The sprint series got underway on Saturday with 5 names on the leader board. Well done to Connor who came in near the end of the session and went straight to the top of the board! Well done too to Francis for having a go!
We hope to do more ergo sprints before river sessions start throughout the winter, from 1:00pm until we get on the river at 2:00pm, dependant on a coach opening up. We will post on Facebook if this is the case. This is so non-marathon paddlers can still have a go.
We will also do ergo sprints on Saturday afternoons either when the conditions prevent us paddling or we have insufficient coaches.
So on Saturday most competitors had two goes, one on each machine (except myself who did both on the same machine). It seems one machine is faster than the other, so until they are calibrated (when I find the instructions on how to!) make sure you try both machines.
We didn’t have time to start a 1000m series. We did try 200mm, but the ergos don’t like too fast a stroke rate as the ropes oscillate too much and get wrapped round the display, which shocks your wrists and can damage the displays. Until we resolve this we will stay with 500m or longer, where you need to pace yourself to last the distance!
There are three pace boats set-up so you can gauge how fast you are going. Pace boat 1 will be set at the current leader’s time so that if you beat pace boat 1 you know you are temporarily at the top of the leader board!
Martin
