Zaterdag

Saturday/Zaterdag

 

The morning after the strange Dutch Spiderman singing and night-time ice creams and a slight lie in, the sun appeared in Dokkum the last of our cities on the epic journey. Everyone was in good spirit and the feelings of having almost made it through the week were clear. We made our way over to the tent for the last morning of bananas, egg and bread. People were extremely focused and goals had been set, Ben especially seemed very tuned to get 10^th place, where my goal was to beat him by at least 3 seconds to justify the day before and also to beat roger in the over all rankings ( I needed 3 minutes which was a tall order ) The area was full of boards and competitors as day 5 had a lot of people racing just the final stage, all fresh having not raced all week.

 

The start line was the largest of all the days so the chop was limited some what but a bridge very close to the start bottlenecked the pack. With my goals in sight I set off trying to trail Ben, I saw a chance to follow Tolo ( aka Tony Stark ) and so I sped off. After a mile of high pace and Tolo trying to shake me with hard back strokes it settled slightly, I kept checking back and the pack was never far behind. I eventually saw some team riders on K-15’s and tucked in behind them but the work rate was very tiring especially as the morning was getting hotter and hotter. Luckily I had some K-15 drafting training after the rest post on the 3^rd day so I kept close and gave it my all and we started to make a gap behind us and close in on the 2 packs in front, the leading pack being Bart, Casper and Peter ( although they were a long way off ) . As the pace dropped the other K-15 would take over and keep up a fast pace, slowly but surely closing the gap. We eventually caught up with the pack of 4 but it broke free on a corner where the K-15 turning was worse, we carried on but slowly the gap grew again, however another team rider was pulling a pack of 5 ever closer, not wanting Ben to catch up on my hard work I took the lead of the pack powered by some madness of hidden power, The K-15s liked it as it gave them both chance to recover but also keep the gap from the other team, The sprint couldn’t last and catching the group of 4 wasn’t happening but at least it helped strengthen our chances of keeping the cluster behind us away. The K-15’s took over again for the last 2-3k to the rest post, When I arrived Todd was shocked to see me so far up the field, I even for the first time saw Bart and Casper there refuelling, By the time I was half done Ben showed up and he asked about my time, I didn’t want to tell him because I could see his determination to catch it up but I did eventually. Dan and Roger turned up and so far my targets were in sight, so I made a new goal, A top 10 finish for the final day Stage.

 

The K-15s were let off 8 seconds ahead of me and were fresh, it was extremely hard to catch them, I used everything I had to claw my way back but it took almost a mile of hard sprinting, once I had caught them I managed to start my watch, I couldn’t chance the missed paddle stroke prior to that. Even though it should have been a slight rest drafting behind the k-15s their superior glide made it tough on the ace pro, I was sweating more than I ever have in my life and it was so tiring. The gap of 4 was still always in sight but never really catchable but the group behind was definitely making ground, on a long straight about 3km from what I guessed was Leeuwarden the cluster behind was maybe 10-15 seconds behind us, I was buggered if I was going to let them pass me when I was this close to a goal I never believed possible. The hammer went down and with each stroke I started to pull passed the K-15s who then slotted behind me happy to save some energy for a sprint of their own. Out of the draft I was easily using 30% more effort and I wasn’t sure how long it would last but even if it was enough to discourage the cluster behind it would do. The K-15s were trying to keep me motivated clearly happy with the increased speed. As I was nearly drained I had to start shouting and releasing a war cry to release any extra adrenaline, it seemed to work to an extent although I soon burnt out, I was slowing so again let forth a great bellow and kept going, I realised that one of the K-15s couldn’t keep up with the pace and this helped spur me on a bit more also. Now just the 2 of us heading through the final last sections of Leeuwarden even he was struggling to keep pace with me, with all the people lining up along the streets and bridges shouting encouragement it helped keep me going and in return and war cried back at them. I rounded a bend and could hear Amanda on the PA system and I knew I was close although I could still not see the finish, I knew I was close and a years hard training had almost paid its dividends. I came round a corner and could hear the build up of noise, loads of supporters on a bridge and just the other side of that the 2 yellow finish buoys which meant only 1 thing, the end was in sight. Where the extra 2 gears came from I have no idea but again despite being empty I got faster, the K-15 pulled out from behind me trying to pip me on the final stretch but not on my watch! I finished 8^th and the team rider came over and congratulated me and told me I had just won him and his team the trophy by 5 seconds, I was so relieved, buzzing, exhausted, proud, emotional and did I say exhausted yet? I got to the edge of the bank and collapsed.

 

 After a few minutes I sorted out my bag and got changed into my Team GB shorts and got the union jack out and attached it to my paddle, got the camera and went to the finish line bridge to wait and cheer on Dan when he came round the corner for the final stretch. The atmosphere was amazing and I still couldn’t believe I finished such a difficult challenge, I knew that everyone else that had taken part shared just how much pain and hard work both physically and mentally had to be put in, and that when I got home and mentioned about the race most people wouldnt be able to relate to it and it would get lost and out of context if you hadn’t been there and made it through, I put that thought to one side and cheered Dan across the line, time for the last massage and then the beer could commence, and it tasted bloody good, the reward for hard work, extremely hard work. It was great to see the joy and achievement on everyone’s faces, everyone having different goals to overcome but realising they have achieved them. The awards got underway in the brilliant sunshine and it was great to be a part of it. The BBQ took ages and I was hungry for anything other than pasta, The beers flowed almost a little too well, receiving a beer from the team guy I helped to victory and also Mr Mistral ( Rom Loopik ). Ali, April, Mark, Paul, Dan, Tiffany and Ben all came over and we had a good ole traditional English BBQ picnic by the canal, Todd also joined in once he had finished doing his good deeds.

 

 Paul went to do a paddle clinic with a very nice Dutch girl and after half an hour or so he came over and told me to get some beers, im sure he didn’t mean to say it how he said it but it came out like boy get me some beers, I bit my tongue and stayed calm. It kind of worked out ok though as 10 minutes or so later Tiffany ran over in her bubbly way and shouted BOAT TRIP!

We gathered everything up including Paul’s beers and boarded Brutus the Party boat Whoop Whoop!! I did feel rather guilty about headed off with Pauls beers but as I had drunk a fair bit already my morals had slipped somewhat. It was pretty cool heading round Leeuwarden without having to paddle, Tunes blaring and still on a high from the race. Todd then stepped it up a notch and got up on the bow to do some Bow surfing, he took his shirt off and then April joined in and the 2 of them surfed those Dutch tunnels like pro’s. On looker’s in the café’s just seeing 2 crazy Americans dancing away having a good time on the bow of the party boat. The shots then began to flow and then Tiffany joined in as well doing a Titanic esk theme with Todd, it then stepped up a notch BAM as Tjitze had the titanic song on his I-phone, It was all great fun and when we got back Paul was waiting for us, well waiting for his beers, ooopps, and Dan and Ben got back from collecting their cars from Ed’s parent’s house. The evening was coming to an end so I got a few more beers from the tent as they were closing down and we headed back to the boat. Todd, April, Dan, Ben, Tiffany, Casper, Mike and Ed all sat round in the boat and chatted, it did take long for Tiffany and Ben to head off on yet another boat trip though. Casper and mike had some troubles as their car had been stolen while they were away, similar to what happened to them in Hamburge at a previous event which sucked but both remained fairly chilled out. We talked about how the event went and things to perhaps evolve on and general good/bad points.

 All I know is, I Have to go back and do it again for sure!!!!!

Additionally i would like to thank everyone that made this event possible, everyone that had donated to Help for Heroes, wished me luck or offered me advice, Thank you so much.