C1 FREESTYLE - KNEEL AND FEEL

WorldCup 2010 and Munich seek-and-hide wave session

2010-06-07T08:30:00.000-07:00

Heyoo,
So the WC2010 is over. The second event (Plattling) was cancelled due to floods and the first (Augsburg) unfortunately didn't meet the expectations many people had after the WorldCup 2008.

Nevermind that, we had some fun after all.

In Augsburg I spent about a week trying to master the Waschmachine, the inglorious playspot.
It was a lot of fun like always. The Waschmachine is always a challange.

Like in 2008 the best event for me was the OC1 class which was again as much fun as ever. People like OC coz it looks the weirdest I would guess. We put on a decent show with those bathtubs. You can see the video from the finals at www.wildwater-tv.de with EJs commentary. It is pretty funny.
I won the OC with an airloop, split, spin and a busted lower back :) totally worth it though.

After my OC finals I decided to spice up the event a bit and volunteered to substitute the German Albert-Einstein-look guy at the judges tent and provide some commentary worth listening.

After the Augsburg event me and my french frog buddy Alex Jakkete got an offer from the renowned German OC boater Toby HUther to stay at his apartment in Munich for a day since there might be some nice waves in Munich.
So... we ended up staying for the whole week with the waves getting better every day, tons of spectators on the banks. I ended up playing hide-and-seek with Munich police, getting busted, having to present my credentials, having to change back from paddling gear and finally making a run for it and paddling to the island to get some rides on that LOVABLE wave. Photos by Otto Armando.

Outfitting the Jacksonkayak Superstar

2010-03-30T04:13:00.000-07:00

Ok
Yesterday I finished outfitting the new Superstar I got from JK and Vodaksport.

This surely is the best outfitting I ve done so far and I dont think there is a better one to be done...

This is a system for freestyle and you shouldnt use it in creekboats or if you re not an experienced paddler.

Now i will explain its main features-
1. you dont have to drill any holes into the boat
2. you can shift the center of balance at any time if you want (one setup for holeriding, one for waves, one for playboating)
3. you dont have to use much glue

Ok and now how to do it: numbers in the picture correspond to the commentary below
1. Dont remove anything else apart from the kayak seat. When you ve removed it cut a hole through the stern supporting foam pillar. Pull a cord or a belt through this hole so that when you re in the boat the cord/belt comes from behind the saddle into your lap from both sides.
As for the saddle use whatever you like personally, the saddle sits on the hull, you have to cut some foam so that it sits nicely on the pole that is the backbone of JK boats. Then attach snowboard bindings(the soft ergonomic part with the ratchet) to the cord/belt on both sides. Adjust these so that they fit nicely around your hips.

2. This is a block of foam that is jammed between the saddle and the front supporting foam pillar. Before you put it in you have to pull a cord/belt under the pole. Attach the plastic ratchet belts from the snowboard bindings to the cord/belt. Cut two holes through the foam block and pull the plastic ratchet belts through. Finally, jam this foam block between the saddle and the front support foam block. Now you should be able to sit in the boat and bind yourself to the saddle with the snb bindings.

3. This is the usual foam 'tunnel'. Make it in such a way that it is jammed between the boat and the foam block no. 2. You should still be able to move the tunnel forward and backward.

4. A block of foam comes here. It should be jammed between the tunnel and the front support pillar. This is the essential part of this outfitting. While getting into the boat you can move the tunnel forward and when you re in you push the foam block no.4 between the front pillar and the tunnel. This moves the tunnel much closer to the torso and provides much better fit and power transmission. And you can still get in the boat pretty comfortably.

5. These are ankle pads. It is completely up to you if and where you put them.

Finally, nothing but the ankle pads and hip pads is glued. The whole thing is just jammed between the front and back foam support. So you should be able to move the whole outfitting forward/backward pretty easily. The main advantage is that the thigh belts come from behind you and the tunnel can fit very close to your torso providing superb power transmission

Article on demand

2009-12-05T14:00:00.000-08:00

Hey,
I was thinking some of you might want another technique article. I ve posted a poll so it s up to you guys.
So long

A friend has died / Zabil se nám kamarád

2009-09-28T02:23:00.000-07:00

Dobrý kamarád, Radim "Mamka" Sykora se v sobotu zabil v Tatrách. Byl jedním z nejlepších kajakářů v Old Bastardech (kategorie pro 34 a více- leté). Bude nám chybět, čest jeho památce. RESPECT

ENGLISH

A good friend, Radim Sykora, died on Saturday in the Tatra mountains in Slovakia. He was one of the best freestyle kayakers in the Old Bastards category (34+ years of age). We will remember him.

Radim throwing down at the Czech tour finals

Freaky calendar appearance

2009-09-20T07:52:00.000-07:00

Hey,
I just found out that in March all them german kids re gonna get scared seeing their dad`s 2010 whitewater calendar...
Check it out

Mistrovství světa 2009-Thun (Czech version)

2009-09-16T02:25:00.000-07:00

Tak největší letošní závod máme za sebou. Na letošním MS se sešli závodníci z 32 zemí světa. Každý z kontinentů byl zastoupen alespoň jednou zemí. Česká výprava se ubytovala v jediném Thunském kempu cca 10 minut autobusem od spotu.
Během treninkového týdne se vždycky celý den čekalo na ten jeden vytoužený třicetiminutový trénink, který byl většinou ve znamení marných pokusů zajet na nevypočitatelné vlně slušnou jízdu. Nicméně během týdne jsme si všichni na spot jakž takž zvykli a někteří šťastlivci i urvali něco pádlování během noci či nad ránem.
Celý závod byl výborně organizován a od čtvrtfinále byly jízdy přenášeny online a na obrazovkách po celém areálu.
Závodní vlna byla tento rok méně stabilní než loni a tak musela kupříkladu celá moje rozjížďka v kvalifikaci cca 30 minut čekat ve vracáku na to až se nám zabalí vlna...:)
V kategorii singlů se celkem sešlo 24 závodníků a do semi postupovalo 10. S Lukášem Červinkou sme si před MS dali předsevzetí, že alespoň jeden z nás se tam dostane. Nakonec se mi povedlo v kvalifikaci zajet silně nadprůměrnou jízdu a díky tomu jsem postoupil z desátého místa. Bohužel na úkor Červajze, který skončil hned za mnou. Nicméně jsme za sebou nechali i několik známých jmen světového freestylu včetně bývalého mistra světa.

V semi se mi už žádná zázračná jízda nevydařila, ale i tak je pro mě 10 místo úspěchem.

Finále singlů můžete shlédnout zde.
Jak uvidíte na videu z finále, singlíři měli opravdu hrozně špatnou vlnu na svoje finále...

Následují pěkné fotky z Thunu a Plattlingu. Díky Petrovi Prauzemu, Míše Mitáčkové a Martině Sádkové.
Závěrem bych ještě rád poděkoval firmě Boatpark za zapůjčení lodi Liquidlogic Biscuit 55, na které jsem úspěšně absolvoval posledních pár závodů.

Loopy na Plátně

Pokus o Pan-am v kvalifikační jízdě

Clean-blunt je jednoznačně nejenom nejzábavnější, ale taky nejfotogeničtější trik.

Czech Championship-Testing the Liquidlogic Biscuit 55

2009-08-11T02:01:00.000-07:00

During the Czech Championship I had the oportunity to test the new Liquidlogic freestyle kayak- The Biscuit. I was very curious about this boat. The last playboat LL introduced- Ronin, was quite a failure. I havent paddled it myself but I got lots of negative comments about the boat.
LL designers claim that the Biscuit design involved "harvesting ideas from the past". This is absolutely true. In my opinion Biscuit has all the traditional LL features we ve become used to over the years - the spindisc hull design, the typical LL style rockers etc... The main improvement is that the designers made some crucial changes and effectively minimised the notorious drawbacks of those very same design features. The boat bounces nicely, has a really snappy edge transition and the spins are easier than ever, we appreciated that with the Space Cadet and Vision series. But this time the LL boat does not pay the price of being sluggishly slow and effectively immune to any carving action.
The Biscuit is a suprisingly fast boat especially when put on an edge. When put on edge the boat easily matches the retentivity I got used to with the Project. This is, however, something you got to get used to.
One last thing- Although I weigh 97 kgs, the Biscuit 55 seemed just a little undersize for me. Good thing that the boat is slightly bigger than most of the other playboats on the market
I still have to test the boat in a decent hole but it worked really nicely at our local wave the Czech Champs have been held on.
Check out the pics of my friend Lukas and myself riding the Biscuit.

Eurocup 2009

2009-07-10T05:54:00.001-07:00

Setting up the Lunar orbit

Nice small wave in Bratrislava

Lukas Cervinka stylez

Hi
A week ago I came back from the last of the Eurocups.
The Eurocups were quite good. The only drawback was the lack of competitors. This might be due to the inscription fees which were high enough to discourage a lot of paddlers.

The competition in Plattling was impeded by the low water level. The Plattling hole- the venue of the 2010 Worldcup and 2011 World Championship is a superb playspot, but not at 140 cm...
The organisers managed to provide the ugliest T shirt ever... not many people like pink...
The party was awesome though, including the local hip-hop gang of 16 year olds who wanted a brawl and got one in the end. Hilarious.

I was quite surprised to find a decent wave at the slalom course in Bratislava, just above the competition spot, which was not that good. The wave was a good one. Very good for training since you had to get a lot of speed to launch blunts.
I had an oportunity to test a 2007 AllStar as a C1. Frankly, I was amazed the boat behaved so much better than the Project even though it was too small for me.

