The Legacy

Last night as I was leaving work, one of my colleagues asked me what I was doing today.

"Nothing much" I replied

"Fancy coming white water rafting?"

So here I am- at the Lee Valley centre following in the wake of all the Olympic competitors.

I took this photo while waiting for our session to start- everyone was making a decent job of coming down. Until one by one, bits of debris started to float by:

A paddle. Then another one. Then a person, followed by another 2 paddles and 3 more people getting swept down the rapids. Finally came the half empty raft!

Then it was our turn.

1st run: perfect

2nd run: We lost one over board, but hauled him back in.

3rd run: 10 of us started the route, but anyone watching at the bottom would have seen floating by: a paddle, then another one, then a person, followed by 2 more paddles and 2 more people. Finally came a half empty raft!

We were doing well but hit a 'rock' before one of the larger drops which span us round. We went down sideways. Water poured in and the pressure tipped us up on our side. Everyone on my side ended up in unceremoniously dumped into the water.

The temperature of the water took my breath away, and the astounding force of the flow tumbled me over and over. Training went out of the window, and instinct took over as I kicked out and tried to reach the surface.

The only surface I found was that of the concrete at the bottom of the water. Over and over I went again, when suddenly my head came out of the water, and I found my self traveling along next to the raft.

I climbed back in, grabbed a paddle that the remaining crew has managed to save, managed to not make a snarky comment about them saving a piece of plastic rather than a person, and finished the run in style.

Brilliant fun. Highly recommended!!!