So after having had sun for our last race, suddenly we were punished with snow. Ok, so it wasn’t exactly heavy, but we definitely saw a few flakes (which counts!) and our freezing hands were enough evidence. But did that bother us? Of course not! However we were very reluctant to de-kit just before the race. On the plus side, the hilarity of watching guys rowing past in shorts and t shirts, turning bright red, made the cold weather slightly more bearable. We rowed up in Winston, and then we parked, got out and awaited the return of W2. To keep warm, Richard’s penguin moves worked wonders. We finally managed to swap boats; a huge relief rowing in Owen again!
After a slightly awkward start because of a crab, (which was recovered from very quickly), W3 came out in fine style and kept up a decent race pace throughout. (Although poor Ellie lost her hat to the water!) Very soon we were drenched in the Cam water, but before we knew it, the end was in sight! Calls to ‘empty our tanks’ were heard from the bank party, and the boat picked up speed for the last few hundred metres. All in all it felt like a successful race!
We finally returned to the boathouse, to Reana’s delicious race baking. The thought of these cakes and biscuits was enough to get us rowing home with sufficient speed. The quantity of brownies and cookies eaten was enough to reclaim our calories lost from the race and the cold, and then some. Now for the hours of waiting to find out if out speed was fast enough…and it was! Lent bumps here we come!
Carla Bardua – 3