Finally, the Eurocup in Lienz provided by far the best playspot. The organisation was also the best. I was surprised to see a great audience during the finals. The way to go for sure!!

I dont know if I am going to the last eurocup in Netherlands yet. But I should if I want to win the C1 division... not much competition there though...

Hope to see a lot more other C1ers at the World Champs.

French freestyle spring

2009-05-30T03:14:00.000-07:00

Heya,
My stay in Geneva is almost over. I ve been doing some paddling, especially Charnay playspot in Burgundy.
I also went to a French competition in the Pyrenees- the FlipFlap party.
Enjoy the photos and the video.
Video courtesy of Filip Karasek and Yannis. Photos by Jo Suc (flipflap) and Laurent Devigne (Charnay).

Rudolph at the FlipFlap

Me at the awesome wave

Alex Jakette styling a cleanpanam

Arguably one of the best photos I ve seen- Val Corrotte backpanam

JB Bal at Charnay

Laurent Devigne

Backloop at Charnay

2009-02-17T10:53:00.001-08:00

see some pictures from Kuchl.............Zoid rocks the wave!!!!

(art des eaux photography by sabrina barm)

Freestyle oldschool...before God invented whitewater

2008-11-20T06:38:00.001-08:00

I dont really know what to say about this my thoughts are somewhere between "WHAT THE FUCK THATS AWESOME" and "POOF-BOY CANU"... This guy should try the WW freestyle

2008-11-14T05:53:00.000-08:00

Here is a video from the last weekend. Kuchl wave in Austria. Enjoy

Some more creeking pics

2008-10-19T13:34:00.000-07:00

Big thanks to Hanka Bubnikova... awesome photos there. Cheers for the comittment

Upper Rauma

Store Ula classic

C1 summer- Norway etc...

2008-10-03T01:12:00.000-07:00

The story behind these photos is quite simple... lots of paddling, partying and having a good time...
Photos taken by Hanka Bubnikova (paddling) and Stepan Vohradsky(party)

(photo courtesy of Ales Dusa)

Special thanks to:
Profiplast- cheers for the paddles
Bemaniaks- the coolest t-shirts around
Dusan Bubnik and Stepan Vohradsky- thanks for the ride
The French team at the Worldcup- awesome parties, awesome people.
Markus Hilbel- thanks for lending me your Cu-fly for the competitions...
Toby Huther, Markus Lepaennen, Norman the German, Alex Besseau, Jan Bubnik, the Czech crew, and pretty much everybody else for the time we had together...
Hanka B. for the photos
Stepan Fiedler for inspiring performance
Zandul, Moucha, Kubanec and all the guys from Pilsen for the trip to Norway
Angela....

Big Air....uhhuh crash

2008-07-09T02:25:00.000-07:00

Just wanted to share this one with you... It wasnt actually as painful as it looks.

Technique-basics-Head leads the way...(Cartwheels)

2008-05-07T03:51:00.000-07:00

Hi,
In freestyle the head movements are of great importance in both K1 and C1. It is stressed in every guidebook or educational DVD. However, many freestyle adepts do not do the head movements properly which causes incomplete moves, flushing and generally non-dynamic moves.

So why is the head movement so important? It is important because if you turn your head you also move a lot of your body in that direction (unconsciously) and moving bodyweight around is crucial for all sorts of rotations.

Simple rule is this -always look where you want the boat to go!

The best way to learn the head rotation are cartwheels.

During cartwheels it is essential that you always turn your head in the direction of the move. Your head has to lead the way-i.e. it should always be turned further in the respective direction than the long axis of the boat. If it is so you continue the rotation not loosing the momentum.
It is also important to focus on hip rotation.
So in the end you have two basic movements

Hip rotation.
Head/bodyweight rotation.

If you initiate the cartwheel (i.e. you plant stroke) these two movements are simultaneous but as soon as the boat starts rotating the head has to be further rotated than the hips.

Watch this video to see the usual trouble resulting from insufficient head rotation.

Watch this video to see the correct head rotation. Notice that as soon as the head stops rotating the boat stops too and another set-up for move is needed...

Other moves:
Split wheels- Look into the hole.
Blunts- on waves always look to where you want the bow of your boat to land. So...
Front blunts(onside)-turn your head snappily behind your shoulder in the direction of the move (you ll actually be looking at the same spot from where your stern has taken off)
Back blunts-turn your head snappily behind your shoulder in the direction of the move (you ll be looking upstream)

I ll be dealing with these moves specifically later on...
So long... hope it helped a bit...

C1 on waves I.- offside carving/balance

2008-04-27T05:53:00.000-07:00

Hey again,
This article is related to other articles that have already been published here. Articles were on Onside roundhouse and Offside roundhouse.
These articles are primarily concerned with freestyle moves. This article should show you the techniques that are essential for successful basic movements like surfing and carving which are essential for successful onset for moves on big waves.

C1 paddlers have serious disadvantages in freestyle paddling. We, however, have advantages as well and bigger waves offer many opportunities to use these advantages to the maximum.

First how do we deal with the disadvantages.

For many C1res the main disadvantage is the absence of the second blade and resulting inability to brace on the offside. The problem with crossdeck brace is that while it can be done on flatwater, in a hole or in the foamy part of a wave it cant be done on the green part.
But we have hands dont we?? The basic technique for regaining balance and/or for carving control is to use the palm of your hand either letting loose of the T-grip or just stretching the fingers while still holding the grip between the thumb and the palm.
Another technique is simply to avoid getting of balance. This is done by keeping your weight center above the boat.
But how to do this while carving to your offside (carving is initiated on the edge by putting weight on it). The essential thing is to shift your shoulders to your onside. So now your lower body part puts weight on the offside edge while the upper part shifts to your onside thus keeping your balance as well as the carving.

bounce for an onside blunt- offside carve/shoulders to the onside

Carving to the offside weight of the upper body above the boat

The same again: shoulders to the onside, your knees pushing the offside rail, head leads the way

Onside cleanblunt landing, notice the desperate effort to keep all weight possible above the boat.

Watch this video to see how to do that. Notice the shoulders are actually mirroring the movements of the lower body part (i.e. going in opposite direction) while the body leans forward to put weight on the offside rail thus initiating the carve. Also notice the arms are copying the direction of the carve and the offside hand controls the carve by touching the green.

More coming soon...
So long and keep practicing. Also let me know if the article helped in any way... or whether anybody actually reads this stuff.
Jan

Support C1FREESTYLE

2008-04-27T04:19:00.000-07:00

Hey,
This message is meant for frequent readers, fans of this website, C1 enthusiasts and basically for all of you who like this site or whom this site helped in any way.

As you probably know I frequently compete in the C1 division in competitions around Europe. I also try to train on different spots as frequently as I can. All this requires money... Being a student I am not able to save enough money for both competitions/training trips and equipment. The fact that I have a paddle manufacturer and local bar for sponsors (free paddles and cheaper beer woohoo..:)) doesn´t help much.

Currently I am sorting out the money needed for the trip to the European Championship... I haven´t actually been able to go to any of the previous Champs (be it World or European) mainly because I lacked funds for the trip...

So if you would like to help me go to the this year´s EuroChamps held in Ourense-Spain (23-26 July 2008) continue reading. If not, thanks for visiting this website. I hope you enjoy it and that it has been and will be of use to you...

The amount needed for the air ticket is approximately 7000 CZK ( app. 410$ ) the registration fee is 60 euros (app. 94 $.

How can you help me?

1. You can just send me an encouraging email and say you like my site or whatever... Every single positive comment I ve read helped...

2. You can post a link to my site anywhere you think it would be noticed.

3. You can help me collect the money for the air ticket and the registration fee for the event and become a C1freestyle sponsor. (No... our association does not pay for its team members registration fees nor for anything else...)

How can you send me the money?

1. You can send it by bank transfer. My bank account details are here:

IBAN code: CZ6101000000358669740277
SWIFT code: KOMBCZPP
Name : Jan Liska
Address: Psohlavcu 1499/55 , Praha 4
Prague
147 00
Czech republic

2. You can send it by PayPal. Just click the button below. 3. You can send it by post. My address is stated above.

What will you receive after you´ve given the donation?

If you provide me with your email address I will send you my personal thanks together with one of my photos in full resolution (it can be a photo of your choice if you specify one... most of the photos are good enough for posters). All the donations and donors will be published on c1freestyle together with specification of the use of their donation (i.e. air ticket or registration fee).
If you do not want to be published as a donor just let me know.

As soon as I´ve collected enough money for the ticket I will let you know on my blog. I will also publish the amount collected so far every week.

Thank you and enjoy c1freestyle blog!

Jan "Zoid"

Plattling OC1 style

2008-04-24T23:21:00.000-07:00

The event in Platling (German Champs)was great. The organizers used session format which was awesome. The session format meant that for every heat the paddlers had 2 x number of paddlers minutes for their rides. Another rule was that a single ride could not exceed 30 secs.

I borrowed an OC1 form German paddler Markus Hilbel... Thanks again Markus!
It was a CU-Fly from Robson. I really enjoyed paddling it because it was something completely new to me. To my surprise it rolled very well and I was even able to do splits/cartwheels in it.

Anyway, it was my first time hole paddling in more than half a year (actually like 9 months...). My practice rides were not that bad so I thought I might be able to do good rides in the competition. It was not so... bugger that the whole event was fun and I rediscovered the joy of holeriding and got enthusiastic into building my own OC1.

