Riverside Centre - The Blog

Blastathon

2011-06-19T04:07:00.001-07:00

The annual Abingdon Blastathon went off with a bang on Saturday night. This is one of my favourite events of the year- always a really good laugh and a solid turnout.

The key to the fun is the scoring system which gives everyone the opportunity to compete and score, regardless of ability or paddling craft. This includes points for fancy dress, entertaining (or bribing) the judges, artistic merit and a good mix or old school moves such a paddle spins combined with the more convential.

All the competitors got 2 runs of 45 seconds which combined the sublime with the frankly ridiculous. Dave Surman combined bun throwing and superman, whilst another went for the scuba fins and mask option. Brilliant!

The ROx guys put on a great performance with Louis Frost eventually finishing 1st and Connor Cox taking 3rd in the under 18's, despite arriving late and taking his customary swim! Dave Gibson won the king of the wave and Jen Clough managed to win the open canoe event, mostly due to the fact that she lost her paddle mid way through her second run :0)

The Mens was the biggest field its been in a long while and the competition was close, with the top few paddlers putting down very respectable runs. James Metcalfe managed a creditable 3rd, with Richard Morley just pinching 2nd and I managed to eventually come out on top, taking away the Chris Wheeler memorial trophy.

The BBQ afterwards was great fun and not even the rain could ruin the atmosphere- roll on next year!

Big thanks to Dave Surman and Kingfisher Canoe club for putting on a great event once again and to Simon Know for letting me use his photos- you can check out more of his handiwork on his website, which is well worth a gander.

TV Freestylers Birthday Video

2011-05-16T08:45:00.000-07:00

Filmed by Finn this is a great little round up of the days fun and frolics- enjoy!

Thames Valley Freestylers 4th Birthday @ Cardiff! from Finn Burrows on Vimeo.

TV Freestylers Birthday Party

2011-04-10T11:08:00.000-07:00

This is the fourth year of TV Freestylers- and as has become customary its time to throw it a birthday party! This great event is usually held at Hurley and is an excuse for paddlers of all abilities to get together, have a laugh and paddle with each other over a diet of light-hearted competition.

This year Hurley was running dry so the whole valley upped sticks and moved west to Cardiff. This, we discovered was a great little course with loads of fun drops and an OK play feature, especially when the flow was cranked up, all that and there is a conveyor belt- brilliant!!

The day had something for everyone- a boatercross race, which for those not in the know is when 4 paddlers race at the same time down a set course- carnage usually ensues and this was no different!!- extreme slalom, which mixed boofs and freestyle moves along with style points, some hilarious runs- 3 move freestyle- what it says on the tin- choose your moves, or have your peers choose them for you and get 2 attempts to nail each one- tag team freestyle- teams paddling with everyone having to tag in the next boater before they can score- great spectator sport :0) King of the Wave- swimmers, pain, carnage.

James made the finals of the boatercross with a cheeky bottom eddy start. Me and Finn made the freestyle finals. Can't tell you how any of us did as we were all having far to much fun to pay attention to the fact it was a competition, brilliant day with big thanks to Dave "scout" Wortley and the crew for pulling off a great day. Creck out the photos and block out your diary for next year, you dont want to miss it!

The long awaited next installment...

2011-03-20T03:07:00.000-07:00

A look at how to throw the imfamous Panam-

See you guys and gals on the water somewhere soon!

Matt

ROx Hurley Sessions

2011-03-13T07:37:00.000-07:00

ROx have been down at Hurley most weekends for the last few weeks and the level of paddling has been getting better all the time. The following is a vid by James Metcalfe and soe photos of him paddling from a little 2 gate session- he has shown some huge leaps forward this year throwing flip turns, donkey flips and cleans with irritating regularity!

Look out for the next How to Vid on Panams which should be edited pretty soon!

Hopefully see you all on the water and paddling hard soon.

Matt

Slacklining

2011-01-08T08:18:00.000-08:00

In the recent drought I've been spending some time learning to slackline- found it to be really addictive, great fun and theyre cheap to buy! Check it out...

