Checking out the Czechs

The Czech selection races wrapped up this weekend and I was stoked to be able to take part in a rowdy race. These guys rip on this course.

We raced over 2 days with each day following a format of Semi on to top 10 final. As an international class I raced just before the guys which was sweet as it meant I could watch the pro's in action.

On Saturday I paddled pretty smooth and chill and got blown out of the water by Vavra Hradilek & Little Jiri.


Sunday was to try and be more attacking after getting a brisk wake up call. The last real race was the World Cup here last year. I attacked and had a good time that would have put me in the top 4 just a few sec's back today.

The Czech guys contesting the worlds will be Vavra Hradilek, PŘINDIŠ Vít & PRSKAVEC Jiří

Full results are available on www.canoeliveresults.com

Check out www.mikedawson.co.nz

Asia stories

A few weeks ago I embarked on an adventure to China. I jumped on China Southern and headed out over the Tasman, Australia, Indo before landing in Guangzhou in the Southern Guangdong Province of China.


I met up with the Chinese Team training at their base a few hours out of the city and it was pretty sweet. A beautiful surrounding and a rowdy whitewater course nestled into the jungle a few k's down a road to no-where.
 
The Chinese were amazingly hospitable. I was put up in a wicked living accommodation right on the banks of the river, fed epic chinese food & able to paddle each day for quite a few hours.
 
After a few days there I headed North to the Beijing Olympic course to check out the center that was last used in 2008. Despite all the rumours and information coming through the kayak and international scene the course was in 100% working order and looking pretty mint.

Check out www.mikedawson.co.nz

NZ Nationals.

Over Easter every year the NZ Nationals Champs take place somewhere around the country. This year it was Kawerau's turn to put on a show to the NZ paddling community.

photo Jamie Troughton

I decided to enter and use the Nationals as a bit of a test for how my training & rehab work was going. I've only been able to paddle properly on whitewater for just over a month now & it's been pretty hard to get fully back into shape.

I flew to Queenstown for a couple of days rest before the race. The Teva Slopestyle was on & they brought a few of us down to check it out. I met up with Ben Brown in Auckland and we flew down.

Teva put on a wicked show as part of the Bike Festival on in QT over the same weekend. A rowdy slope style was set up in the middle of the city with the big names of the dirt jump world landing down under to have a good time and try and win some cash. A few hours of watching and a good night enjoying the atmosphere and we were back on a plane up north to try and get to Kawerau in time for the race.

The racing was great. Kawerau District council has pumped a lot of money into the facility & with the new laser timing and a board walk planned it's only getting better.

In the Pre-Nationals I was nervous. I hadn't raced in over 8 months and training hasn't been the longest to prepare. But I stuck to race plans and had 2 reasonably good runs, slightly slower that Lucien, but clean. In the NZ Nationals on Sunday I tried to attack more and control the entire run. I managed to keep a 8sec lead over the 2nd Callum Gilbert & 3rd Callum Gibb. It was cool to test the metal before paddling the next few weeks and getting fired up for the season.

http://www.3news.co.nz/Dawson-makes-his-return-to-kayaking/tabid/415/articleID/292317/Default.aspx 

Check out www.mikedawson.co.nz

A break from the boat

 The last few months have been great. I've not updated much as I have been doing rehab on my back after breaking it in December. It's been a cool process enjoying a few months away from the river and getting a chance to check out cool parts of NZ away from the kayaking destinations.

 Since arriving home it was a solid few weeks of just resting. Once Martina & Querine arrived we headed north to the Coromandal to check out the beaches and try our luck at fishing. It was an amazing 5 days of camping, hiking, swimming and checking out a awesome part of NZ.

 From there it was off to the tip of NZ. Right up the far North to see everything. We drove for hours but had a good time checking out the sights in Auckland and slowly making our way further and further north. check out the shots from the entire trip. 

Check out www.mikedawson.co.nz

Middle Palguin

The Middle Palguin is an incredible river. This is the must run, most famous river in Chile. So epic.

It starts with the Upper section. A classy grade 3-4 piece with a bunch of really clean, perfectly formed waterfalls with crystal clear water dropping over them. It's no brainer clean drop after clean drop!

We rolled into the Palguin on our 4th day in Chile after a few days stopping and running the creeks South of Santiago. We put on with a big crew and slowly made our way down. Once the upper section is done it's the Middle Palguin.

 This is the business. It's got to be one of the best rivers around to paddle, and we had it at incredibly low water.

After a cliff jump or a sketchy seal launch into the river to portage around the aptly named "Portage Rapid" the river heads back into the gorge and off a bunch of rapids and through some cool class 2 boulder gardens. Boof to swim is the next big rapid.

 It's sweet. A huge huge huge boof onto a rock shelf. But, the water is so fast that is seems like you land in super soft water. Boof far enough and you land in the pit of the hole and disappear for a second.

The next drop is the most photographed waterfall in the kayaking world. The Middle Palguin 70fter with the stout ten entry is pretty sweet.

 It's run numerous times every day. It's amazing the number of people hucking themselves off this beast. I sat there shooting pics watching boater after boater try to stick stout ten before trying to roll to the lip of the 70footer and kind or making it up before falling. Very entertaining. This is the best place to get your vert on..

Check out www.mikedawson.co.nz