In the OC1 I finished second in C1 I came 5th ( I managed to fuck up every single ride in the finals :)))

More photos here

So long

Cartwheeling wooohooo

Me and Daniel Shank sessioning

C1 footage from Lyon

2008-04-16T16:00:00.000-07:00

I quickly stitched this together... It is not the true best-of since the best shots were taken on a different camera and I still havent been able to get that stuff from cassettes to computer...
I, however, think this might be somehow educational as the video shows some of my struggles with the wave especially setting up for moves.

As soon as I get all footage from Lyon and Uganda I will do some sort of my best-of from the waves... It will include Hawaii in Lyon, Nile Special (Uganda) and hopefully Malalu (also Uganda).
Till then you must content yourselves with this :)

Thanks to Jelen who recorded this on his brand new waterproof digital camera (he is not a paddler though :))

Music by Hail Seizures... awesome band and awesome friends... http://hailseizures.net/

Lyon session 08

2008-04-09T00:30:00.001-07:00

It was an awesome week at the Hawaii sur Rhone.The water levels were quite nice, especially since Monday. The wave was better for right moves as usual but if you waited for some time it usually pulsed (especially when the water was rising ) and allowed you to land a left trick. The locals also showed up and we could see they are really one with the wave.
I strongly recommend you to go there. Although there is no eddy service the wave is worth portaging your boat all the day. Especially when the levels are 0.7 m + . You can find more on this playspot on playak.com.
See you there someday....

Here are some photos... enjoy (Courtesy of Jakub Sedivy and Eric Bui)

Girls on water

2008-03-15T12:10:00.001-07:00

Hey I just quickly browsed through my photo archive and here is the result. I hope u like it. If you have some nice lady paddling pics and feel like publishing them dont hesitate to contact me...
Note: This is supposed to be an ode on the female aspect nothing more nothing less...

Thanks to all the people who took the photos...

Kayakcross

Uganda photos

2008-03-04T05:08:00.000-08:00

So I finally got some more pics from the Uganda trip... Enjoy... All courtesy of Tomas Pospisil aka Slunda- Photoshop genius and good friend

Jirka Kopecny right aerial trick specialist

Jakub Nemec Panam

My brand new scar...

Trip to Nazigo

Flying

Onside blowcheek cleanblunt

Jirka tucking for the Helix

I love this one... Mira Kodada at Bujagali falls

GuiGui prod team rider Leo Carpene ... Awesome style

kids...

Technique- Offside Roundhouse

2008-02-15T00:05:00.000-08:00

Heya folks...
So lets get down to business... shall we?
Offside roundhouse is gonna be easier than the onside roundhouse, especially for those who feel more confident with their strength than balance. To get the general idea what this move looks like watch the video...

It is easier to get enough speed while doing offside moves because you can do a stroke as you descend from the top of the wave and increase your speed. As far as the angle is considered check Onside Roundhouise Article

Again the most important thing is that the move has to be performed dynamically... Unlike cartwheeling (continuous strength application) blunting requires strength impulse... To be able to deliver such a forceful snappy movement in a C1 you need a lot of balance so if you fail while trying blunts do more carving/clean carving and then try again...

Onset phase. Notice that the boat still carves aggressively to the onside while all the weight and dynamics of the body is thrown to the offside.

Complex weight transition+hand pivot+paddle movement. Onside rail aggressively disengaged (this creates enough rotation dynamics) offside rail almost off the water.

Recovery stroke indicated.

Hope you can figure it out. Any feedback is welcome...
So long

Some pics from the Nile

2008-02-07T03:37:00.000-08:00

Hey...
I am back from the Nile... It has been awesome. I plan to do a lot of technique articles using the footage we got there. For now just a few pics... more coming soon.

Price to pay for boating on the 1st of Jan after a huge party...
so long

White Nile Christmas sessions

2007-12-25T00:52:00.000-08:00

So here we are... Christmas on the White Nile with the mighty Nile Special just 10 min paddle away running all day long... We are all slowly getting used to the slow rhytm of this country... We are also getting better on the wave. The long time without paddling is still apparent though. The weather is not as hot as I expected, it is like 25C, really pleasant. One of my friends - Jirka broke a paddle against his forehead while running Kalagala falls... Otherwise nothing serious happened so far.
We are all going to have a spit roasted pig for lunch today... and then guess what... the wave awaits us. Big up for Slunda for those photos... ingenious work.
So long and Merry Christmas.... Stay tuned for a video update.

C-1 Calendar

2007-12-11T10:35:00.000-08:00

Hey
The C1/OC1 2008 Wall Calendar just issued. I made it to the October page... So check it out here.
I am getting ready for the trip to Uganda... This time next week I should be on the equator.
Stay tuned for frequent updates from the Nile.
So long

Technique-Small waves basics-onside roundhouse

2007-11-05T08:07:00.000-08:00

Hey,
So after a long time I found enough determination to write something new... I ve been out of the WW business for over 2 months so sorry for not having attended the site for such a long time.

Anyway... First of all this article is for those who have started the difficult path of C1 freestyle. The roundhouse is a way to have fun even on small and/or shallow waves. If you want to learn blunts someday the roundhouse is a good start to improve your stability and general behavior on small waves before you try bigger ones.

Roundhouse is basically a low angle blunt (or even more basically slightly angled dynamic half-flatspin)performed on the green water (the part of the wave not covered by foam).
To get the general idea how it looks like watch this video.

The first important thing about the roundhouse as well as any wave maneuver is to get up the wave to the top. I already wrote an article on this see: here
DO NOT attempt to do a roundhouse while surfing on the green water without any upstream speed because you will not learn how to get the speed without losing balance which is MOST important for a C1er to progress to more difficult moves.

Phase 1:
So now you are somewhere up the wave. The first important thing is the angle of the descent to the green water where you want to do the move. There is a comprehensible rule for that: If you want to do a right roundhouse "aim" your boat slightly to the left and consequently in case of a left roundhouse you go slightly to the right.

Phase 2:
Now you are descending down the wave. Since we are talking about small waves it wont be much of a descent...:)) But you need to get as much speed as possible.

Here comes the first problem of the onside roundhouse/blunt. You cant use a paddle stroke for higher speed like the kayakers do because it would a) get you out of balance b) affect the onset angle c) move your paddle backwards where you cannot use it for the rotation. However you can plant a stroke while still on the foam pile but such a stroke wont affect the speed much... You can increase the speed by leaning forward dynamically on the foam pile.

The second important thing is the "edge transition" which simply means that you firstly engage left edge of the boat for a right blunt and right for the left. You engage the respective edge by pushing it into the water (your weight on the respective edge) while the other edge stays out of water. The body position at this stage should be neutral (no leaning forward at this stage!! The weight shift should be done by pushing by the respective knee and tilting the boat a bit).

Left edge/rail not engaged (left roundhouse)

Right edge/rail engaged (left roundhouse)

Phase 3: IMPORTANT
Then when you ve felt the strength of the water forcing the boat into a carve/turn to the respective side you have to change the edges fiercely. This creates enough energy to do the roundhouse. As you change the edges you also plant the paddle (you actually lean on the paddle thus changing the edges). You should plant your paddle somewhere near your hips. The closer to the boat you plant it the more vertical the move will be (but also the more demanding as far as strength and dynamics is considered.) Body position- lean aggressively forward just as the boat starts to turn to your onside (on bigger waves while doing air blunts it should be backwards..)

After the edge transition you have enough energy to complete the move.

Onside edge engaged. Paddle position indicated

Phase 4: The rotation
One of the mistakes I used to make was that I simply thought that during the rotation I shoul apply the strength just as during the bow end of the onside cartwheel. During the cartwheel you should apply the strength continually but during wave maneuvers you must pack all the strength in one dynamic impulse (if you don t you usually end up with a washout...). Your paddle serves as a pivot point of the rotation.

The rotation

Phase 5: Paddle movements
This is the most problematic phase of any onside wave move. If a kayaker does a blunt he may use the second blade for the "recovery" stroke thus regaining balance and staying on the wave. What often happens in a C1 is that you lose your balance after completing the rotation and you fall to your offside like a bag of shit...
There are three basic strategies how to avoid losing balance.
A) You move the paddle to your offside and use it as a backwards rudder. Tip: shift your hand that holds the paddle up the shaft as you complete the rotation before trying to use it to regain balance. Another tip: If you feel dragged to your offside by the water pushing against the blade let go of the shaft!! Then fling the arm to your onside- this often saves the day... can be seen in the video above...

Blade to your offside - backwards rudder

B) Hand stroke. This technique is more advanced. You simply do the recovery stroke with the palm of the hand on the T-grip just as the kayakers do their stroke with a paddle. I personally use a combination of these two techniques. You can see it in the video.

Hand and paddle movements

C) Spin-out. For me this is the most difficult technique. It is, however, most natural. As you end the 180 degree rotation you simply cleanspin round and end in front surf... :))

So this is it... hope it helps... Please let me know if it did.
Thanks
So long
Z.

Devil´s Extreme race 2007

2007-08-19T10:34:00.000-07:00

C1 Freestyle proudly presents:

Dear friends and courageous paddlers,

In cooperation with CNAWR, we prepared for you the first year of an extreme kayakcross and slalom competition. The competition takes place from the 31.8. – 1.9. 2007 on the river Moldau (Vltava) on the well known rapid – Devil´s cataract. All proffesionals are invited as well as other paddlers. Flawless paddling, action alpine superpipe start, great party with DJ Happy and Dj Eja, mixed drinks, sunny weather and warm water (21°C) guaranteed.

