SUP 11 Cities Tour 2013
It has been a long year in preparation ready for my second
attempt at Holland’s toughest endurance race, the 11 cities tour. I started my
training back in December the 14th of 2012 and wanted to change my
approach to training with the knowledge of last year’s event. I decided pure
distance wasn’t actually needed but a mixture of other exercises like swimming
for core fitness and sprint work on my board as well as plenty of average
distance training 5-15 miles as often as possible was need. I started slowly
and built up my distances and how often I was doing them every month, trying to
set myself realistic goals, I kept training as often as possible on my Red Race
12’6” so that it was hard work and when I finally got on to my faster 14’ board
I would see a big difference in speed.
Last year I really wanted to use my
K15 as the glide was severely missed so this year I gave my K15 a bit of a nip
and tuck similar to the work Adam Stilling had with his K15, I sent my board to
Brian Johnsey up at Blue Chip in order to get chopped down to 14ft with an
extended fin box so it was eligible for 14’ racing and could have a choice of
fins such as the black project weed fin ready for the canals of Holland. Having
got my board back it was time to test it out as often as possible to get used
to the board I would be spending 24 hours + on over the 5 days. I tried to get
10+ miles on the C14 (my new nickname for my board) or 3.25km in the pool
before work every day and a bigger distance 15-20 miles done on my days
off.
This year I was fairly fortunate
with my work rota and I had been given Saturdays off so I made the most of
getting to as many races as possible, this certainly helped with training as I
had targets to train for every month or so and not just 7 months away and it
kept my diet and fitness focused and interesting. Last year was a big eye
opener for me seeing everyone taking recovery, hydration and nutrition so seriously
and I tried to get on board with what I needed to have to keep my body going
and able to handle large distances day after day and still function at work.
Only time will tell if I have done enough to keep me going this year but I am
certainly feeling a lot more confidant and fit this year heading into the event
compared to last year.
2013’s event proved to be a good turn out from the UK, being
the second largest just behind the Dutch, Marie “Super Bu” Buchanan, Daniel
“Dundee” Ashford, Ryan James, Sam Ross, Charlie Jones, Jay Haysey, Jo
Hammilton-Vale, John Siggs and Myself. Ben “Chicken Joe” Swails and Ali Pereira
had to drop out due to injury but luckily Ali will still be join us as our GB
team manager and keeping us all paddling in the right direction. Don’t think
you’ve escaped that easy Ben, I will still beat you my friend… This year I will
be raising money for Cancer Research UK and hopefully do everyone that has
donated money proud. Everything is packed and ready and it’s time to leave,
Holland here we come we’ll give it our best shot!!!
A successful trip to
pick up Charlie Jones with a welcome break for dinner, sitting in the sun and
chatting about the week to come certainly made for a more relaxed feel to the
beginning of the saga that is 11 cities, a few minor hold ups on route to the
ferry but soon enough we were on board and ready to the next few hours of the
journey, we had some dinner on board and decided it was time to call it a
night. Although I had started to get a head ache in the car and was slightly
concerned that it would turn into a migraine, this year we made the best choice
ever to get a cabin so we could get our heads down and get some kip instead of
hold out 8 hours in the seats on the passenger level. I had a few hours of pain
trying to shift a building migraine but after that slept soundly and felt a
whole lot better than the previous year at this stage. We all awoke refreshed
and revitalised greeted by Holland and ready for whatever awaited us.
Dinsdag/Tuesday
We made our way down to the car and saw 2 vehicles with
starboard boardbags on the roof and recognised one as Ryan James van, the other
I went over too and said don’t suppose your going to the 11 cities are you, we
then met John Siggs and his daughter, Sally Siggs. After a quick chat we set
off ready to head to Leeuwarden. we started off pretty badly from the ferry
port hitting traffic fairly quickly but otherwise it was a fairly good run,
following John until the A7, a road 90km long leading almost all the way there.
As we reached Leeuwarden my memory kicked in and fortunately I managed to
direct us to within a stone's throw from the event.
