K2s on the Tideway
It was low tide this evening so we decided it was time to take the K2s out on the river. We paddled from Wapping Old Stairs to some steps at the end of Emmett Street, near Canary Wharf, as this was the nearest public access we could find from the river to Limehouse Basin. We then portaged the 750m into the basin and paddled our Limehouse Loop route.
We survived the river, despite some ferry wash, but once on the canal Julien and I could not seem to get it together. He felt we were leaning right and I thought we were leaning left. We seemed to be working hard and barely moving while all the time John and Matt were getting further ahead of us.
By the time we finished the loop and carried back to the river for the final 2.5km home against the tide I think we had both had enough and it was the first training session that I could say I did not enjoy. For the first time I had a taste of how we might feel during the long night time portion of DW when we will be tired and cold and wanting to give up and go home.
Learning to deal with that low is part of the mental challenge of the event so maybe tonight was good training after all.
Our total distance was 15km, 5 on the river, 10 around the Loop. Timings were 15 minutes from Wapping to Limehouse with the tide, 1 hour 10 minutes around the Loop and 20 minutes back along the river.