It was quite a challenge to even get there. I picked my boat up on the Wednesday and managed to bang it on the rack, putting a foot long split in the bow where the canvas joins the hull! Spent Thursday gluing it up with epoxy resin. Then on Friday evening I was maintaining my car and managed to puncture a hole in the radiator! Things weren’t looking good and I thought someone was telling me I shouldn’t go!
I was on night shifts at this point, so also had to work Friday night and didn’t get home until Saturday morning. I managed to find a replacement radiator and spent the day fitting it, then finally travelled up to Lincoln Saturday night, having being up for over 24 hours.
After all that, getting on the water Sunday morning was a very relaxed affair. It was a beautiful day with little wind. After the usual faffing, I started the race on schedule at about 10:05. Anna and Ian were starting 12mins behind and there had been a little banter about catching up. In the event they started early and were boating as I left the start. They must have been only 5mins behind.
I started off quite steadily. I had strong memories of last year where I had suffered with massive cramp at about two-thirds of the distance. I tried to row efficiently, but I couldn’t resist picking off a boat or two on the way to the lock at 13 kms. I was one of 14 novice single sculls in the race and I knew the boats in front were my direct competition. By the lock I must have overtaken 4 or 5 boats! Things were feeling good.
It took about 3 minutes to walk round the lock. We had the help of our ground crew, which made things a lot easier - a chance to take on some water and pack of energy gel. I set off only to see the people I had overtaken immediately behind me again – very frustrating. Anyway, I pushed off and plugged away again.
Still had time to chat to the girls!
Stopping for food and water is a bit of conundrum. Stopping is dead time that you never make up, but you cannot row continuously for over 4 hours! I stopped for a drink at 20km and 25km, then lunch at 31kms where the ground crew were at the bank. I was starting to feel tired and very conscious of the 40km wall I hit last year. I wanted to make sure I was looking after myself. A gel pack and a banana this time! This was my longest stop (1 min 20 seconds as my fancy watch tells me). I set off with a single sculler immediately behind and travelling quickly: no 71, an arch rival. We rowed side by side for miles, pushing each other along! He even asked me when I was going to stop, as he wanted a drink! He eventually stopped and I pulled 250 m ahead. I planned to stop again at 39 km, hoping to complete the last hour non-stop.
The ground crew had been fantastic and were on the bank every half hour or so cheering us on. It was quite lifting. I kept asking how far Anna and Ian where behind, but never got a very clear answer: “not long”, “a few minutes”. There was still a little bit of rivalry there!
When I pulled away at 39km Old Matey no 71 was just behind. I made sure I pulled away in front of him. Things were going to plan, but then I got the first few twinges of cramp in my legs. I had to stop for a few seconds to stretch my muscles. We were now side by side and hit the weed! It was hard going and the pace slowed. No 71 was starting to ease ahead, only by a few metres, but I was finding it hard to respond. We fought the weed together for nearly 4km. I realised I was at risk of cramp stopping me completely and decided to let him pull away. As the weed on the surface of the river cleared, the boat was still heavy, so I stopped and backed down to try and clear any that had got caught on the skeg. It helped and the pace immediately picked up. Only 3km to go and doing 5m 10s splits again, It was just a matter of a steady finish.
It’s a great relief when you first hear the tannoy of the finish line in the distance. I finished in 4h 16m. Truly amazing. Old Matey won the category in a time of 4h 10m and 59s. He had obviously made up a lot of time in the first half. I think I finished 3rd. When I talked to him afterwards he mentioned his coach so I didn’t feel so bad.
Still looking good at the finish (must sit up straight!)
I could actually stand when I got out of the boat this time, but everything moved very slowly. I decided to let the ground crew carry my boat back to the car. Anna and Ian came in as I was wandering along the bank, just a few minutes behind. It was a fantastic day - bright sunshine, miles and miles and miles of flat water, and friendly competition.
Malcolm Pidd, 21 September 2009
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