Adventures to come...

2010-10-28T11:16:00.000-07:00

I have found myself with a holiday and no water, or any real trip organised... a strange feeling indeed!

I have spent the kayaking famine organising the possible years trips. Been meaning to get over to France in Easter to go surf Hawaii-sur-rhone, amongst other things- was lucky enough to be over that way in the summer and there is so much potential in quite a small area- looking forward to the adventure already.

Also looking forward to the summer and a possible trip to the mighty Ottowa- I have been meaning to head back to Canada for many years to sample the joys of this whitewater playground.

And I need a surf trip somewhere- hmmm- one to work on!

All I need now is some water before I begin to loose my sanity- hopefully see you all on the water somewhere soon!

Matt

Summer Sessions at Millau

2010-08-29T11:34:00.000-07:00

Spent a few days in Millau and had the chance to sample the whitewater course that runs through the centre of town. The course is real small, with only 1 drop worth playing on and as its the summer the hole is small and a real challenge to paddle- great fun!

Had 3 or 4 sessions with a small group of locals and the kids- really great bunch to enjoy a paddle with. Check out the video and if you are ever in the area go have a play!

Summer sessions at Millau from Matt Attree on Vimeo.

New Climbing wall now on site!

2010-07-23T07:27:00.000-07:00

Last Week our brand new climbing wall was delivered to site.

How to Blunt

2010-06-26T02:14:00.000-07:00

The latest TV freestylers tricks workshop vid on how to get your blunt on!

Check it out!

Matt

Uganda Trip Video

2010-05-20T18:18:00.000-07:00

Hey Guys,

I meant to get this video done a long time ago after posting up the trip report.

A short video of our trip to Uganda, I hope you all enjoy it!

(Click on the video box because the blog likes to cut half of it off)

Cheers!
Finn

Cleaning it up

2010-05-18T10:02:00.000-07:00

So you can blunt? Well its time to learn the clean!

Clean blunts: The How to by Sir Matthew Atree

MARSH WEIR - BOOM!

2010-03-29T14:51:00.000-07:00

A quick update from the fast growing spot that is Marsh Weir, Henley.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rA6emkMDRa8

This was filmed a month or so back - the levels are getting similar now - fingers crossed!

Finn

Latest tricks workshop

2010-02-22T14:22:00.000-08:00

The lowdown on getting nice and high in a boat :0)

Hurley fun and All-Star testing

2010-02-20T06:09:00.000-08:00

Kenna's carp impression

Finn trying out the All-StarJoe Bradley big loop in middle gate

Matt Kenna throwing the air screw

Joe bringing in a big pan-am

Cleaning the blunt

Pistol Flip Mc Nasty

Rhys winds up the backstab

Pan-am touchdown

Been out the past week trying out the new All-Star on what has been great Hurley levels- big and green at the start of the week- sadly the one day I took the camera it all went a bit rubbish! Still Finn got some decent shots of the session...

The boat is awesome- super loose and real easy to chuck around- can't wait for mine to arrive in the country!

Shop opening

2010-02-19T00:20:00.000-08:00

Chris Brads is no longer working in the shop, having been offered an excellent position else where.
I would like to thank Chris for all is hard work over the last few months and wish him well for the future.

This has left us with no shop manager at the moment so we have taken the decision to shut the shop during the week.
I will open the shop on Saturdays between 10am till 4pm, any orders can still be taken by myself.
Please note that this saturday 19th the shop will not open until 12pm.

Please keep checking this page for updates, and I will put up a mobile number for contacting me.

Many thanks

Garry

Shop opening hours

2010-02-07T08:07:00.000-08:00

Hello again,

The Riverside Shop opening hours have changed so that swimming pool evenings can still continue with the change of staff in the shop. They are as follows;

MONDAY - CLOSED
TUESDAY - 11:00-19:00
WEDNESDAY - 11:00-17:00
THURESDAY - 11:00-20:00
FRIDAY - 10:00-18:00
SATUR...DAY - 09:00-17:00
SUNDAY - CLOSED

Also to give you a heads up the shop will not be open between these dates; 16th to the 20th Febuary 2010. So get any orders in quick.

