6:26 am on Sunday morning and while some people are stumbling home from a night out, others just turning over to continue their dream filled sleep. I’m boiling a kettle to fill a flask and hastily chugging some berocca to kick some life into me. Out the door for a two and a half hour drive to Annamoe for a kayaking trip. It’s so early that we have to leave the headlights on to see into the shed to load up the gear. About this time I’m wondering whether it’d be better if I’d just stayed in bed. But as we head north, and get closer and closer to the river, dawn breaks around the car the sky going from black to a grey sheen before brightening up completely. The sun even makes a rare appearance.
The doubts had started fading around dawn but after we’re changed and about to get on the river the banter is flowing just like the river. When we get on it’s shallow but deepens into a continuous enough run of boulder gardens and drops. Thats when it starts to make sense. Running the rapids, getting that rush as you drop into a rapid make the couple of quick turns avoid the rock and finish with a bit of flare. Standing at the top of the last drop looking at everything that could go wrong….I realised that yes it could go wrong…..but how great am I going to feel if I nail the line, I didn’t but it was worth a shot. And in the end why paddlers paddle, climbers climb and mountain bikers bike……..it’s all for the jazz baby
