Pinkston Div 2/3 30 April 1st May
Posted: Wed Mar 30, 2022 3:08 am
I've had a few enquiries and I probably need to add some more information as a result:
Camping on site - We cannot take tents, but still have a few places left in the car park for campervans/caravans. Email me for details and to book - I want to make sure you understand what is actually on offer before you book.
Accommodation in the area - there are lots of hotels in Glasgow, the only one I know actually has security on the car park 24 hours (due to one of you checking) is the Leonardo Inn along the A82 about 15 minutes away late evening/early morning (longer in the daytime). In the past some people recommended staying at Stepps a short trip up the M80 where there are hotels and a campsite (which I think is Red Deer Holiday Village). Because I live in the area I have never stayed at any of these places so these are not personal reccomendations. If you want to see the coutryside a bit more (and note we are on a bank holiday weekend for some) Balloch on Loch Lomond is about 40 minutes to the west although if you head cross country to Drymen or Gartocharn you should be able to find some really nice spots, or head north out of the city towards the Campsies or the Trossachs. If camping in the national park you will have to use a designated campsite at this time of year.
Security. It is best if you take responsibility for your own kit, apart from the hotel listed above I can't comment on security of kit left on cars. Our club container is full to bursting so we can't really offer you space inside it, but there are some people in campers on site and there are lots of sturdy metal fittings so if you bring a chain or cable and padlock you should be able to find ways to secure boats on site. The site is on an island and the gate will be pulled across overnight. The changing rooms are open to all users and not big enough for everyone to leave kit in so please use the lockers provided in the covered walkway and don't leave you kit in the changing rooms even just while you do your run - there may be people on a course or using the wakeboard park needing to use the changing room at the same time.
Practise sessions. There is no extra charge for these. On Friday we will be running the course for practise between 5 and 9pm, the exact switchover will depend on number of entries in each division and I propose to start with 1 pump at 5pm for division 3. For those who cannot make it in time for Friday practise, we will have a small amount of time on Saturday morning, provisionally from 8am, for you to practise, and this will be restricted to only those who couldn't practise on Friday. On Saturday we will aim to have 4 hours of practise from as soon as practial after prize giving, again split between 1 and 2 pumps. We are not planning to control numbers on the course during practise, we will trust you to be sensible and wait on the ramp until it looks reasonably clear before setting off. When on the course, there are only a few sections you can practically repeat and if you just do them and ignore the other bits, it might not go too well in the race, so we reccommend doing full runs or progressions but to keep moving down the course and not keep paddling back to repeat a short bit. Caoches/parents giving feedback - try and choose a spot without gates to do this to avoid your paddlers sitting in the gate line and blocking others practise runs. Also please use normal river sense and look upstream before paddling out of any eddy and give way to boats coming downstream. There is not a lot of space, so please avoid loitering and blocking the course. Because it goes almost in a circle it is a very short walk back to the start for another run.
Veterans - you (we) are always a nightmare! By default the system will enter you in division 2. Most of us will not want to paddle the div 3 course on 1 pump, but if you do want to do that it is possible but you need to email me to let me know (iif you are happy staying in div 2 please also email me so I'm sure). Because the divisions race with different water levels making for different courses, your score will only be calculated against the division you race with. We will have to sort out fee differences where applicable on the day.
C2s - by default the system will enter you in division 2 and score you against division 2. Like the vets you can choose only to do the div 3 course, because it is different to the div 2 course, and if you do want to do the div 3 course you need to email me to let me know so you get on the right start list and get the right score. If the courses were the same, all C2s would have to enter div 2 and get div 2 scores, but because the courses are different we can offer the choice. If you choose div 3 we will sort out fee differences on the day.
Officials/judges - we are hoping for div 1 and prem paddlers to help out, so officials runs will be held on 3 pumps to try and attract you. If you want free practise my plan is to allow you some time on Saturday & Sunday morning before the official practise runs (for which you will be off first, all in one group, judged by other helpers). Please let me know if you intend to use free practise so close to official practise, because if not, we'll do our bit to save energy. We would of course hope that division 2 and 3 paddlers are racing and not going to offer to judge instead but if for some reason you want to judge and have officials runs with one of the divisions instead please email me to discuss possibilities. Likewise if any paddlers not yet ranked but who already do 1 pump training sessions want to help out, email me and I'll see about the possibility of getting you officials runs on 1 pump. It is a bit unusual, but there is no way any of you should go faster than the 3 pump officials so in terms of officials points, it should all work out right. Remember you don't have to do judging to be an official, you could be helping out in other ways, we can always find jobs!