Thanks and see you at the Premiere

Hector

UK premiere of Dream Result

2010-02-07T07:56:00.000-08:00

SORRY DUE TO CHRIS MOVING ON TO BETTER THINGS THIS EVENT HAS NOW BEEN CANCELLED

Dear All,

It is with great delight that I can annouce that Riverside will be hosting the UK premiere of Rush Sturges and Tyler Bradt new DVD 'Dream Result' in Oxford on Thursday 4th March.

We will be hosting the event at Christ Church Collage with Rush Sturges and Tyler Bradt presenting the movie. A more precise address will be out shortly.

We have changed the set up for showing the film, there will be one showing for any one, any age from 19:30 till 21:00 rufley speaking. Tickets are £5.00 for adults and £2.00 for People under 19 years old.

Check out the trailer for the movie
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0vFKh22bAlY

For tickets please call and ask for Hector on: 01865 248673 or email me at riversidecentre2@btconnect.com

See you there

Hector

Erm... Happy new year?

2010-01-17T10:48:00.000-08:00

Seventeen days in and still no new years greetings from the blog! Sorry guys...

Here's some Photos from the Gene 17 weekend back in December!

From top to bottom: Rob leading the group down, Finn Punching towards an eddy, Hector Bracing, Hugh chilling and James Dixon paddling.

(Photos by Paul Wilkinson: Paul Wilkinson Photography - taken on the upper dart. All rights reserved.)

So Happy New Year everyone, take it easy and may February be as grand as January...

Finn

Riverside Shop Christmas Party! Tuesday 15th December

2009-12-01T07:14:00.000-08:00

The Riverside Shop warmly invites you to come in and join us for a Mince Pie and some Christmas cheer and pick up some Christmas present bargains for yourself or loved ones.
We offer gift wrapping presents and storing them until Christmas Eve!

So drop in from 6pm till late!

L'Aventure Alpine 2009

2009-11-23T12:09:00.000-08:00

Finally after massive delay, it's time for a write up of a most excellent Don's expedition to the French Alps.

It all began with a huge amount of planning. Youth Oppertunity Funds were applied for, meeting attended, and a massive amount of work had to be done before we could even think about going. Finally though, after what seemed like a monumentous wait, we were off, to begin a 789 mile trip to here;

The wonderful Camping du Lac, which would be our base camp for the week.

Ahh, just like home.

Over the next few days we tacked 3 sections of the durance, played on slalom courses, playboated in the Rabioux wave (to which the footage has mysteriously disappeared), practiced our skills and paddled the challenging Ubaye Racecourse (so challenging we didn't have any time to take any pictures.)

After a few days it was time to move on to Sault Brenaz, a wonderfull whitewater course for practising many different aspects of paddling. People were learning about ferry gliding, Surfing waves, paddling inflatable canoes (hotdogs) and some people passed a 3 star assessment (Well done!)

Ashley and Portia Surf a Hotdaog

Connor's Robson Photo

All too soon it was time to go home, but we won't forget the good times had, friends made and things learnt will not be forgotten

Group Photo!

Time to begin the big drive home

We'd all like to say a huge thanks to everyone who has helped, in whatever way to make this trip possible. We couldn't have gone without you. If you haven't already had enough of our trip yet, check out the video!

Stay cool

-Louis

Juniors attend BCU Southern Region Wavehopper Sprint!

2009-11-19T04:37:00.001-08:00

BCU Southern Region Wavehopper Sprint event
Newbury, 15th November

After a couple of training sessions in appalling weather on Saturday, Riverside's Wavehopper team enjoyed a fabulous day at the races in Newbury in glorious sunshine on Sunday.

