there was so much to see so close to where the comp was held. Some other notables in Prague were people on roller blades like mad, people with wild hair (and I mean wild), and people with all kinds of dogs! It was kind of like being back in the late 80’s and early 90’s and that also included the music, which I admit I really like. It would have made for a great photo essay – I guess it will have to be next time.

Augsburg, where the German event is being held, is a beautiful course and the entire facility surrounding the course and the “washmachine” hole is comfortable and very scenic. The hole is really good too. You can do all kinds of moves – loops, air loops, space Godzilla’s, air wheels, split wheels, cartwheels, etc and the water is clean and a nice temperature. We are camping out again and of course hoping that we won’t have the kind of rain we had in Prague – it can make camping a bit rugged, especially when everything gets wet and does not dry out!

After a nice drive from Prague to Augsburg, we had our first adventure here last night. After finding a delicious restaurant that stays open past 9pm, we headed back to the van, which was parked in a lot. Once in the lot, we realized that entrance and exit gates had been lowered and locked. There were no signs present to indicate that this would happen, so we scoured the parking lot looking for alternative exits. At this moment, Jez got out the video camera, ready to film our escape and interviewing us in the process. Luckily, we found one, which in a nutshell involved a little curb jumping. Jonathan, Adrienne, and I yelled encouragement and directed Clay to the right spot. Clay and the rental van were up to the task and after a small amount of landscaping; the van and all of us were liberated! It would have been pretty funny to end up stuck in a parking lot all night. I am sure there will be plenty more adventures here this week and weekend. Anyway, its all good prep for the competition. Hoping that wherever you are paddling now, you are enjoying some adventures of your own.

Happy Paddling, Jessie