Slalom Day

Slalom is one of the most challenging events of a competition. The course here in Zotemeer was no exception. The eddies were strong, the current fast, and the gates were set in a way that only the best teams in the world were going to make it through the course with a completely clean run. The men began the competition with the US team set to start late in the day. This allowed us to watch other teams move through the course and learn from their mistakes and successes. Our first lap through was pretty good. We cleaned most of the course and had only two gate touches, giving us a 10 second penalty and putting us in the top ten as we moved into the second round. On our second lap through, we sped things up a bit, had only a single gate touch, and improved on our overall time. This was one of our best slalom showings ever, but not good enough for the podium. The men finished in fourth for the day with the Czechs, Brazilians, and Japanese in the top three. On a bright note, we were one of only two teams able to clean the course with only a single touch. The women began their day with a brilliant run in the top of the course. They were the only team to clean the top five gates, but disappointingly missed gate number seven. The second run through for the women was a great showing. They had more gate touches, but made every gate and improved on their raw course time (one of the fastest for the day). It was a good day for both teams. Overall standings put the men in sixth and the women in eighth. It all comes down to the downriver race this morning. If either team can podium, then we are guaranteed an Overall medal. Wish us luck!

Head-to-Head

After satisfactory finishes in the time trial, both teams headed to the start gate for the head-to-head competition. The men raced first and were able to beat Bulgaria to the finish line in the first heat. It was a close match, with Bulgaria attempting a nearly successful pass at the end of the race. In the second heat, it was the US against Germany. The Germans are a strong team, but we pulled out ahead early and they weren't able to make up any ground. The men's team then advanced to the quarter finals and came up against Japan, one of the very best teams in the world. We were confident at the start, but did not win lane choice and immediately had difficulties in matching the speed of the Japanese. We engaged them briefly for a battle above the first move, then attempted a risky pass on the right that didn't pay off. The Japanese won the heat and advanced to the semifinals. The men's team finished the day in fifth place. The women then headed up to the starting line for the first round of head-to-head. They were matched against a very strong Czech team. The women beat the Czechs off of the starting line and were looking strong down the first straight away. The Czechs, never a team to give up easily, attempted the dangerous pass on the right around the first obstacle and were successful. The US team was not able to pass the Czechs lower in the course and did not advance. They finished the day in ninth place. Tomorrow is the slalom, so tonight we rest and refocus.

Time Trial/Sprint

It is a windy day here in Zoetermeer. This morning was the Sprint Race (a.ka. Time Trial) The Women took 3rd place and gathered some points towards the overall title. The Men took 6th place which puts them in a fantastic position for the head to head this afternoon. Both teams will head back out to the course and the wind shortly fort he Head-to -Head Sprint.

Rest Day

Today we took a day off of the course. A group of us awoke, had some breakfast and headed into Amsterdam. Some of the Men’s s team headed to the beach near Den Haag. It is a little over an hour by train with one transfer to Amsterdam from Zoetermeer. The weather was nice and cool due to some clouds and rain, which was a nice change. We arrived at Amsterdam Centraal, the main train station and headed on foot to the Van Gogh Museum about 30 minutes away. It was an impressive museum with about 200 of his original pieces. It was a great way to learn about the artist, and the ten years he drawings and paintings. His paintings are even more beautiful in person. After the museum some headed back to the train station and some of us headed towards the Anne Frank house. We wound our way through the streets lining the canals to get there. Many of the buildings are leaning and tilted. The canals were lined with houseboats and most of them had large colorful gardens on their roofs. The line for the Anne Frank house was too long, as expected, but it was an honor to even walk by it and see the area. We made our way back to the train station and headed back to Zoetermeer. Tomorrow is Sprint practice!

Official Race Course Set

We completed our first two days of practice on the course set for recreational use. Incredibly, the only six people working in the Netherlands while the World Cup final game was being played happened to be the ones setting the official course for the WRC races. The course looks meaty and we are almost guaranteed to see some carnage. This is the first course set in the way it will be when rafting makes it to the Olympics, so we're excited to see what happens. We headed out for a night on the town last night in the Haag. There were orange shirts and beer everywhere you turned. The night went well until the Dutch lost in double overtime, then we made a bee-line for the train before the streets turned ugly. Today, we have a rest day before the official practice days start. Some of us will be heading down to the beach, and some to the museums of Amsterdam.

Day 1..and 2

After all the training we are finally on our way to race. We left a beautiful sunny Vail this morning headed to DIA for our trip to the Netherlands. We flew through Chicago on our way to Amsterdam. The flight was uneventful and I believe most people slept. We arrived in Amsterdam at about 0900. We all made our way, large bags and paddle containers in tow to the train station under the Amsterdam airport for our travels to Zoetermeer. We need more double-decker trains in the States, and maybe even some more train travel. What a beautiful view traveling by train through the countryside of Holland. It is a beautiful sunny day here as well. The water, windmills and boats are a gorgeous site. In a strange way it reminds me of the Florida Keys with its canals and houses lining the waterways. The train took us right next to our hotel here in Zoetermeer.
This afternoon we got our gear together and went to the course. A taxi from our hotel costs about 15 Euro. That is about $21 or $22. Not Cheap at any rate. We spent the afternoon practicing on flat water and getting in and out of the boat for the Downriver race. There is a fee to get on the actual whitewater section, so we are going to do that Saturday and Sunday. It felt good to paddle after traveling for so long.
Due to the high cost of the taxi and the fact that they are not super accessible we walked back to our hotel. It is a nice walk probably about 3.5 – 4 miles through neighborhoods and through old Zoetermeer. We were shade hopping down each street, as the sunshine is strong and hot here. Personally, I am so impressed by the network of bike and walking trails here. They have on all the main streets the road, then on both sides a red path for bikes and on the outside of that is the grey sidewalk. It is such an awesome system. Everyone rides their bikes, and no one wears a helmet. They just cruise around everywhere they need to go.
We all showered and had our first nice cold Heineken at the hotel bar and then walked to dinner in Old Zoetermeer for some Italian. It was a long day of travel, paddling and walking and we were ready for a good nights sleep.

Headed Out

The U.S. Teams are on their way to the Denver airport. It is a beautiful day here in Colorado. We are excited to be on our way to The Netherlands! We fly through Chicago and then on to Amsterdam. We will all hopefully have a nice 8 hour nap at some point.

Sent from my iPhone