Prologue – We got to Leeuwarden as they were setting up the
event tent, we saw a few familiar faces and said our hello’s, got the boards un
loaded and then waited for some of the other Team GB members and go for lunch
again at De Walrus, it was good seeing the entire team having dinner and
relaxing before the onslaught of the next few days. After lunch we went to get
boards and gear ready for the prologue. There was a great turn out this year
for the prologue, “represent your culture” and with about 160 people, Team GB
all wearing GB hats and other GB attire. It’s always a great atmosphere and
great way to get used to who is at the race and meeting them in a social
atmosphere. The Prologue winds its way through Leeuwarden for about 3Km and you
pass through the main street past street bars and restaurant’s and general
onlookers. After the prologue I polished
my board ready for the next day and headed off for dinner and then went to the
boat and had a chat with people in the kitchen/dinner of the Dutch Sailing barge, my new home for the next 5 days and then off to bed.
Woensdag/Wednesday
Leeuwarden – Sneek - Ijlst - Sloten
I was feeling really happy about the morning especially
compared to last year, just knowing what to expect really helped mentally and I
had my game plan in place ready. There wasn’t as much food on for the breakfast
compared to last year and I was a bit unsure if I would have had enough energy
for the day. I was able to help out with questions Marie, Sam, Jay and Charlie
had and hoped I had given them enough help to get them through one of the
hardest days of the event. The start was hellish with the wash from other
boards, I planned to start a few boards lengths behind the pack and start
paddling at 5 seconds to go and then push through the pack at top speed, it
sort of worked but still I got caught in a lot of wash, I crept up through the
places and tried to get the best start possible although it might hurt and not
be great overall but I wanted day 1 to go as fast as I could. I managed to stay
on my own for 10km and eventually got caught by a train of 5 people, including
Sam Ross. It was slightly surreal as I was paddling I saw 5 horses looking at
me and then closely behind me was the 5 guys all gaining on me. I managed
another km before I asked someone to take over the train to catch the 2 in
front of us, I took a breather for around 3km and then took the lead for a
couple of km, I needed to have a energy gel and this caused the train to break
up, eventually Sam fell off the train and it was hard work for me to catch the
guy in front. We stayed as 2 groups of 2 in close space and that lasted until
the surprise Kluunen at the outskirts of Sneek, as I tried to get out i cramped
up in my stomach and legs, I lost the 3 in front and carried on, on my own till
the rest stop.
My planned 2 hydration packs worked a charm and my rest stop
went as well as it could have. I hit the water 20 seconds after the other 3 but
couldn’t catch them all afternoon. I was on my own all the rest of the day but
managed to hold my placing but at the expense of a lot of time. I finished the
day 1hour 10mins faster than last year and was really chuffed crossing the line
in 9th place. Everything was cramping up and it was painful but a
good, worthwhile pain, Hopefully I havn’t overdone it and can keep up the pace
the rest of the days, I got a lead to lose now so fingers crossed I can keep
top 10, but as long as I keep beating my previous time I’ll be happy. Time to
go polish my board and sort out my bag for tomorrow. Whoop Whoop.
Donderdag/Thursday
Sloten - Stavoren - Hindeloopen - Workum
An improvement on the previous year with the alarms going
off at 6am instead of 5:45, still early but enough to make a difference
mentally. We sorted ourselves out and made the walk through the streets of
Sloten a peaceful picturesque town, the breakfast was distinctly better than
the day before and I made sure I had plenty. I reckon that you probably end up
using around 7000 calories a day if not more so trying to make sure you eat
7000 calories a day is very hard work when you havnt the energy to eat. Feeling
pretty tired with aching muscles the walk into town was as casual and relaxed
as possible trying to save as much energy for yet another hot day on the water.
After the usual skippers meeting and last minute panics of the mornings getting
stuff together we hit the water and paddled around to the start, everyone was
at the start line with about 15 minutes to go and with a slight tail wind
people were blowing over the start line but still having to wait a long time
before the off.