The event involved two 500 metre sprints down the millstream, under the bridge below the lock and millpond to the finishing line outside the Waterside Centre. They then had to paddle their boats back upstream against a strong current to the lock and portage them back up to the starting line for the next competitors to use.

Racing against 8 other teams from the Southern Region Riverside achieved 4th position overall. Everyone did really well with a special commendation to Jona for coming 3rd in the under 12s and Sophia for coming 4th in the under 14s. A brilliant result for their first race in Wavehoppers.

Team Wavehopper:

Kieran Husband
Jona Boender
Owain Harris
Carl Gregory
Jake Woodward

Jay Boender
Erin Keenan
Nicole Head
Sophia Frost

Many thanks must go to the team, their parents and supporters and to the coaches who made this event possible.

Jennifer Clough

Riverside Shop Sale 21/22nd November

2009-10-29T07:42:00.000-07:00

Dear All,

This weekend will an excellent sale of Kayak and canoe equipment. Everything in store will have 20% off plus loads of items at special prices.

Come in and find the special bargains and enter our limited 120 ticket raffle to win a Playboat.

We will open at 9am so get in early and grab yourself a bargain!

See you then.

Chris

Lunar Orbits

2009-10-28T04:27:00.000-07:00

So this is the next vid for tvdfreestylers... check it out and tell us what you think!

Enjoy!

Cancelled

2009-10-21T04:27:00.000-07:00

Unfortunatley we have had to cancel the Leo Hoare talk this evening, but he will be returning in the New year to give his talk then. If you would like further information on Leo, please visit his website Getafix.com

Apologies for the late notice.

Chris

Evening Talk

2009-10-08T07:53:00.000-07:00

The Riverside Shop is please to announce that:
Leo Hoare
will be giving a talk on his Greenland adventures
‘Fresh Fish and Icebergs’ on
Wednesday 21st October 2009
At 7.30pm

Cost of the talk will be £4.00 (adult) and £1.00 (Young People) with all proceeds going towards the Young people at the Riverside Centre.

Tickets available from the Riverside Shop or to reserve a place email:
riversidecentre2@btconnect.com

Back then slalom was the thing to do. Leo competed to a high level and represented Great Britain for 6 years. In those years he raced and trained all over the world, achieved a fourth place in the junior worlds, a place in the squad for the Barcelona Olympics and many wins at junior internationals. He finished chasing sticks in 1992 after appearing on the programme "Paddles Up", and being ranked in the top 10 UK seniors. From 1992 to 1994 he coached the Welsh junior and senior squads and the British intermediate slalom teams.
The seed had been planted to see and experience other places and cultures at an early age and discovering the open canoe and sea kayak has allowed him to go on some amazing adventures: A solo circumnavigation of Easter Island in a 10-year-old White water boat, the Rio Grande in Mexico, kayak safaris in Africa and expeditions to S.E Greenland, Norway and New Zealand is just some of the adventures he has had.
Leo loves people; That's why he feels that coaching is the best job in the world, and paddling is and always will be in his blood.
Leo has contributed chapters to the BCU Canoe Kayak Handbook and the BCU Coaching Handbook, and made smaller contributions to the books Top Tips for Coaches and Canoe Games. Recently Leo has been involved with the development of the new UKCC coaching awards, producing resources, running pilots and fine tuning the structure.
Leo co-directed and produced the DVD Sea Kayak Safety with paddling partner Olly Sanders.
Before setting up his own paddling company Getafix he worked for Plas Y Brenin for 7 years and freelanced for centres country wide providing staff training.

Hurley is NOT open.

2009-10-06T06:32:00.000-07:00

But I made a video ages ago - when Hurley was open.

6 Months ago.

Finn

Finn & Hugh go to 'The' Uganda

2009-10-05T09:31:00.001-07:00

"Oh look a danger sign I can take a photo of! How original am I?!"

Ah yes, another post - documenting what can only be described as a momentously messy trip to Uganda. If you want to know what Uganda is all about read either Hugh or Matt's posts from earlier this year; I feel they do a great job of summing up something that I can't be bothered to sum up again!

