head-to-head in Amsterdam

Not only frozen water is something that we happily enjoy...as spring is rapidly approaching the itch for some fun on real water was growing. And itches need to be scatched.

The cure for the itch was a trip down to flat and windy Netherlands in order to hop in a boat with 8 other girls and see how fast we could get our bright-yellow-stiff-as-hell-fast-as-f*** rowing shell from Amsterdam to Oudekerk. Basically.

So the race is 8km in length, which accumulates to roughly about 30 mins, which at an average strokerate of 32 strokes per minute means about 960 strokes. Pull-as-hard-as-you-can.  Plenty of time to get blisters, pain about everywhere, get your face bent in ways you never believed possible (so the pictures show to prove), and enjoy actually every minute of it. Sort of. Or maybe the joy only starts after the shower afterwards?

Anyway, it was so worth the trip down south to race on the Amstel, cut corners as much as possible, hear the crowd cheer us on, etc! For a very blended crew in terms of experience I believe we actually had quite a good race as it is not easy to concentrate for so long while your brain actually wants to shut down and the wind direction is changing every time you round a corner.

So: not sure the itch is cured...as I am now looking forward to doing more races this season....if only the ice here in Oslo would melt soon...

Image courtacy of the Proteus PAPARAZZI