The start didn’t go as well for me today as the guys filming
were stood in front of the countdown clock and I couldn’t see the final timer
until I saw 2 seconds and it was too late to put my top speed burst through the
line into action, still I did what I could and started to pull through the
places and try to get into a rhythm, across the lake a few trains were forming
and I tried to pull in and get across the chop which was making it hard to
draft with the C14. Just before the town I caught a train but I saw Marie
headed our way to slot in as well, I let her in front of me as I know she
doesn’t like my paddle wash and that she needed another good day to keep her
first place in the women’s race. It didn’t take took long before she started to
struggle to keep up with them though and she dropped off the back, she
apologised and I dug deep to try and re-catch them, after about 2km I caught
them and settled. Once we hit the entrance the canals, the waterways were very
narrow and it was very difficult to pass anyone as the trains would snake side
to side and push you into the wall if you tried to overtake. About 8km in, in
the middle of the woods the train I was in started falling off a train I wanted
to be in with Sam Ross, I dug deep and pulled away determined to catch them,
about 4/4.5km in, feeling awful and burning I finally caught them but I got
only a few paddle strokes in when I noticed Sam fell off and the 3 pulled away,
I had given everything to get to sam and couldn’t carry on to catch them, I
kept going and eventually Ramon came passed and I jumped behind him and drafted
my way to the rest stop.
It was a painful morning but the soup at the rest stop
and Ali’s great management skills meant that everything went smoothly. I set
off with Ramon and Andreas, i led them out from the rest stop showing them the
way, my pace wasn’t that great but enough for 2km or so, soon though the
determined Spanish, Rom and Ruben came storming passed, our 2 trains merged and
it was a hectic afternoon with people swapping and changing around, I stayed on
the back and tried to push forward when possible but was just happy to be part
of a fast train. Near the end of the day myself and Andreas pushed for the
finish, I finished in a good time 5:33:09.7 and knock another 50 minutes off
last year. I was a bit unhappy with the way I drafted a lot today but was
chuffed with my effort to stay on challenging trains. Dan had had a challenging
day and at the rest stop a mixture of the extreme heats and perhaps the very
salty soup meant that he was sick, he tried to carry on but kept on being sick
so had to turn around and head back to the lunch stop and call it a day. The evening was chilled out and I felt fairly
good after my massage and hope I feel much better for tomorrow morning. Board
polished and it’s time to sort stuff for tomorrow’s fun.
Vrijdag/Friday
Workum - Bolsward - Harlingen - Franeker
The morning dawned over Workum and we all staggered from the
boats and down the road towards the event tent to get some breakfast,
thankfully the gate in the industrial park was open and it saved about 2
minutes of walking, every bit of energy saved was welcome. The usual suspects
from our boat were there eating already and we pulled up a pew and started the
arduous task of eating the fuel needed ready for the day. About half way
through Dan had to go and be sick and clearly wasn’t over what put him out of
action the previous day, today he would not be racing but instead helping out
with the event in any way he could. The start in workum I remembered from last
year to be fairly tight and choppy and although we started a little further
back this time it didn’t really help and I was wedged over on the left behind
Andreas and the Start Buoy. There was no room to plant the paddle and I was
concerned I would get forced into a boat.
I actually got a fairly good start
though and did around a 6.5km sprint before Ramon overtook me, knowing how
consistent and strong a paddler he is I slotted in behind and started my
recovery, even drafting though at his consistent pace it was hard work. I
stayed clawing on behind him till the rest stop, unable to help out at the
front and push more than his 5.5MPH average. This didn’t help me mentally as I
felt I wasn’t pulling my weight, I was helping with information about how far
to go and when we were near stamping posts etc but still in myself felt let
down. Although the temperature was a bit cooler I decided it would be better to
take an extra water bladder with me. Ali kindly filled me up and I tried to
focus and recharge as best as I could and hopefully have a better afternoon. As
i was sat down having some soup, So many trains turned up all with 6+ people,
it seemed the entire fleet was mere minutes behind us. The closest being Rom,
Ruben and Charlie about 50 seconds behind and the Terminator himself (rom) said
he was coming for us.