Hugh going Clean!

Finn going Clean!

The River running is 'grand so'

Relaxing, maxing all cool at Eden Rock

Queued up for Club wave

Nile Special wave was also 'Grand so'

In order: Finn Killin' it, Finn Killin' it some more, Hugh... not so much.

Heading out for another days paddling

Uganda is amazing - go before the best bits are gone... (The top section of the white Nile, not bits of Uganda itself. Don't worry.)

Jump on that 'safety assured' van! No, not insured, assured.

Ok, so the trip in one sentance...

Amazing kayaking lifestyle with a drop of confusion, stumbling about, adrenaline and Japati.

"Oooh ah ah ah ah!"

Take it easy,
Finn & Hughberry

P.S. Expect the video to be up in the next few weeks, there have been some major set backs...

2009-10-02T04:52:00.000-07:00

Hi just a wee post to say thanks to Sam for all of his hard work over the past couple of months and to also wish him the best at Uni. I have rearranged the shop slightly... More soon.

Chris

Youth Freestyle Nottingham

2009-09-19T07:12:00.000-07:00

The Queue during the mornings coaching at "The Tardis"

Finn went up to compete in the last of the Youth Freestyle events in Nottingham, so I decided to tag along!

Have to say it was a very cool, very well organised event, with coaching in the morning, combined with a ball hit slalom in the middle part of the course- Dave bainbridge, fresh from his win at the worlds, showed everyone how it was done, hitting pretty much every ball with the boat in his example run!

Throwing the mc Nasty in the tardis

The crowd at the inlet gate

The comp itself was held on the inlet wave, with a novice event held further down the course. This was composed on 2 45 second runs that you could take whenever you liked. There was a big range in ability, but that didnt stop everyone pushing themselves to get the best possible score they could manage.

Busting out a stratospheric loop

Touchdown

I was really impressed by the level the top juniors were displaying- cartwheels, cleans and supercleans both ways, mc nasties, phonixes, tricky whus and lunar orbits all went down, with the top guys hitting back to front loop combos, paddleswitch and paddle throw loops.

Paddlethrow loop

Finn mid loop

Egged on by the crowd ever more silly things were attempted (the standing up in the playboat game is always a crowd-pleaser!). Next up on the calendar is the British Champs- guess i will see you all there!

Summer paddling and a new tricks vid

2009-08-03T09:00:00.000-07:00

Well after the last couple of summers its back to the normal Thames Valley Paddling routine of Abingdon, Boulters and Chertsey.

Been spending a lot of time at Chertsey, a great little spot where just about any hole move goes- really good for learning new stuff in. Hector has joined me on a few occasion recently and is progressing quickly, throwing phonix monkies and mc nasties and getting close to tricky woo's.

I spent the first bit of the summer figuring out Tricky woos and have been giving Lunar Orbits a try in the last couple of sessions, with varying degrees of success!
The following is the next tricks vid, filmed at Chertsey on how to Mc nasty- enjoy!

Matt

That's a Video!

2009-07-04T12:18:00.000-07:00

Because the Blog can't fit it in widescreen.

The Swiss/Italian Dream:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cj79yHJazx0&feature=channel_page

Tricky Woo

2009-06-26T06:51:00.000-07:00

One of The coolest looking hole moves going... bring on the tricky woo!

Matt

Swiss Italian Alps - Amazing.

2009-06-18T06:54:00.000-07:00

So it's been a little while since the blog was updated with a full article, however our latest trip report is sure to make up for it.

It all started with an epic drive to Switzerland...

(Above: Chilling in a lay-by... put it away Scopes)
We left Oxford and set out on a ridiculously long Journey across Europe. We boarded the ferry at Dover, ate a school dinner-like meal on the way across, and landed in Calais at around 10pm. The real drive had begun. The night was long and hard (well for Boothy at least... props for driving!)each hour seemed never ending... the arduous drive only broken up by pit stops and the occasional text from O2 roaming...'Welcome to Belgium...Luxembourg...Germany'...and finally... "Welcome to Switzerland. Calls to the UK & EU cost 35ppm & 18ppm to receive". We'd Made it!