Starting fee- 500CZK (23euro), CNAWR members 350CZK

INCLUDES- campingplace, dinner, breakfast, a drink at the party, SHOCK drink, souvenir from the event

Program:

Friday: meeting, free training, dinner

Saturday: morning- meeting at the starting point in Loučovice

Track inspection with slalom following (touch the banner style)

Special start alpine free pipe

Afternoon free training

Evening party on the football stadium in Loučovice with barbecue (included in starting fee), bar, mixed drinks, DJs, camping on the location

Sunday: kayakcross cca. At 12:00

Results, prizegiving, huge raffle, free riding

Registration deadline 28.8.07

See you there

The Czech Freestyle Championship 2007

2007-08-14T02:24:00.000-07:00

Hi again,
this weekend we organized a great event in Prague. It was both National Championship and a part of the CNAWR Rodeo Tour. There were serious problems with the playspot since the obstacle that was supposed to shape the playhole was installed on Wednesday with only two attemps to "tune" the playspot. So in the end the competition had to be done on our local shallow wave, because the desired playspot wasn´t any good.
The best thing about the event was the ramp we built. It was not the usual type of ramp that throws you in the air... The end of our ramp was leveled with the water so that you bounced of the water and had a chance to do completely aerial wave tricks.
The event itself consisted of funslalom, boatercross, team race, freestyle and big air contest. I ended up second in the freestyle competition, the C1 category was won by Stepan Fiedler (8 times Czech champion) who is a brand new father and hasn´t been training for over a year.... Respect...

I really enjoyed the ramp and i landed some very good pan-ams airblunts and even one clean airblunt... wooohoo

I also managed to win the whole event (combination of all the competitions) for which the prize was a nice Axon backpack... a great gift for my mom....

Photos follow... thanks Peter....

Karel Boukal aka Jan Bouchal (Old Bastards category 1st place)

Tomo Andrassy clean blunt (1st place K1m)

Stepan Vohradsky entry kickflip (2nd place K1m)

Maty Kucera donkeyflip (4th place K1m)

Stepan Fiedler blunt (C1 1st place -for the eighth time in a row...)

Jan Spindler(3rd place K1m) airscrew bounced from the ramp

Tomo ramp helix

Peter Prauze ramp panam

My two nice onside panams

Jan Bubnik fisherking

Me launching big clean back something...:)

The Slovak Championship 2007

2007-08-13T00:29:00.000-07:00

I went to the Slovak championship for the weekend 5.-6.8.
It was a great competition and I particularly liked the kayakcross which was immense fun. The playspot was really not my cup of tea since it was quite shallow and it was pulsating a lot. But I still think it is a better hole than we will ever have in Prague.
In holeriding I ended on the 8th place, basically not completing a single move... well shame on me. The C1 category was won by Jakub Micka.
I did far better in the C1 kayakcross. I won the first heat! And I won it against three creekboats... That was the one piece of satisfaction I needed... Huh I ended last in the finals though.... The party was really great and that´s what matters the most....

Here are some pictures from the event....

Before the eddy I was the last one...

But I managed the eddy better than the others...

Stepan Fiedler (red boat) -the winner of the C1 kayakcross

You can find more photos here.

An article about the 2007 Czech Open Freestyle Championship coming soon

C1 lady experience

2007-08-07T13:10:00.000-07:00

Cheers people...
This article was written by a C1 lady beginner. I asked her to write it because I think it might interest you since you cannot see a girl paddling a C1 every day.... Translation to English done by me....
Enjoy

English version

I ve been living right next to a river for my whole life, but I got involved in paddling as late as in 2004, when a guy took me on a canoeing trip. So I started with touring recreational paddling. And since I liked the rocking of the boat as well as the guy, I was dragged into the paddler´s world. I frequently went paddling with him and watched him paddling a kayak and in my mind I saw myself riding on the waves.

After a short time I said to myself I should try a kayak. My boyfriend was happy with that and he seated me into a kayak called Bert, thinking this is the best boat for me. I paddled an easy WWI… But the Bert is one hell of a boat and I am 161 cm tall and 53 kg (115 pounds) so you might imagine how I did in that… Well.. and there were like ten people on the bank shouting „Lean downstream!“ and even though I got the hang of handling the boat, the boat did not react… So I ceased my efforts saying to myself I will try it again, but I not soon… But I wanted to paddle all the same… And then came the great idea of trying a C1… Whooa! C1 ROCKS!
Right at the moment I first knelt into the boat I imediately knew this is what I want. I don´t mind kneeling in the boat. I actually find it more comfortable because my back, unlike in kayak, doesn´t hurt. The knees are pretty much all right but ankles are giving me one hell of a hard time. But I can handle this. Well… I won´t freak out for such thing. I like being higher, I got better view of what´s coming and the overall control of the boat is better.

So i began to learn despite my friend discouraging me all time. As my friend Fantomas (nick) says :“ Barenka, you´re doing well, but fuck C1 and go to kayak.“ C1 is a challenge to me. And even though all others think I am out of my wits, I find the movement in a C1 more natural.

This year I´d like to run Hamr creek, Vavrinec creek ( famous czech creeks class WWII-WWIII that are runnable in autumn when the lakes release water) and other runs. The roll is still to be perfected, but I can surely handle that. I am most enthusiastic about C1. Fantomas taught me to roll, right after I bought my boat. It was a great motivation for me. I lerned it in an hour so I was even more enthusiastic.

I like C1 despite that everybody says I won´t keep up with the kayakers. So what?! I´ll simply paddle because I like it not because I want to rock the river more than somebody else.

I paddle my way- relaxed and laid back. The Wavesport Z I recently bought seems to be an ideal boat for me and I am still training on flatwater and easier runs. I don´t want any rush. To chase some goal… wait … I got one… My dream is to run the Devil´s stair (class WWIII-WWIV rapid in south Bohemia. Location of one of the World Championships in rafting) But I don´t need to rush into it. On the other hand I am pretty sure I will handle it someday.

When I ran Jizera rapid ( class WWII-III river in northern Bohemia runable in spring) it was great and it gave me motivation once again and I thought I mustn´t be satisfied with what I got. I feel I´ll do much better if I put enough effort into it. If you get my point :).

It´s a shame many people think C1 is dead… What a bullshit. Why? It certainly is harder and slower than kayak but in this age of speed we should relax a bit.

Relax all the same….

On the other hand I do not completely forsake kayak. I will probably learn it someday…

So I hope there will be more and more C1 paddlers and even C1 lady paddlers on the river.

As I say : Hail C1 and be happy. :)

Barenka

On the Jizera river

Training in Ceske Budejovice

Czech version

Celý život bydlím u řeky, ale k pádlování jsem se dostala až v roce 2004, kdy mě můj kamarád vzal na kanoe. Takže jsem s tím začala rekreačně.

A protože se mi houpání lodí zalíbilo a zalíbil se mi i kamarád, vtáhl mě do světa vodáků. Často jsem s ním jezdila a koukala jak pádluje na kajaku a viděla sama sebe, jak si dávám tu, nebo jinou vlnku.

Po delší době jsem si řekla, že zkusím kajak. Přítel to přivítal a v domění, že mě posadí do té správné lodě jménem Bert, mě vyslal ve Vrbným na jedničku. Jenže Bert je blbuvzdorná loď a já jsem 161 cm vysoká a vážím 53 kg. Takže si dokážete představit, co to pro mě bylo. Navíc se na břeh vyskládalo asi deset lidí, co na mě řvalo: „Nákon!!!“ a i když jsem to měla všechno vyčíhnutý, jakej náklon, Bert prostě nic.

Takže jsem s tím sekla a řekla si, že to asi zase někdy zkusím, ale za hodně dlouho.

Jenže jezdit jsem chtěla. A tak jsem měla spásnej nápad. Co zkusit singla.

UAU! Singl je ale věc!!!

Když jsem na to sedla, okamžitě jsem věděla, že to je ono. Klečení mi nevadí. Vyhovuje mi to víc, protože když jsem později ještě zkoušela kajak, bolely mě hrozně záda. V singlu mě záda nebolí. Kolena jsou taky v poho, jen nárty. Ale to se dá zvládnout. Přece nejsem žádný mejdlo. Vyhovuje mi když jsem výš, mám větší přehled o tom, co mě čeká a celkové ovládání lodi v zákleku je lepší.

A tak jsem se začala učit, i přez odrazování mého okolí. Jak říká můj kamarád Fantomas: „Bařenko, máš našlápnuto, ale vyser se na singla a jezdi na kajaku.“

Singl je pro mě výzva. A i když všichni kroutí hlavou, je to pro mě přirozenější pohyb, než na kajaku.

Asi na tom něco bude.

Letos bych určitě chtěla jet na Hamerák, Vavřinec a všechny tyhle prásky. Zvedání musim sice ještě dopilovat, ale to se zmákne. Jsem hrozně nadšená. Eskymovat mě naučil Fantomas, hned jak jsem si koupila loď. Bylo to pro mě hrozně motivující. Naučila jsem se to za hodinu, takže moje nadšení stouplo ještě víc.

Baví mě to a i když mi říkají, že nebudu stačit kajakářům. Co na tom. Prostě budu pádlovat, protože mě to baví a ne proto, abych někomu natřela prdel.

Pádluju si pěkně pomalu a v poklidu. Svojí loď, co mi sedí jak hrnec na prdel Wave sprot Z, jsem si koupila v lednu a tak se učím zatím na klidné vodě a na menších peřejích. Nechci nic uspěchat. Hnát se za něčim. Hm.

