Alright Folks,

Summer is long since here in Ireland and for some insane reason it seems to be all bright, dry and sunny…the result being everyone bar kayakers seems to be in great form. I’ve to article / blogs set to go but as they are about white water stuff I’m going to sit on them until its more in keeping with having some water in the rivers.

Unless you have had your head in the sad you’ll have noticed that pretty much every Kayaker worth their salt seems to spend the majority of their spare time on two wheels spinning around the Mountain Bike trails or Ireland.

If ever wandered how you can check out one of the worlds fastest growing sport for your self you got to check out www.trackandtrail.ie

Track and Trail is a very company founded on the principal of providing Professional MTB Skills courses and a host of other Adventure Activities while not trying to have you break the bank. They have a full fleet of top of the range Mountain Bikes and operate pretty much nation wide.

So while were waiting for the rain to come and fill the rivers why not drop Track & Trail a line and have a savage day with your mates trying your hand at Mountain Biking.

Adrian

Hey folks,

As I’m sure you are all well aware boaters seem to be all budding amateur photographers, all you have to do is log onto facebook after a wet weekend and see some pretty pro results.

So I dropped my mate Ryan a line who is a Scottish based ( I know he will hate being called) Pro Photographer and solid boater a line to see if he was interested in giving me and those who check in on this blog a few tips that might help us get better results.

Ryan himself

I suppose this is where I should just be quiet for once and let Ryan take the drivers seat…

Righto Mr Shanahahahan,

Top Tips for what NOT to do and perhaps what is good to do when you’re taking and editing your boating pics…at the most basic level.

Rule of thirds – Does every photograph you take have the main subject in the centre? Boring huh! Rule of thirds concentrates on composition…i.e. where you point your camera and what’s in the frame. You can Google the definition and think about how you want to composition a photograph. All I’m saying is don’t keep everything central, it’s boring. Read the rest of this entry »

Don’t do places to learn the basics of free style kayaking, but if they did they might start with somewhere like Kilkenny!

I’m sure most paddlers have heard of the river Nore which flows through Kilkenny City but I’d be fairly certain only a small few are aware of the little gem of a play spot that was created some years ago during the flood relief scheme.

To be clear this is no Curragower / Sluice / Clifden or Tuam but it is in my estimation one of the best places I’ve been to to introduce people to the the basics of freestyle kayaking.

Read the rest of this entry »

Hey,

To quote Seanie Byrne over on irishwhitewater.com

2010 has been a disappointment for most Irish paddlers so far

I couldn’t agree more with him, in the last 10 or more years I can’t recall a winter dry spell quiet like this, I can only imagine there there will be a few rude awakenings once the water eventually arrives. Until that happens we have to get our fix of the outdoor live either out on the MTB trails ,surfing, any way we can or even through online videos and articles.

In the last couple of months I have been an abide watcher if “The Season” a weekly online video documentary.

The blurb form Bryan Smith and Fitz Cahall the guys behind it..

The Season. Five lives. A world of possibility.

From the creators of The Dirtbag Diaries and 49 Megawatts comes a new web television project following five athletes through the course of a single season in the Pacific Northwest. A veteran climber invents a new piece of gear.  A pro snowboarder searches for a way to return to the roots of his sport.  A boulder returns from a series of injuries with new perspective.  A family man goes to Whistler to test himself against mountain biking’s elite. A young sea kayaker with a troubled past sets out to reinvent his sport.

Shot entirely in HD, this 22-episode series is available to you for free at a number of locations. Every episode premieres on the Arc’teryx web site.   You can have the HD version delivered right to your computer and find all the old episodes by subscribing on iTunes. Expect new episodes once or twice a week.

P.S. This is our baby.  For months we schlepped ropes, camera gear and tripods through underbrush and up the side of cliffs to present our vision of these sports. Some of these athletes are professionals, some aren’t. They are all unique people who have something to say.  We’ve enjoyed helping them tell their story. We hope you enjoy their stories.

I personally have just subscribed to it on i-tunes and it downloads the show in awesome HD as soon as it becomes available. I really can’t recommend highly enough that you check this out and get watching.

I’ve embedded the show trailer here that will give you a flavour of the whole thing.

The first twelve episodes are up online, subscribe / enjoy and lets keep praying that some water eventually arrives.

Adrian