If there are any more issues I haven't covered, just drop me a line.
Camping on site - We cannot take tents, but still have a few places left in the car park for campervans/caravans. Email me for details and to book - I want to make sure you understand what is actually on offer before you book.
Accommodation in the area - there are lots of hotels in Glasgow, the only one I know actually has security on the car park 24 hours (due to one of you checking) is the Leonardo Inn along the A82 about 15 minutes away late evening/early morning (longer in the daytime). In the past some people recommended staying at Stepps a short trip up the M80 where there are hotels and a campsite (which I think is Red Deer Holiday Village). Because I live in the area I have never stayed at any of these places so these are not personal reccomendations. If you want to see the coutryside a bit more (and note we are on a bank holiday weekend for some) Balloch on Loch Lomond is about 40 minutes to the west although if you head cross country to Drymen or Gartocharn you should be able to find some really nice spots, or head north out of the city towards the Campsies or the Trossachs. If camping in the national park you will have to use a designated campsite at this time of year.
Security. It is best if you take responsibility for your own kit, apart from the hotel listed above I can't comment on security of kit left on cars. Our club container is full to bursting so we can't really offer you space inside it, but there are some people in campers on site and there are lots of sturdy metal fittings so if you bring a chain or cable and padlock you should be able to find ways to secure boats on site. The site is on an island and the gate will be pulled across overnight. The changing rooms are open to all users and not big enough for everyone to leave kit in so please use the lockers provided in the covered walkway and don't leave you kit in the changing rooms even just while you do your run - there may be people on a course or using the wakeboard park needing to use the changing room at the same time.
Practise sessions. There is no extra charge for these. On Friday we will be running the course for practise between 5 and 9pm, the exact switchover will depend on number of entries in each division and I propose to start with 1 pump at 5pm for division 3. For those who cannot make it in time for Friday practise, we will have a small amount of time on Saturday morning, provisionally from 8am, for you to practise, and this will be restricted to only those who couldn't practise on Friday. On Saturday we will aim to have 4 hours of practise from as soon as practial after prize giving, again split between 1 and 2 pumps. We are not planning to control numbers on the course during practise, we will trust you to be sensible and wait on the ramp until it looks reasonably clear before setting off. When on the course, there are only a few sections you can practically repeat and if you just do them and ignore the other bits, it might not go too well in the race, so we reccommend doing full runs or progressions but to keep moving down the course and not keep paddling back to repeat a short bit. Caoches/parents giving feedback - try and choose a spot without gates to do this to avoid your paddlers sitting in the gate line and blocking others practise runs. Also please use normal river sense and look upstream before paddling out of any eddy and give way to boats coming downstream. There is not a lot of space, so please avoid loitering and blocking the course. Because it goes almost in a circle it is a very short walk back to the start for another run.
Veterans - you (we) are always a nightmare! By default the system will enter you in division 2. Most of us will not want to paddle the div 3 course on 1 pump, but if you do want to do that it is possible but you need to email me to let me know (iif you are happy staying in div 2 please also email me so I'm sure). Because the divisions race with different water levels making for different courses, your score will only be calculated against the division you race with. We will have to sort out fee differences where applicable on the day.
C2s - by default the system will enter you in division 2 and score you against division 2. Like the vets you can choose only to do the div 3 course, because it is different to the div 2 course, and if you do want to do the div 3 course you need to email me to let me know so you get on the right start list and get the right score. If the courses were the same, all C2s would have to enter div 2 and get div 2 scores, but because the courses are different we can offer the choice. If you choose div 3 we will sort out fee differences on the day.
Officials/judges - we are hoping for div 1 and prem paddlers to help out, so officials runs will be held on 3 pumps to try and attract you. If you want free practise my plan is to allow you some time on Saturday & Sunday morning before the official practise runs (for which you will be off first, all in one group, judged by other helpers). Please let me know if you intend to use free practise so close to official practise, because if not, we'll do our bit to save energy. We would of course hope that division 2 and 3 paddlers are racing and not going to offer to judge instead but if for some reason you want to judge and have officials runs with one of the divisions instead please email me to discuss possibilities. Likewise if any paddlers not yet ranked but who already do 1 pump training sessions want to help out, email me and I'll see about the possibility of getting you officials runs on 1 pump. It is a bit unusual, but there is no way any of you should go faster than the 3 pump officials so in terms of officials points, it should all work out right. Remember you don't have to do judging to be an official, you could be helping out in other ways, we can always find jobs!
If there are any more issues I haven't covered, just drop me a line.