Mám se za čím hnát. Můj sen je sjet Čerťáky. Ale nepotřebuju to uspěchat. Na druhou stranu ale vím, že to jednou zvládnu. Když jsem jela horní Jizeru, bylo to super a opjet mě to nakoplo a řekla jsem si, že nesmim usnout na vavřínech. Cítím, že když budu chtít, bude to fakt dobrý. Teda jestli mi rozumíte :o)

Mrzí mě, že si někteří lidi myslí, že singl nemá budoucnost.

Co je to za hovadinu. Proč? Je to sice těžší, učit se na tom a v závěru pomalejší než kajak, ale v dnešní uspěchané době,.... :o)

Prostě pohoda.

Na druhou stranu, kajak určitě nezatracuju. Asi se to taky jednou naučim na sedometu, abych pořád nepádlovala nakřivo :o)

Takže doufám, že se singlířů a singlířek objeví víc a podpoří to snažení, aby bylo víc singlířů na řekách.

A jak říkám, přijpíjejte na singlíře a buďte šťastní :o)

Bařenka

Plattling playspot all inclusive

2007-07-28T02:42:00.000-07:00

Hi,
Last weekend my friends and me went to Plattling. Since the weather forecast promised rains on Saturday and the water level was good we were looking forward to a great weekend on one of the best playspots in Europe.

Leaving Prague with an extra boat.

Jakub Nemec launching a McNasty

In the middle of the river there was a nice wave with a green shoulder that allowed dynamic right blunts

Eva Fillova- Slovak team member- going huge

Ain´t this beautiful...?

The Plattling playspot allows HUGE airloops- Karas in mid-air

The promised rains came on Saturday night. Three storms collided just above our heads. The wind almost blew our tents away. It didn´t stop the party though...:)

Next weekend I am going to Bratislava to participate on Slovak Championship 2007. They say the competition hole has improved since last year (it was a small and shallow hole) and that now it allows right blunts on the left shoulder. So I count on my right cleanblunt during the competition... :)
to be honest- the main reason I go there is not the actual competition but the PARTY. It is certainly going to be great.

Well one last piece of information. I persuaded the single C1 lady paddler I know to write a short article about her C1 experience. So look forward to the article, the translation will be ready by Thursday.

So long,
Z.

Technique-C1 Creeking tips (Czech and English version)

2007-07-18T12:01:00.000-07:00

Hi again.
I finally managed to get some other C1 paddler to write an article for this site. The author of this introduction to C1 creeking skills is one of the best Czech (and European) C1 creekers- Peter Kment. He is a specialist on Norway and Austria. Thanks Peter!!

Enjoy the article and photos and good luck on the river.

English version (translation by me :))

Some time ago Jan asked me to write an article about whitewater paddling. C1 paddling of course. I wasn´t quite eager to write it, I came to think only about some general stuff, nothing that applies only to C1. In the end I tried to write something down, so you´ll see, if you like it. Don´t expect any glorification of canoes for creeking. We should reconcile with the fact that on some rivers you´ll be able to keep up with the kayakers, on others you won´t (at least that´s my experience).

If you´re just starting whitewater paddling and consider trying a C1, you better think about it. If you choose C1 you are going to be really limited on the river. There are more people, who used to paddle a C1 and changed to kayak, than you´d think. They switched to K1 because they reached the limits of their abilities. The limits are set far more straightly on a C1. In other words- with the same abilities you´ll do much more difficult runs on a K1 or you´ll do the same but more easily J . In this case it is better to start on a kayak straight away.

The disadvantages of C1 are apparent. The higher center of gravity and single-bladed paddle are the most important. The advantages are a bit hidden, but they aren´t that few. Only when you use these advantages correctly you´ll keep up with the kayakers. It is true that we cannot gain as much speed as a kayaker, but if a single powerful stroke is needed we have an advantage. The key thing is of course the timing of such stroke, there usually isn´t time to fix a badly planted stroke. Maybe an even more advantageous thing is that we can change the balance and tilt the boat more efficiently. Leaning forward or backward can be often really useful. The kayakers may also do all these things but less efficiently. The kneeling position is not that bad after all. Compared to a kayaker a C1er has a far better view and can react sooner to all kinds of obstacles. This is a kind of compensation for our lesser speed. These advantages are best used on technical runs of all grades. On the other hand some bigwater river with great strength can be a problem and the disadvantages will be apparent.

There are lots of things you have to learn in order to become a successful rider. This applies for both K1 and C1, but a kayaker has a better opportunity to correct a mistake. The C1ers thus have to paddle with precision and avoid mistakes at all costs. There are three basic techniques you have to master. Without mastering these techniques it is going to be really hard.

You have to learn to read the water and develop a sense for it. A line the kaykers have picked up may not be the best for a C1er. You can´t fight the water as easily and you will always be more confident on your onside. There is no shame in scouting the runs a lot and searching for YOUR line that often differs from that of your fellas. Try to find a line where you will be able to use the current to the maximum not forced to fight it. Try to go through the eddies. This can often help to get the correct inrun angle before a difficult spot. The rule that you should track your line upstream applies to all. You should begin at the end of the difficult part and than track your line all the way up and think about where to run it.
The second essential technique is boofing (boof is a technique when you hit the landing spot with the hull after a jump). C1 can be boofed quite easily, precisely thanks to the efficient weight transition combined with a single powerful stroke. If you do all this accurately you can boof even oblique or sideways jumps. Find the precise timing for the initiation of the boof while tracking your line and than don´t miss it! You´ll thus stay on the surface after you land, the boat will be more controllable and you can work on what´s in front of you straight away. Boofing is also safer in a C1, it doesn´t hurt even from high jumps ( 8 or more meters into foam). An essential thing is that you have to lean forward a lot just before the landing. This helps to absorb the impact. The 10 inches of foam under the butt can absorb impacts quite well. It is useful to learn the crossdeck boof. Sometimes you have to do the last stroke on your offside. It is essential to gain experience in jumping. At first try to do loads of jumps on low and less difficult jumps. Only when you won´t be making any mistakes and the rides will be reliable you can try higher jumps. For instance find a nice safe jump and ride it a few times in a row. A 100% boof is, according to me, absolutely essential.
The roll- without a „bulletproof“ roll no one should ever go on a difficult whitewater. You´ll be using it far more often on a C1. That´s reality. It has to be REALLY fast, screw roll, back roll, simply roll up anyhow you can just be quick, look around, orientate yourself and go on. An advantage is that the second blade doesn´t interfere and the grip of the C1 paddle can be held much stronger ( I appreciated this when I was getting a serious spanking under a waterfall).

If you want to be a good C1 paddler it is best to paddle with the kayakers. Not only that a fellow C1er is difficult to find but you won´t be as motivated in a group of C1ers than you are with the kayakers. You should keep up with the others and perfect your abilities with them. Great differences in abilities between paddlers can cause a problem. But if there isn´t any difference there is no reason to get better, isn´t there… Just don´t play hero and don´t paddle on the utmost verge of your abilities. There is no shame in carrying the boat along a difficult spot and anybody that laughs at you is an idiot not worth paddling with. Good paddler rides safely and has fun… Good paddler doesn´t cross his limits on terrific runs just to be like the others…

Photos: Peter Kment -the author of this article- at some nice drops.

Czech version

Před časem mě Honza poprosil, abych napsal článek o pádlování na řekách. Pochopitelně na singlovce. Moc se mi do toho nechtělo, napadaly mě samý všeobecný kecy, nic co by se vztahovalo opravdu čistě na C1. Nakonec jsem se teda pokusil něco sepsat, tak uvidíte, jestli se vám to bude líbit. Rozhodně ale nečekejte oslavu singlovek. Je potřeba se smířit s tím, že na některých řekách s kajakáři budete držet krok, na některých ne (minimálně to je moje zkušenost).

Pokud začínáte s ježděním a chtěli to zkusit na singlu, tak byste si to měli dobře rozmyslet. Volba singlovky je do budoucna značně omezující a lidí, kteří pádlovali s větví a teď jezdí s vrtulí je na řekách víc než si myslíte. Přešli na kajak proto, že narazili na hranici svých možností. A na kajaku jsou ty hranice o něco dál. Jinými slovy, se stejným talentem toho na kajaku dáte víc, případně dáte to samý, ale snadněji :-) V takovém případě je lepší začít jezdit rovnou na kajaku.

Nevýhody singlovky jsou vidět na první pohled. Vyšší těžiště a především to kanoistické pádlo bijou do očí. Výhody jsou trochu schované, ale taky jich není málo. Teprve když je budete ovládat, tak budete s kajakáři držet krok. Je pravda, že loď nedokážeme rozjet tak, jako kajakář, ale pokud jde o jeden silný záběr, tak na tom jsme líp. Klíčové samozřejmě je ten záběr perfektně načasovat, na opravu už většinou není čas. Snad ještě větší výhodou je možnost hodně měnit těžiště lodi. Předklon i záklon ve správnou chvíli udělají zázraky. To samozřejmě dokážou i kajakáři, ale tak moc ne. Ono nakonec není až tak špatný to, že v lodi člověk klečí. Proti kajakáři má singlíř o dost větší rozhled a na překážky můžeme reagovat dřív. Je to určitá kompenzace nižší rychlosti. Výhody se dají asi nejlépe využít na technických řekách všech obtížností. Naopak vodnatka s velkým tahem, i když není brutální, může dát hodně zabrat a nevýhody budou mít navrch.