Border crossed. Road Tax paid. Amazing service station visited. Ready to paddle.

Upon arriving in the town of Illanz, we hooked up with some of Rob's buddies from the Nookie crew, Tim, Hazel and Alex and also the two Euro-trippin' love birds - Hugh and Scopes. So after introductions by the side of the road and a bit of a chit chat we set off for our first river of the week, the Glenner: an awesome little run from start to finish. Unfortunately Hazel managed give a rock a piece of her mind (face...) half way down the river, resulting in stitches. She got her paddles ripped out of her hands in a stopper, but to our amazement picked them up again, rolled up, eddied out... styled it. Luckily nothing too serious, however she was desegnated photographer for the next days river...

The Cristallina: Awesome water, amazing location... slippery rocks. Rob NOO!
(Below Paul Scopes on one of the entry sections Photo: Mickey)

The second day in Switzerland saw us paddle the beautiful Cristallina river. Seriously picturesque with amazing whitewater to match, we were all in for a great days paddle... or so we thought.
Unfortunately just before the drop pictured below, Rob managed to break his foot! Ironically whilst setting up safety for wee man Hector.
(Below: Hector styling the first drop on the Cristallina. Photo: Scopes)

(Pictured Below Rob before the accident... Photo:Mickey )

With that minor set back sorted in good time... we paddled down the river, which was pretty consistent throughout, providing awesome fun for the duration.

(Above: Boothy on the next drop of the Cristallina)
(Below: Finn Burrows flying off another drop involving a Kicker and a wall Photos: Mickey)

The rest of us jumped off at the get out to watch Alex, Tim and Hector run these three sweet drops at the entry to the gorge section:

(From top to bottom: Hector approaching the lip of the first drop with Tim below. Hector Boofing the second. Alex Driving down the third. Photo's: Mickey)
Cheers to Alex Keller for letting us stay in his house for the night and showing us some awesome water!

Our next Swiss drive led us to James Weir's house - another of Rob's buddies who we were going to have the pleasure of paddling with the next day.

(AboveThe Pathway to James's House. Photo: Finn Burrows)

(AboveTim checking out the SLR. Photo: Finn Burrows)

Next morning led us to a River with no name (well it did have a name I just can't remember it). An awesome, fairly high volume run with lots of bouncy wave trains to kickflip off!
Here's the Pictures:

(Above High five to Finish the day - sorted Photo's: Rob Yates)
Big thanks to James for putting us up for a night and showing us this beautiful river!

Get in the bus! Let's go to Italy!
Now for the Italian side of the Alps. After a fair few hours driving we rocked up in the lovely town of Campertogno in Piedmont Italy.

The campsite in Campertogno is possibly one of the best I've been to, lovely people, paddlers everywhere, great atmosphere and the best pizza for miles.

Our first run in Italy was the Sermenza, seriously good whitewater.
( Above Finn running the opening drop on the Sermenza )
The section we ran, led from the drop pictured above, through about 2km of class 3/4 and into a beautiful gorge section to close. Check it out. These Pictures are from our second run of the Sermenza, as the first time we paddled in a thunderstorm with the river being about two foot higher.

(Below The lead in to the gorge.)

(Above Boothy Running the lead in. Scopes Dropping into the Gorge)
(Below Hugh waiting for others in the Gorge)

Unfortunately due to the 'gorgeyness' of the gorge we couldn't really get any photos of the quality whitewater that lay within! Well Maybe one picture...sorry Hugh:

(Above Hugh Swam! And put a hole in his boat!)

But wait! There's More!
So we stayed in Campertogno for the rest of the week, paddling the Rivers in the surrounding area and generally having a great time. We managed to paddle (and take photographs, video etc.) of the Gronda and Slides of the River Sorba. The River Gronda is a fairly tight, boulder strewn, slide and drop filled beauty of a whitewater river, that flows into the Slides of Sorba. The Sorba slides are short and extremely sweet. I'll let the photos do the talking.