As I was about to leave the spare water bladder fell out
onto my board, I just put it next to the GPS and figured id use it under low
bridges only to try and keep the waist pack for racing hydration only, it was a
good idea but the bridges were all 3k from the end and not really needed I did
however use it a bit on the shipping canal when I was really flagging. I was
having a really tough afternoon mentally drafting Ramon, tired and annoyed I
wasn’t able to put a shift in, making every stroke a lot more painful and
making the afternoon take a long time. At the Shipping canal were was so much
wash from boats I was really struggling to keep in the draft, being pushed
every which way I decided to just try on my own and the board was a lot more
efficient this way, I stayed just ahead of Ramon for about 4k but when the
water settled he cruised past me again, I slotted in and again helped with
distance and location info when I could. About 2 k from the end he asked what
we were going to do about a sprint ending, I said I wasn’t going to cross the
line before him as he had done all the hard work all day, there was one moment
were the opportunity arose that I could have pulled away as I got a good line
and drift on a bridge and we went wide and slow, I waited the other side and we
crossed the line together with him slightly ahead so his days placing was
higher, I was just happy to get a good time again for the day, around another
30 minutes off last year. I felt much better in the evening after having a
protein shake after the race and one much later nearer bed time, it really
seemed to help recovery and I felt good for the next day’s racing ready to pull
my weight and feel better mentally.
Zaterdag/Saturday
Franeker - Dokkum
The one turn of the 220km course was coming up, the start at
Franeker is pretty much the only turn in the whole race and it is normally
carnage. We walked through the town and towards to event tent and tried to
summon some energy for the last of the long days, we checked the TV for weather
updates and useful distance information and then headed back to the boats to
get our bags ready for the day and the skippers meeting. The skippers meeting
had a bonus this year with the turn having been taken out and the race starting
on the straight, this however still caused problems as the straight was a lot
narrower and everyone was once again pinned together with no room for paddle
strokes. 
I got a good start today and managed to keep left as we started the
exit from Franeker but the good fortune didn’t last, just before the 1k mark I
pulled past Sam Ross and knocked the front of his board and he went for a swim,
I felt so guilty as he was already having a horrid time with the condition of
his hands and the added effort needed to use his (pretend board) (red air
inflatable)) there wasn’t a lot I could do for him and I continued my surge
forward trying to catch the front packs. Soon the Spanish trio came up on my
left and other were closing behind us, I didn’t want to pull in and draft them
I wanted to try and match their speed as best as possible while I was still
feeling strong, we kept side by side for around 9.5k and averaging 10kmph, I
looked back from time to time and it seemed between myself and ruben we had the
entire fleet behind us in the 2 side by side trains and I couldn’t help but
laugh. Ruben was saying how it felt like moto GP as we kept overtaking each
other on the corners. Emiel took the lead of the train and we cruised towards
to Kluunen, I told Emiel and Andreas we had to be at the kluunen first to be
able to break up the super train as only 5 boards at a time could get out and
make a run for it. Emiel went right so I went left where I went last year, I
had planned the night before I needed to swing in and get off on my left hand
side so I could grab the board on my right to get it into the water facing the
right way after the run. 
We made a break for it and kept swapping were possible
at the front between myself, Emiel and Andreas, the other 2 behind us never
stepped up but seeing as iv been in that situation before I wasn’t too
bothered. By the lunch break we had created a bit of a gap between ourselves
and what had seemed like the entire fleet, to my surprise though my brother Dan
was on the back of our train, it was good to see he was having a much better
day today after his illness during the week. We set off from the rest stop at a
fast pace in the order we had arrived, I’m not sure how far in to the afternoon
as I was focused forwards but we had lost Dan. Andreas, Emiel and myself kept
the drafting going until about 30k in, Emiel was going to take over at the
front and as we moved around to swap places Emiel saw a chance to break from us
and go on his own. Andreas pushed hard for around 1km to try and catch him and
was running out of steam so I stepped up to the plate and tried to catch him,
we closed the gap slightly but I was then slowing down, it wasn’t going to be
possible to catch him so we settled into a good rhythm and kept moving
forwards, the guy on the sprint behind was now taking a turn or two at the
front and it was a relief to have someone else keeping us at a good pace, the
only drawback was drafting the sprint was not very effective for the C14, it
was much easier behind the Naish of Andreas.