Je spousta věcí, které je potřeba se pro úspěšné ježdění naučit. Platí zpravidla stejně pro K1 i C1, ale kajakář má zpravidla větší možnost následky chyby dohnat a napravit. Singlíři tedy nezbývá jezdit víc na jistotu a chybám se za každou cenu vyhýbat. Tři techniky jsou ale naprosto zásadní a bez jejich perfektního zvládnutí to je těžký:

1. Naučit se číst vodu a mít pro ni cit. Stopa, kterou si najdou kamarádi na kajaku ještě nemusí být ta pravá pro singlíře. Vodu nepřeperete tak snadno, náklon se vždycky dělá líp na ruku. Není ostuda často prohlížet a hledat si svou vlastní stopu, která se od ostatních liší. Snažte se najít cestu, kde budete moci maximálně využít vodu, ne proti ní bojovat. Taky ježdění přes vracáky (pomocné smyčky) je šikovná věc a já osobně ho provozuju často. Často to pomůže získat před klíčovým místem správný úhel nájezdu. Pro všechny obecně platí, že je dobré hledat si stopu proti proudu. Začít u konce celého úseku a postupně si rozmyslet kudy to celé projet.

2. Druhou zásadní technikou je boofování. C1 se obecně boofuje dobře, právě díky možnosti silného záběru spojeného s výraznou změnou těžiště. Když to uděláte šikovně, tak se odrazíte klidně i ze šikmých skoků. Najděte si při prohlídce ten správný okamžik kdy se odrazíte a pak ho už jen nepromeškejte. Udržíte se tak hned při dopadu na hladině, loď bude ovladatelná a rovnou můžete řešit to co je před vámi. Boofování je na singlu taky bezpečnější než na kajaku, nebolí tolik ani z docela vysokých skoků (klidně 8 a více metrů do našlehané vody). Nedílnou součástí techniky je hluboký předklon při dopadu, který pomáhá absorbovat náraz. A co jsem to psal o předklonech o pár řádků výše? Nakonec i těch 20 cenťáků pěny pod zadkem tlumí docela dobře. Je dobrý se naučit boofování i na přesruku. Občas se stane, že ten poslední záběr musíte udělat na druhý straně, než pádlujete.

Nezapoměňte, že je potřeba ve skocích získat jistotu. Napřed toho co nejvíc naskákejte na nižších a snadnějších skocích. Teprve když na nich nebudete dělat chyby a jízda bude na jistotu, tak se odvažte na vyšší. Najděte si třeba dobrý a bezpečný skok a ten si dejte několikrát za sebou. 100% boof je podle mě naprostou nutností! I tady platí, že zvládání určité úrovně je vstupenka do vyšší.

3. Eskymák – bez eskymáku na jistotu by neměl na těžké vodě jezdit nikdo, to je jasný. Na singlu ho ale použijete častejc. To je realita. Musí být hodně rychlý, zepředu, zezadu, prostě jakkoli, hlavně být rychle nad vodou, zorientovat se a jet dál. Výhoda je, že se neplete druhý list a hlavička umožňuje pádlo pevně držet (to jsem ocenil vždycky, když jsem dostával čočku pod vodopádem).

Pokud to chcete na vodě někam na singlu dotáhnout, tak je asi nejlepší jezdit s kajakáři. Nejen že se singlíř do party hledá blbě, ale hlavně pak člověk nemá takovou motivaci. Je dobré s ostatními držet krok a zdokonalovat se s nimi, velký výkonnostní rozdíl zavání průšvihem. Pokud ale není žádný rozdíl, tak není možnost se zlepšovat, že ano :-) Hlavně nebýt hrdinou a nejezdit na úplné hranici svých schopností. Přenášení není ostuda a kdo se ti bude smát je blbec, se kterým je lepší na vodu už nejezdit. Každému vyhovuje něco jiného, něco najedeš ostatním ty, něco najedou ostatní tobě, vždycky ale dobře zvaž svoje schopnosti! Dobrý vodák je ten, který jezdí bezpečně a kterého to baví, ne ten který se staženou prdelí jezdí těžký prásky jen proto, aby se vyrovnal ostatním.

Na závěr bych chtěl zmínit jeden detail, který singlíře omezuje v cestách po světě. Je to absence sériově vyráběných lodí. Jasně, zvykli jsme si na to, že je potřeba předělat kajak a klečení si udělat. Dá se sehnat spousta kajaků, které jsou jako C1 vhodné. Problém ale nastává když si zapádlovat letíte a loďsi chcete půjčit na místě. To pak nezbývá, než si klečení dovízt a loď předělat. Taky kritický scénář, když loď utopíš a jediná náhradní loď je kajak, není příjemný. A co třeba když zlomíš na řece pádlo a jediná skládačka je kajakářská? Nic moc...

Zdravotní aspekty myslím nemá cenu příliš rozebírat. Ježdění na vodu s sebou obecně nese spoustu rizik a je jedno na čem jezdíte. Na druhou stranu jasný, že jednostranné zatěžování svalstva tělu dobře nedělá. Ale to platí jak pro řeky tak pro freestyle, takže se tomu Honza někdy určitě bude věnovat sám.

Jasně, těch nevýhod je docela dost a výhod tak moc není, jenže singlíři nevymřou. Víc nás už nikdy nebude, ale míň? To už snad skoro nejde :-) Stejně jde hlavně o to si dobře zapádlovat a strávit čas s dobrými kamarády.

Action photos

2007-06-26T11:26:00.001-07:00

Huh, here are some photos of me paddling... Thanks to all the people who took them...

Freestyle C1 outfitting

2007-06-26T09:42:00.000-07:00

Hi again,
Since I have some time today I will post the promised articles... The first on the list is Freestyle seat design.

Firstly before you start the conversion you have to know that there is a simple rule: The better you fit into the boat the less comfort you have and the more difficult is to get into the boat. There are, however, few tips how to break the rule.
Almost everybody knows, how to make a good C1 seat and there are articles on this subject all over the internet. So let me just mention all these little improvements I made to my boat, which finally made it a snug while still keeping the performance.

1. Most saddles the C1 paddlers use have a fixed saddle. That means your back leans on a pile of foam that is stuck into the actual saddle. This is the easy way how to do it.

Picture taken from cboats.net

It has a lot of disadvantages.

The knee cups (tunnel design) can´t be deep enough for you to have them in the middle of your thighs, which offers much better control. If they were, you won´t be able to get into the boat because the saddle is fixed...
Thus only the like 10-20 cm of your knees are inside the tunnels and this is not enough...
Second problem is that if you use the hip belt, which you should, the strap straps you to a fixed saddle, thus transferring the strength you apply on it to the hull only.
Your butt tends to go out of its place all the same, if you use the fixed saddle...

The strap setting

My solution is basically that I use almost the same system the kayak paddlers do. I cut the foam pile that supports my back and I use it as a backrest. So the ratchets of the backrest pull against the hip belt thus providing better fit and better strength distribution. Moreover I can get into the boat comfortably and then adjust the ratchets of the backrest.
Thus I get a better fit and comfortable getting in. The kneecups (tunnels) hold my thighs for almost 35 cm so I get better control of the boat...

So this is the basic idea of a freestyle seat. It provides both comfort and performance. The only disadvantage is that there are two more ratchets in the boat, but it is worth it...

So long

Eurocup in Lienz

2007-06-26T06:31:00.000-07:00

Hi everybody,
I ve just came byck from the first Eurocup this year and I must first of all say: Where the hell have all of you been?? There were only four C-1 paddlers on the competition. That is a shame!! But nevermind, it was a cool event none the less.
We arrived on Wednesday midnight and from the first moment it was obvious that the competition is once again going to be in a hole... oh my... and I ve been training wave moves all spring... nevermind...
On Thursday we wentsearching other playspots and we found two pretty nice ones: Ainetwelle and Dolomitenwelle. The ideal flow for the Ainet wave is 280 m3/sec and 260 m3/sec for the Dolomiten wave. The Dolomitenwelle is located under the last bridge in Lienz while Ainetwelle is in Ainet village 8km upstream from Lienz (turn left after a wood warehouse to the left of the road).
In Thursday evening there was a welcome party in restaurant Eck with a free meal for all... cool...
Friday was the pre-lims day... Since the canoist were this few there was to be only finals in C-1 category, shame, shame, shame. I went again to Ainet but the waterlevel was too low and the wave was breaking too much. So I went to the Dolomitenwelle. It looked awful from the bank but I went paddling all the same. But it was cool... High wave with a decent foam pile, a green right shoulder and an eddy... Air moves possible!! Only to the left though... So I was paddling for like two hours and then went back to the competition playspot.
In the evening there was an awesome party at the club Wha. The Czech team was more than visible and audible during the party... like always during the Eurocups...
On Saturday there was the men´s quarterfinals and semis. The judges were a bit incompetent, from my point of view, since they seemed to patronize the Adidas team, but the judges changed for the semis and everything was all right... But still, to constantly judge an aerial fisherking entrymove as a bare wavewheel is more than strange. The party in the evening was again awesome and it included a huge meal for everybody. But the prizegiving was a disgrace all over.... It was done in a tiny hall in the pub. The promised prizemoney was given to the first ones in every category but the prizes for everybody else somehow "disappeared" but who am I to judge the organizers... The second and third places were told that the first place should buy them a drink and this was supposed to be a prize... well this stinks...but nevermind...
It was a nice event and although it had its problems I enjoyed it...
Photos are here...

The results:
C1

Nico Fayol (France)
Lukas Cervinka (CZ)
Me (CZ)

K1JW

Martina Wegmann (Netherlands)
Hanka Vackova (CZ)

K1JM

Jiri Langer (CZ)

K1M

Jon Best (UK)
Seppi Strohmeier (GER)
Simon Strohmeier (GER)

I will get the rest of the results soon... Sorry to have forgotten them....

So long, and see you on the water...