(AboveFirst Drop of the Gronda - Scopes Runs it, Finn Watches)
(Below Hector Runs the second 'mentionable' drop)

The larger drops and rapids were broken up by tight and technical boulder gardens.

(Below Sweet drop into little slide)

(Below Hugh runs the race line on the penultimate drop)

(Below Hector Hucking the last drops of The Gronda)

The Gronda then flows into the Slides and drops of The Sorba:

(Above Finn Running the first drop of the Sorba)
(Below Hugh styles the second 'connecting' drop of the Sorba)

The three drops we ran were all interconnected, so once you ran the first, you were running them all.

(Above Hector Dropping on to the last slide)
(Below Hugh's boat and fingers after running the last slide)

Only a few flesh wounds, luckily nothing serious.
Apart from Hugh's little escapade on the third slide, everything ran smoothly and what a great way to say goodbye to Italy, we'd run out of time!

Back on the Road again!

So we packed up at Campertogno, jumped in 'ye old faithful' Riverside van and set of across the lush mountains, heading back through picturesque Switzerland and all the way through mainland Europe to the not so picturesque port of Calais.

Back home, all I can say is... I'll miss you Swiss/Italian alps... you were good to us.

Well that's all for now, what an amazing trip it was! Definitely go if you get the chance, it's well worth the drive. I'd love to go back.

Just a quick thanks to Rob for staying strong in the face of adversity, Boothy for bearing up and driving such long distances and all the folks we met along the way for being so kind.

The video should be up within the next day or so, keep your eyes peeled, it's a goodun.

Take it easy

Finn

More tricks vids :0)

2009-05-29T03:40:00.001-07:00

Tihis one is for all the guys and gals taking part in the KCC Blastathon in a couple of weekends time- the quinessential summertime move- the blast!

Enjoy!

Matt

Tricks vids!

2009-05-17T01:58:00.001-07:00

Some vids to give you guys and gals something to try this summer!

Finn, Hugh and Matt

Uganda Vid

2009-04-25T13:10:00.000-07:00

Enjoy!

Matt

Uganda :0)

2009-04-20T10:57:00.000-07:00

The best eating emporium in town!

Hey all,

Well I have just got back from two weeks on the White Nile.

Basically the river begins in a town called Jinga as the river flows out of lake Victoria- the first few kms are pretty tame and you begin to wonder what all the fuss is about- that is until you reach the Nile River Explorers camp and the whole river goes a bit mental!

View from NRE camp- you can just see ribcage, hump and Bujagali on the right

It is here that you see the true nature of this river- it is basically pool, drop rapids- but fed up on a healthy diet of steroids with at least 1600 cumecs tumbling downstream.

Most of the rapids are pretty staightforward and most stuff flushes through- its just that its big and if you get too far off line it has the potential to deal out some pretty impressive beatdown.

The river at NRE splits into several channels, all working at different water levels or offering up different levels of paddling. For instance the rafters and most paddlers run Ribcage while the more adventurous give Hump a go- or why not go test youself on Brickyard or Bladerunner? Hey if you have a screw loose check out Widowmaker! Basically there is a rapid and a way down for most levels of paddler and it is all easy enough to walk.

Ribcage on the left and Hump on the right

Bujagali

The rafts then run Bujagali and 50:50 before the epic Silverback- Dropping down the ramp into this rapid has to be one of the most impressive entries to pretty much guaranteed carnage I have ever run- this is one huge crashing wave train that you can either run down the guts or try and punch the right diagonals. I ran this top section 6 times and only dry headed Silverback twice- but enjoyed the beatdown all the same (the time 4 of us rafted togther and floated down the ramp I think resulted in some of the best beatdowns i have seen on a river in quite some time).