I was still feeling strong both
physically and mentally, as we got closer to Dokkum and I saw the bridge that
Ben Swail’s sprinted from the previous year I knew we still had about 7/8km
left, I kept everyone informed as best as possible to try and keep our good
group rate up, as we closed in on Dokkum, there was a helicopter circling
above, by the time we got to the last stretch the chopper was hovering over the
finish line, the marker buoys were flying all over the water and it was hard to
tell where the finish was and how much the down focus wind would affect us on
the boards, it was a mad dash for the line, we went under the last bridge and
it was a lot wider than previous bridges and my glide wasn’t enough to get my
through, I gapped the underside of the bridge and pulled myself along. Andreas
finished first, then the guy on the sprint then myself followed by the guy on
the fanatic, the last of the long days was over and I was in my favourite of
the Dutch cities, Dokkum. After we had our massages and had showered and
changed the GB contingent headed into town to find a good steak dinner. We met
up with the rest of team GB at the same steakhouse we had gone to the year
before; mentally having something you wanted to eat made such a big difference
and I felt ready for the last day. There was a music festival or event
happening in Dokkum that night so the town was heaving and had a very good
atmosphere. Time for rest and a 30k sprint in the morning.
Zondag/Sunday
Dokkum -
Leeuwarden
The morning of the last day and the weather was finally on
Team GBs side, rain and wind, for some reason this put me in such a great mood,
finally weather I could paddle in without overheating and more to the point
made other people feel a bit depressed and not up for paddling. I was in such a
good place mentally knowing it was the last day and a shorter distance, knew
the course and could give it everything I had. I was in such a good mood I look
positively possessed in one of the video interviews, brimming with confidence
that would be short lived. We all lined up on the start line getting soaked and
I was ready, the bridge ahead of us was up, but I figured that everyone would
aim for the open bridge and not want to duck underneath on the sides so my aim
was to go left and pick a less congested route, I paddled hard for the gap but
as I got there I noticed someone had fallen and their board was sideways under
the bridge so I changed direction and headed for the open bridge, as I got
there the wash pushed my board into the side, it hit and in slow motion I fell
to my right, as I surfaced I saw a flash of paddles and boards and the cold
reality of what happened sunk in and my previous confidence faded. I struggled
to overturn the board and when I finally got back into the board I saw the
fleet as surged off, I tried to stand and got a pull from my leash I turned to
see my leash had tangled around the board underneath and I knew I had to sort
it out quickly, I untangled myself and got the leash back on, stood up and
tried to drain my board which was filled, doubling the weight, as I tried to
paddle the sheer mass of water I was kicking myself, it seemed as though I had
thrown away my top 10 finish right at the end of 4 days hard paddling, the
water soon drained and I was picking up speed, my confidence had been replaced
by rage, I gritted my teeth and had only 1 place in mind, the front of the
fleet.
I picked my way through a congested waterway, passing people who were
very surprised to see me; they gave me good luck as I pushed passed clearly on
a mission. After a few turns I could see the pack I was aiming for, Andreas,
Rom, Ruben etc and I kept as focused as I could, determined not to be beaten.
The rain at this point was not even noticeable, completely soaked and being hit
by a fair head wind, I noticed my pace wasn’t great but I still seemed to be
closing the gap slowly but surely. I pulled alongside a train with my brother
dan, Roger, Ed and others I had been paddling with the previous year, I crept
passed and a few tagged on behind. As we made our way down the route we had
paddled the previous day I was gaining again in confidence, it seemed I was
doing well and could indeed catch them, I finally caught up with Ramon and took
a breather behind him know full well he would keep pushing and closing the gap.