Training in Prague

2007-06-14T12:40:00.000-07:00

Hi,
I ve just quickly stitched up a video from the spots I ve been training at. There is the Kadan hole and a few spots on the Troja slalom course.
The Slovenian championship was great, five days of hanging around.... the spot was painfully shallow so there wasnt much paddling at all.... but the more hanging around hehe...
Tomorrow I am going to Karlovy Vary to participate on an exhibition during a downriver event. I hope it will be great.

As soon as the exam period is over I ll send more articles...

Here is the video:

Kadan- The competition- article + photos

2007-06-06T00:01:00.001-07:00

Hi again...
I have finally managed to get my hands on a bunch of photos from the Kadan rodeo competition. The official results also appeared so now I am able to summarize the event for you.
The surroundings of the Kadan playspot are awesome... the spot itself is localized at the location of a former mill. And it is most easily accessible from a small island that is between the main river and the mill-race. (BTW- a complete article on the spot by the locals coming soon)
The event took place on Saturday (prelims, kayakcross, PARTY) and Sunday (finals). My friends (The Bubnik family and many more) and me arrived already on Thursday though... On Thursday and Friday we were training a bit and having great fun in the evenings. Since we used to train here regularly over the past few months we felt to be well prepared for the competition.
There were 5 categories for holeriding - K1m , K1w, K1juniors, K1OB (old bastards 35 years old and more...) and C1 of course....
In the C1s there were just 8 competitors, but the competition was tough though... In the prelims you had to get 320 points and more to make it to the finals... I had 385 so I made it, fortunately.... In the prelims I was really disappointed with my rides, because I wasnt able to try the harder moves, since I had quite a few washouts....
In the finals I did much better. I flushed only once in the four rides of the head-to-head finals. And I managed to score 290 points on the average, which is good but I still know I can do much better....
The junior category was dominated by Jirka Langer, one of the two Czech participants on the Worlds 2007. In the old bastards category my frien Dusan Bubnik (age like 50 + ???) didnt make it... THat was very surprising since he rocked the whole last season and won the series....
The girls didi really good... I was surprised at some of their rides. Lenka Kucerova-Novotna won the finals with lots of cleans, supercleans and stuff.... I wish I could cartwheel like her... Betka Brabcova took the second place with huge airloop in each ride... she jumped really HIGH:...

Finally the men category. The top three places were all taken by the members of the BIG BLUNTS team
Jan Spidler took the fourth and Martin "Maty" Kucera the fifth. It was an awesome finals since all the guys were landing great tricks and fighting hard...

Thats all for now... in few hours time I am leaving for Ljublan to participate on the Slovenian championship... Jan Bubu Bubnik and Kuba Micka are coming with me. I would like to thank the sponsors of the trip, without them we wouldn´t be able to participate on the Slovenian rodeo race.

The main sponsor:

The medial partner:

Prague kayaking shop :

Here are some photos from the Kadan competition. A guy called Kralik made the photos... Thank you very much.

So long, bye

Kadan competition

2007-06-03T13:31:00.000-07:00

I ve just returned from the Kadan freestyle event. It was an awesome weekend among friends, great competition, party every evening... simply AWESOME. I managed to win the C1 category so I am really happy. The event included a kayakcross with a start from a three - meter ramp.
On Wednesday I am going to Slovenia to participate on the Slovenian championships.
Photos from Kadan event coming soon.

Results:
K1men: 1. Stepan Vohradsky
2. Jan Bubnik
3. Jakub Nemec

C1: 1. Zoid
2. Michal Pinc
3. Lukas Cervinka

K1women 1. Lenka Kucerova-Novotna
2. Betka Brabcova
3. Hana Vackova

K1juniors 1. Jiri Langer
2. Wally Valenta
3. David Felgr

K1old bastards (35 years old and more :)) : 1. Vendy Jezvina
2. Pavel Lichtag
3. Carel Boukal aka Jan Bouchal

So long I hope I can post some pictures soon.

Kadan competition

2007-05-29T12:23:00.000-07:00

Hi again
This weekend there is a competition in Kadan. I´ve been training there for the last two weekends so I hope I might do well in the competition.
Here is the official invitation for the event and actually for the whole Czech Cnawr tour:

In case anybody of you wants to participate in any of these events just send me an e-mail (liskahon@seznam.cz ) and I will help you with registration etc...

My routine for the competition:
Air loop
loop
Space Godzilla left
Cartwheel+Clean cartwheel left
Phonix monkey right ( well my success rate for this trick is like 20% but an attempt wont spoil the ride hehe...)
Splitwheel left
Cartwheel+Clean Carthwheel right

I ve been frequently able to do the whole jumping part (loops and godzilla) without flushing and I hope I might do these three moves during the first 15 secs so I would have enough time for cartwheels and few Phonix monkey attempts... I really think there will be an amazing party on Saturday night so I wont mind if I wont make it to the finals... although I definitely should...

I am really busy these days since the exam period has started, so the articles I wanted to post will be a bit delayed... Anyway, look forward to Blunt technique, Kadan competition wrap-up and many more...

See you on one of the Czech Competitions
Z.

Equipment review- Profiplast C1 paddle Air

2007-05-14T13:21:00.000-07:00

My first paddle was a simple touring paddle designed rather for recreation than some real paddling. I did my first roll with it, I had my first swims with it, I lost it during a swim, then found it etc… It was a nice paddle and I really liked it. After this one I had few others but this February I began to think of buying a really good light-weight paddle, because I felt I could use a paddle worth paddling with.
Fortunately my mate lent my his paddle while he was staying in Prague and after two rides in our local spot I felt this might be The Paddle. I bought it few days after that… So I decided to review it here because I think it really meets the requirements for a top freestyle paddle.

A great info for you before the actual review. If you are interested in trying any Profiplast paddle contact your local kayaking equipment dealer and he may receive demo paddles straight away! Just write a request to the manufacturer - Petr Panenka (panenka@profiplast.cz)..

Profiplast C1 freestyle paddle-Air

With its 690g (24 oz) it really meets the weight requirements of any paddler, but guess what… its blade is not composite…it is plastic. Profiplast managed to develop a new technology called Gas Injection, thus reducing the weight of the blade almost to the weight of a composite one and still keeping the lovable qualities of plastic- reduced cost and abrasion resistance. The thermoplastic is enforced by carbon fibres.
I have been paddling it for nearly two months now and it endured everything, including a 100kg (220pound) me hanging on it while it got stuck between the rocks :))…

This is what it looks like in the inside

The asymetric blade

Another important thing about the blade is that it is asymmetric.It really offers a better stroke( forward or backward either onside or offside) than a normal symmetric blade. What I appreciate the most is not the power of the stroke but the fact that it gives a lot of support during the moves, which is precisely what you need. Just imagine doing an onside blunt- If you do the stroke, turn the boat around and the blade gets stuck in the water because it has sunk too far into the water and is not ready to give you sufficient support for your balance… you get out of balance and… trashing follows. This doesn´t happen with Air. The blade offers incredible support and is especially good as a rudder (either onside or offside- while back surfing). I felt my onside blunts immediately improving to over 90% success and I think it is not a coincidence…

Air action photos

And finally there is the price… Imagine you get all this- a perfect freestyle/whitewater C1 paddle- for only cca 100 euro. Including wooden T-grip, asymmetric blade, composite shaft and of course PERFORMANCE.

Conclusion

+ lightweight 690g/24oz
+ asymmetric design of the blade--> better support and stroke
+ abrasion resistance
+ composite shaft

- asymmetric blade- your mate who paddles on the other side can not try your new Air to full satisfaction…:)

Profiplast also manufactures top kayak paddles Ninja, Xena (both freestyle/ whitewater) and Trapper(touring), raft paddles (used by the World Champions in men and women categories), dragon paddles and many more...

Check their website

A review on Xena paddle by Tomas Mahring (2nd place indoor snowkayak Championship 07) coming soon…
If you are interested in this paddle just tell your local dealer to contact the manufacturer (panenka@profiplast.cz) and you may try a test paddle before buying it! It will be sent to your dealer as a demo.

So long. I promise I get the blunt technique ready really soon.. I need some more pics and nobody wants to take pics of me...:((

Technique-the LOOP

2007-05-02T11:31:00.000-07:00

First of all I´d like to say that so far I don´t have enough pics/video for the announced article on blunt technique so I resolved to write a short article on the loop.
The loop is one of the most spectacular moves. It is not that difficult, though. The first thing is that you need a specific kind of boat for a loop. You won´t do well with an old school playboat with slice ends. Every modern freestyle boat has a good volume distribution for a loop, that is lots of volume round the cockpit...

I. phase
You have to get to the foam pile, as usual. The key thing for a C1 boater is to be really nicely lined up because you have less stability and keeping straight is far more difficult. You should be facing upstream straightly. The higher you get on the foam pile the better, but mind you: it is more difficult to stay straight and balanced if coming a long way down from the foam pile.

II.phase
Now you are sucked in by the hole right into the green water. What you need now is to get as much speed as possible. So I recommend you to plant an extra stroke just before you hit the green water.

III.phase

Now comes the most difficult part of the move. You have to stick the bow of your boat right into the so called seam (that is the place where the green water meets the foam). This needs to be done by two means.
The first one is clearly visible on the picture. The bodyweight shifts forward. You simple throw forward as much weight as you can .
The second one is more important and it is the movement of the most important part of body a C1 paddler has, it is the knees of course... :)) You have to force the bow down with your knees. This movement begins right after and almost simultaneously with the weight shift.

