London

Hey guys,

London was great. What a fun town. We had what seemed like a very full week and we barely - BARELY - scratched the surface. I'm so glad Katherine came - she rarely joins rowing outings - she seemed to have a wonderful time.

I would say the emphasis was 70-80% fun to 20-30% rowing. That said, it was also worthwhile to have the trip centered around a local activity, the Veteran Fours Head. And to meet some British rowers and hangout in Hammersmith, the neighborhood of their boathouse.

We rented an Empacher 4+ and oars from The Sons of the Thames and launched from their dock. The tidal nature of the Thames must be seen to be believed - 20' twice a day. Their dock floats, but, at low tide, rests on the bank and one has to wear wellies to put the boat in the water. 

The Sons and nearby boathouses have docks. But most on the "Championship Course" - the famous Oxbridge course from Putney to Chiswick bridges - do not and water launch each time they row. There are over twenty boathouses along this stretch. 

Our cox Ellie was from Quintin, the club Bruce, the instigator, rows at when he's in town, which for the past 6 years or so has been 2-6 months out of the year. Ellie is finishing med school and wants to specialize in pediatrics. She was great, definitely knew the river and what she was doing. We practiced twice, briefly, the Wednesday and Friday before Sunday's race. They were good for getting accustomed to the boat, the course and the marshalling procedures before the start of the race, which btw are fascinating, but weren't workouts per se. 

The race itself was hard. Not unexpected after a week of food, drink, and high living. My RPE shot through the roof in the 1st 1K. Aside from the start, traffic management is far more laissez faire than American heads. We were the only MH4+ entered. So we threw our lot in with the MG4+'s (no handicap), thinking this might put us in the middle of the G's. But no, as the oldest we started last. Inexplicably we were started just before women's C 4-'s and "young" women's quads. This all came to a head as they caught us at 1.5-2K in. 

I heard a race official say "make way". At the time we were boxed by a slower men's 4+ to port, Reading, I think, and an overtaking women's 4- to starboard. It was clear there was going to be contact. To which Ellie, seeing this coming, said "win the clash" - I love that - "win the clash" - my new mantra. If this weren't stressful enough, a fast women's quad came screaming in, splitting Reading and us, while we were already clashing. The race official turned his attention to Reading. The quad and Reading basically collided, came to a stop, and we snuck away. 

The rest of the race was less eventful. But not easier. I can honestly say in a fall with a lot of races, this was the hardest. See earlier comment re RPE. We finished in just under 24 minutes. We were 154th of 240. We were 4th of 5 in Men's G4+. Applying the theoretical BRA handicap, we would have been 2nd in our category. 

Could we do better? I think "yes". But it would mean changing some things, like putting the fun on the back end of the trip, not the front. But was it fun? Yes, absolutely, 200%. On that basis, not sure I'd change a thing. 

View from The Swan, Chiswick, the night before the race

Hank

"Video" made from event photos. Sorry for the delay - got bogged down making said video.