World Cup #1, Rock Island

We got to Rock Island at Tuesday evening so we went straight to camping which was reserved for kayakers by Jackson Kayak. Surprisingly we were almost first ones there but when we went to playspot we found out that alot of people were staying near there. As always it was really nice to catch up with everybody. Not only europeans but even nicer was to see other guys from States, Canada, Australia and so on, as we can meet only at international events like this!

For trainings it was super busy!  Water was there only for 3 hours and all 150 people wanted to have their training ride! In hour you could get two rides if you were lucky! On Thursday it was a bit better, as organisers decided to split us into 3 groups of people and each of that had one hour. Anyway it didnt give alot more but atleast you didnt have to wait there so long. Also this day we ha dan awesome trick to Jackson Kayak fabric! We could see how all of the boats are made and storaged. It was really nice experience we even got little smiling suvenires – sponges with Jackson logo!

Trainings and competitions were run at a lot lower water then we were paddling when we came there earlier. Wave was alot smaller and less retentive you could even say pretty flashy. But still you could go for all wave moves and some hole moves which provided pretty nice entertainment.

Mens had prelims at Thursday, and we all made it to quaterfinals! I had wonderful first run sticking 2mcnastys,2 air screws air loop and helix which put me at 4th place with 3rd best ride! After K1M went Womens and Nina made it to the next round aswell! We were pretty stocked up for next days quaterfinals!

Guys had pretty nice runs there giving them big chances for next round, I wanted to follow my rule – go big or go home and this time it turned out that i had to go home. Was trying to get my routine but flushed at every ride which didnt  let me to next round. I finished at 19th, and really unlucky was Marcel who came 11th after his great 3rd run. Tomo made it on tail at 10th place and Peter got 2nd. There were also squirts happening and Tomasz Czaplicki made it to 3rd place, well done there!

 At evening we had nice party at small local restaurant over the lake where we’ve got some typical American snacks, beers and alot of fun.

Sunday was day of semifinals and finals, Starting with Mens, to Final made it only Peter and Nina, so Mr& Mrs Csonkovie stayed in game! Nina after nice final ride came 2nd, only Emily Jackson could stop her and took gold with great style. Men finals were super exciting, there Joaquim from Spain, Adam Chappel from Canada, EJ, Dane and Peter. Quim set the bar really high scoring over six hundred points! Only Dane had better run in first and second runs. We were cheering for Peter really hard and in his last run he went crazy! Sticking wonderful aerial tricks he made 927 points! Huge emotions were with last run of Dane but he flushed in the middle of run and we were so happy for Peter to take gold!

Afterwards there was ending ceremony at restaurant with great dinner and big party! Now we are at Pigeons and from Tuesday there is second event starting!

Stay in Tune!

Photos by Tomo Andrassy

Sopac & USA Trip!

04-05.08 Had place last Sopac Rodeo.  The competition had been going on for 7 years in old firemans pool. There was build a platform where water was pushed through by two big engines from Tatra car and screws from motor boat. This artifical construction was the only one of this type in whole world. Unforgivable atmosphere was always provided by people who came partying next to famous tank and tradition of throwing boats at party to the pool just side by big air and slope style ramps. Alot of people arrived to celebrate the last event at this place.

The event lasted two days and was also 3rd event of CNAWR Rodeo Cup. For this event came even guests from Ireland, Sweden and New Zeland.  There were over 40 competitors starting in 5 categories. Except main event there jumps from big air not only with boats but also bmx show and slopestyle. Awesome thing were evening sessions with car lights on and alot of paddlers having fun in the hole. At evening there was big party where  everybody were recalling good times spent at Sopac rodeos.  Sunday was day of finals. Unfortunetly only Honza and me got in from Pirate-Production as Ondra dropped out at 7th place. On the end Honza for the first time finaly got 1st historical place at his own playspot making him Sopac champion forever now.

I think everybody will remember this awesome place made and run by Spindlers family for people so everybody could enjoy freestyle kayaking in this awesome way, thanks!

Straight after finals i had to leave home becouse i was leaving to America in two days.

After Marathon of packing my staff and making my boat size of creeker with all the plastics and styropians around it i was ready to go.

The Flight was really long thing. I was traveling with Iza from my club, we went first from Cracow to Frankfurt where we had to wait 18 hours for another flight, then to Philadelphia  where we had another 2.5 hour stop and on the end to Atlanta. All together it gave us over 30 hours . We flought with LOT and US Airways paying 150 euro for boats.  Happily when we arrived we found out nothing was missing and we met Marcel Bloder – first member of our USA trip VAJDA crew.  We picked our luggage and waited for others – Peter Csonka and Nina Csonkova to pick us up from the airport with awesome car they managed to get!

That was not end of our trip yet, there was still almost 4 hours of driving to NOC  at Nanthala river where last member of crew was waiting for us  - Tomas Andrassy. When we arrived we met our friend from Russia Stas Vasilyev, was nice to see him again after so long time from Uganda. Becouse there was no camping possibility yet and staying at cabins was too expensive for us, we left Iza at camp and went back to the mountains to National Forest to sleep there.

 That was pretty fun experience – getting my first night in States in wild forest where you could meet bears, snakes spiders and other animals. The thing that shocked me at begininng – was meant to become our standard for rest of the trip so we just got used to that. It turns out that this part of America is same dangerous as Uganda. You have to watch out for Poison Ivy all the time, look out for snakes, spiders and alot other staff. But with my crew I’m feeling good and when we are together it’s not that big deal.

We had one session at NOC in Nanthala which turned out to be quite easy playspot, similiar to the on that we know from Slovakia – Cunovo. After it we went to Rock Island, Tenesse as we found out that there will be good water level – which is not  so sure becouse it depends on water level at lake and dam release. It was also around 4 hours drive and when we arrived it was already getting dark.  First night we spent in field  not far from playspot.

 Safety is most important at Rock Island

 Surfing upper wave at Rock Island

 Next day we went near spot and i’ve seen twin falls for the first time. There are really beatiful! And what’s even better – playspot seems to be just under them so all the time you are surfing wave at Rock Island you are watching waterfalls on your right side, so breathtaking! The wave/hole was pretty hard but after some time we all learned how it works which provided us alot of fun! In the evening we met Jacksons family and they adviced us to go to nearby campground located just few miles away. The water at rock Island is changing in daytime – as they switching amount of water going from generators.

Twin Falls

 It can be one or two running with different power. At evening Jacksons were so kind to invite us over for dinner. Which was awesome!  They prepared typical tenesse meal – cooked pork with barbecue sausce in roll – which tasted delicious! But that was just a one part. Even thought it was great i think i will never forget about ribs they grilled ! They were so great that i cannot even describe it i never ate that much of meat in one evening but i just couldnt stop myself! After great evening we spent together we got back to our camp.

We stayed there till Monday and then moved to Pigeon as dam here is running only at Tuesday-Thursday and Saturday, we decided to enjoy this 3 days as nobody of us have been here before! Thanks to kindness of NOC boss in Pigeon we could stay at their property just near the playspot! Spot here is quite easy but requires from you alot of power to make every trick. Making everything provides good fun and it’s even better if you are here with friends! Jacksons came here also and – who we didnt expect – Polish guys Tomas and Zosia who took a stop before Rock Island.

Staying here till Thursday, who knows what happens next, closest event in 2 weekends! Stay in touch for updates!

Our Car loaded and ready to go!