IV.phase
So now you´ve pushed the bow into the green water. But exactly at the moment your bow hits the green water you have to do another weight shift, you must agresively lean backwards but the knee movement still continues.
A good tip is that you should plant your paddle and do a fierce back stroke and lean on it to help you with the rotation.

Now comes the breakpoint. Now the knee movement stops and another complex movement begins. All your weigh must be really agresively flung forward. Concentrate on the movement of the boat and with practice you will recognize the moment automaticaly.

V. phase
This is the most enjoyable part of the move... You are flying!!
After the previous weight shift the boat comes over you and all you have to do is to help her a bit by a movement similar to the knee movement described above. The boat being connected to the lower part of your body is extremely sensitive to any knee movement. So if you do the same movement again (your body and knees stretched in one line- the knees going upwards-remember you are upside down) your boats completes the loop...

VI. Phase
Now it is almost done. All that rests is to regain balance after you land. This differs from spot to spot... in this one I usually slid a bit to the side thus completing the move in a roll like manner... That is because of the steep green water and non perfect skill... this was my first hole session in the Project though...

Ok so have fun and I wish you lots of patience with the loop... and success of course.
So long and enjoy the video...

Trip to Lyon Part 2

2007-04-24T11:48:00.000-07:00

Hi again.
Today I finally have some time to post some more photos and to write a bit about our stay in Lyon.

The surroundings of the wave is really nice. Except for a highway bridge just next to the spot there is really nice nature. Lots of birds flying around, fish in the eddies grasping an insect every other second beautiful island dividing the river etc...
You can camp right at the spot and the locals seem to tolerate it as well as the police.
There is a shop within 15 mins of the spot.( just follow the road upstream, go under the railroad and than follow a steep road that leads you to a small square where you may find a nice shop and a few cafés.
The water is really clear which makes it really interesting to wait in the eddy and watch the fish below you.

Warnings: At the moment you are about to get in the spot check if there isn´t any big log coming from upstream, it can hurt to receive it in the face...
If any of your fellow paddlers is not experienced enough be prepared to rescue the poor fellow. Especially if the water level is high - DO NOT underestimate the situation...
If you flush... try not to swear, cheer up and enjoy the next ride.

Hawaii sur Rhone is a great place to stay... enjoy it if you happen to get there.

Cheers
More photos to follow, as soon as I get them from my friends...

Kadan- professional close-up photos

2007-04-17T10:45:00.000-07:00

Hi,
Today I received loads of photos of us taken by a local photographer. Great shots, a piece of art definitely.
Enjoy

Dusan working on the cartwheels (notice hhe is wearing a hockey helmet...)

Me cartwheeling (it is difficult to cartwheel a Project 62 though...)

Grazl trying a backloop (this was extremely difficult in that hole)

Jan Bubnik handwheels

Dusan and his helmet

This is how I look right after a roll... nice huh?

And this is how Jakub looks...

Smile!

Going for a loop.

Destination: Kadan

2007-04-17T05:16:00.000-07:00

This weekend we enjoyed sunny weather and a nice spot in Kadan. Kadan is a town located near Prague (1.5 hours drive to the west) where the local rodeo enthusiasts built a really nice hole in place of a former mill.
We arrived on Friday evening and had few beers at a local pub. The Saturday morning was awesome. Sunny weather and high temperatures all the day long. Later quite a few of our friends from Pilsen and from Prague showed up. We had like 4 paddling sessions that day. In the evening we had a barbecue.
Our friends left the spot so we were alone there on Sunday. It was a perfect weekend, lots of fun, nice playspot, nice people...

Video from the spot: (poor quality 20mg- the best I can manage)

Trip to Lyon Part 1

2007-04-08T08:31:00.000-07:00

So I am back after an awesome week at one of the best playspots in Europe. Although the water level wasn´t as good as we hoped it would be, we had a great time.
Me, Jan "BUBU" Bubnik, Dusan Bubnik and Petr "PEPE" Prause left Prague on Sunday morning in Dusan´s van. We arrived on Sunday afternoon. The water level was really low that day. However, there were quite a few paddlers at the spot. We watched them for a while and then we went paddling. It was pretty much the same the whole week: We used to get up around 9 AM and then we had the morning session then lunch and of course we had a long siesta after lunch. We went paddling again usually in the evening after the other paddlers quit the spot. There were various groups of paddlers: our group from Czech Rep., a large group from Sheffield, two friendly Irishmen, Strohmeier bros and their friend Xavier from Germany, Jon and Christine from the UK and many others... A Canadian c-ler Guillaume La Rue also showed up with his friend so it was quite a cosmopolitan spot...

How was the wave:
We experienced waterlevels varying from 0.4m to 0.7m (check here).
The first thing to say about the wave is that it is not reachable from the eddies so you have to paddle to the middle of the river and then try to hit the wave from the upstream... Really exhausting...
The wave has a huge foam pile in the middle and powerful shoulders. It was about 1.5 m high at the best water level we had.

Jan (the yellow boat) and German paddler Xavier enjoying a simultaneous ride on the Hawaii at the best level.

The wave was quite hard to catch because you had to hit the foam pile in the center of the wave. The exact place you needed to hit was actually only like 1.5 m wide at max... So especially for me it was really hard to catch the wave and I had to sustain quite a few flushes... If you don´t have lots of experience with waves like this, be prepared to flush quite often. It is really frustrating.

Trying to catch the wave.

The left shoulder of the wave (facing upstream) was the best place to launch the moves, at this level it was the highest part of the wave. It was really steep and green. It was really easy to flush while trying to line up for a move there though...
The shoulder was also really bouncy. It was really exciting even to frontsurf it.

Bouncing down the green water (I usually almost bit my tongue off)

But if you lined up for a move correctly you always went HUGE and even without any extra effort...

One of my very few successful offside blunts.

PePe launching a left blunt.

The comments on the surroundings, on my personal development during our stay and lots of photos and a video coming soon.

C1 Technique: Small waves basics

2007-03-30T05:41:00.000-07:00

Lets face it... everybody likes to surf a big and regular wave... but not all of us have the opportunity to do so every day, so we must content ourselves with what we´ve got.

A small wave is surely a better place to learn the basics than something like Buseater or Hawaii, that´s for sure.
A good article on wave riding has been recently posted on the Riot blog
Big thanks to Adam Johnson for writing this article...

Ok so what basic skills does a C1 boater need while trying to do his best on a small wave? It is quite essential to spend some time practicing just the movements on the wave.
The first essential skill is carving. Before you start to try some moves you need to know, how does your boat respond to any shift of your weight. On a C1 every slight change of weight center has a much more profound impact on the movement of the boat, this is because the weight center of a C1 is a lot higher than on a K1. Carving is controlled by weight shifting and of course by paddle corrections. This video shows you how you can move from one shoulder of the wave to another.

Important thing is that you need to keep your balance while carving to your offside. The perfect way to do this is to support yourself with the palm of your offside hand.

If you want to do almost any move on a wave you have to get to the top of the foam pile so you can accelerate down the face of the wave and get some speed that you need to perform the move.
Getting to the top of the foam pile isn´t always easy. The important thing is that you have to get as high as possible without flushing. It is essential to actually feel the water under your boat and this comes only with practice.
One of the ways how to get to the top is to carve straight to one of the shoulders of the wave and than back to the other side. This should get you higher on the wave, and possibly to the foam pile. If you feel you are beginning to flush just lean forward and do a few quick strokes. If you manage to get up there you are half way through any move you want to do. This video shows you how to get to the foam pile and speed down to land a blunt.

That´s all for now. Tomorrow morning I am leaving Prague and by Sunday afternoon I´ll be on the Hawaii. I am still a bit ill but nothing can keep me from trying that wave...
Cheers people and I hope I can post some fresh pics straight from Lyon...

I am going to Lyon... CONFIRMED

2007-03-27T11:32:00.000-07:00

So now it is for sure... On Saturday me and some of my friends are going to Lyon. I managed to settle my employment so I can go. Awesome.... We are also going to spent some time at Platling and Bremgarten. We will be back on 8.4. The article on the trip coming soon after...
So long

I am going to LYON

2007-03-26T09:46:00.001-07:00

On Saturday I am probably going to Lyon. The only thing is that I have to persuade my employer to let me go.... It will be decided tomorrow evening so cross fingers for me....
BTW I teach english to those who know it worse than me...

Stay tuned for Lyon photos...

Early spring sessions on Troja slalom course

2007-03-26T04:26:00.000-07:00

Rising temperature and sunny weather made me go paddling... These pictures were taken almost two months ago. A friend of mine, Pavel, also went paddling.
We spent most of the session on a local wave. Although the wave is small and painfully shallow it is quite fast and with some effort you can bounce well enough to land vertical blunts or even almost aerial backstabs...
Some of the photos were taken a week later...
Thanks to my sister Mary and my girlfriend Jane who took the pictures... Warming up on the flatwater.

Pavel getting some speed on his Ronin.

Me trying to bounce hard.

A smile for the camera during a blunt :)...

I love aggressive carving...

It was quite warm for that time of year.
These sessions were the first ones on my new boat-The wavesport Project 62, an article on my boats coming soon...

So long fellas

My blog is about to start....

2007-03-26T03:42:00.000-07:00

Hi everybody...
This is supposed to be my blog, however I want to create also a useful page for all paddlers interested in C1 paddling, especially freestyle.
What are you going to find here?? Mostly videos and articles on C1 technique, freestyle events and destinations. I will of course post some info on me and my development... I hope I will manage to talk some of the more experienced paddlers into contributing.
This site began it´s existence thanks to the flu I´ve recently caught...

So that´s all for now... I am going to edit the site in couple of hours so I can make it public...