Because of my earlier swim to cool off I had been losing my shorts slowly, good
for a distraction from the pain but a big annoyance, I kept trying to sort
myself out between paddle strokes now and then when I could but it didn’t seem
to make much difference, we eventually caught up with Rom’s train being led by
Charlie Jones and after a few K I decided I had to sort it properly, I pulled
off and sorted my shorts and tied them back up, did my hydration pack up and
managed to claw back onto the end of the train. There was about 9 people in the
train so it was snaking about making it very hard work. I felt better knowing
that I wasn’t flashing everyone on the bridges and through the towns and I
could put my mental energy towards productive thinking.
At around 15k in the
train broke and myself and Ramon tried to catch back up, Charlie was
obliviously unaware how close to the rest stop he was and stopped to have an
energy gel, he dropped off the back of his train and struggled to catch back
up, he slotted in behind me and we carried on to the bridge. Around 1k to the
bridge and Ramon stopped to get his hydration tube, I hadn’t noticed and shunted
the back of his board, he staggered back, and then again and then fell off the
back of his board, I felt awful but had to keep going, Charlie passed me and
went off for a sprint to try and close the gap on Rom before the rest. The pump
station was on this year but we went left by the bank and it didn’t affect us.
Once at the rest stop I noticed my leg was bloodied, I wasn’t sure how it
happened but it made me feel cold, I was sat on the bench with the Brilliant
Ali attending to my needs for soup and drink, Thank you Ali. After my soup I
saw Ramon and went over to apologise, he was fine with it and went about his
preparation.
As I headed back to the water, Roms group were just getting ready
to leave, I got on my board and Rom wobbled and fell in for no obvious reason,
he got back up and got ready to leave with his group, the 40 seconds lead they
had seemed to take for ever, getting further and further away from us, Charlie
said he would do a sprint for a few K and then I could take over, the problem
was he went off like a rocket, I just couldn’t catch him, the 16 year old
behind me pulled passed and went to catch Charlie, I slotted in behind and
managed to catch back to him. With only another 6k to go Ramon passed us and
Charlie went behind him, it lasted for maybe another k and ramon broke free, at
the end of the long straight I saw Rom’s group pick up their pace and start
sprinting, I realised it was now of never if I wanted to keep my placement. I
dug deep and slowly passed Charlie and the 2 with him. Went the group in front
got to a marker I could use I counted the time behind them and myself, trying
to work out if I could hold my 4 minute lead on them, using Ramon as my target
to try and catch being closer to keep me focused and as fast as possible. I counted
a 2 minute gap between Andreas and myself so I turned up the pace. The final
stretch before the last bend and finish brought back good memories and I worked
hard to make sure that I finished first team GB across the line all 5 days,
thinking of anything to get me that bit faster to the finish. I managed to
close the gap on Ramon to about 15 seconds and we congratulated each other on a
great week of racing.
Although filled with relief and thrilled I had managed to
maintain a top 10 all week the overall sensation of finishing was nowhere near
as good as the previous year, I guess knowing you can do that sort of distance
took away the sense of achievement it had given me the previous year. Emiel had
unfortunately had to drop out the last morning due to being ill and this put my
overall placing up to 7th place in a time of 23:31:34, 3:41:41
faster than 2012. It just goes to show why on a big distance race over 5 days
like the 11 cities its worthwhile just to keep paddling, anything can happen
and it can work out in your favour, sometimes you just get lucky.
I realised while paddling over the week that this event was
one of the few times you feel ambivalence, I both loved and hated the race,
it’s a funny one, the challenges faced and pain caused all seem to pale in
comparison to the reward of making friends and having battles all week. I would
certainly like to do the 11 cities again in the future but I don’t think it
will be 2014, thank you to everyone who made the event memorable and well run,
as always great to be a part of it. Id like to Thank Starboard and Tushingham
for their support over the last year, great equipment and advice when I needed
it. Tri-Ocean for their input and help, Also Waterborn for their support with
training and moral support while paddling you have all been fantastic, Thank
you.
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