Looking back up Silverback (on the right) and Jungle Book (left)

This section from NRE to Silverback is short (you can do the whole run in well under an hour) but really packs a punch and you can hop on a boda boda back to the top and go again!

Kids below Bujagali

The lads hanging out below Silverback

The section after this is flat for a few km before reaching Overtime and then Itanda- this is a beast of a rapid with some big holes, but a fairly straightforward line once you know the entry point- just make sure you miss Cuban and The Bad Place!

This is the start of the day 2 section which is a great plat run containing Hair of the Dog (In my opinion a better wave than Nile Special offering up huge air potential) and Superhole, which is pretty much what is says on the tin.

Then its down to Nile Special- this wave is world reknowned for its potential. Its a big, surgey, bumpy ride with a small take off and landing area at tow on levels that gets better as the level rises through the evening. The tow rope on makes for a unique experience, but the wave is fickle and hard to master- get it right though and you fly! At lower levels their is Club wave (the third in the wave train) I came to love this surging, trashy, powerhouse of a wave and enjoyed several morning sessions going big and getting beaten in return.

Anya flipping out on Club

Towing on at Special

The place to stay for this is an Island owned by a bunch of Aussies called the Hairey Lemon- a kayakers paradise 10 mins from the wave. We also got to know a load of the locals and they threw a party for 2 guys staying in the village who were leaving (Vanya a russian and Andy a Canadian)- on the bank at Special they rigged up a PA, mixing Decks, lights, shelters, pig roasts, beer and 150 locals and had a massive party complete with 1am paddle on session at Special- an evening i wont forget in a hurry!

The only way onto the Hairy Lemon

All partied out

This place is great to visit the peaple are amazing and their is paddling to suit everyone- so go before they dam the river at Silverback and the beast is lost forever.

SWEET!!!

2009-04-15T07:11:00.000-07:00

Exciting news everyone! the new Sweet Protection stock is in!

We now have the Sweet Strutters and Rockers in all sizes and colours! We are yet to receive the new Wanderer models but it won't be too long! Drop by the shop and check them out!

SWEET 25% OFF SALE!!!

This sale includes selected helmets (from last year) and all Sweet Clothing!

Come and grab yourself a bargain!!!!

See you soon,

Hugh.

BOOM. Tricks Workshop!

2009-04-01T04:46:00.000-07:00

Want to learn how to backstab?

POW.

Now you can... Matt shows us how.

Enjoy.

Chris Eastabrook and Dave Fairweather Talk

2009-03-11T04:38:00.000-07:00

Hey guys and Girls!
Just to let you know, Dave Fairweather and Chris Eastbrook, of Team Pyranha, are coming to riverside to give a talk on there recent travels. It should be a great night with loads of photos, video and interesting chat! Its on the 26th of March (this month!), that's a thursday 'House Night'. I hope all of you can come along - it should be a great evening!

Thursday 26th of March
7pm at Riverside
Tickets are £5 for over 19s and £3 for under 19s

Phone us on: 01865 248673 to book your tickets!!!

Next installment of Tricks Workshop!

2009-03-07T07:34:00.000-08:00

Matt's been busy cartwheeling...

Enjoy the next installment of the Tricks Workshop!

New Astral buoyancy aids and Robson Paddles

2009-03-03T08:01:00.000-08:00

NEW PRODUCTS IN

All New Astral B/As

The Green Jacket creek/river vest: £149.95

The Willis, Freestyle Vest Available in Orange/Grey: £99.95.

We also have in stock brand new Robson paddles!

The Mystique and the Fluid, Fibre Glass Blades with a carbon composite shaft. Awesome paddles at an awesome price. Mystique comes in Yellow, Fluid in a beautiful Blue: £140.00

Cheers
RiversideShop.

Hi Everyone!

2009-02-24T09:06:00.000-08:00

Hi guys and girls! For those who don't know me, my name is Hugh and I've just started working in the shop at riverside now that Cath is moving on to the JR hospital. I'm looking forward to meeting everyone from the club that I haven't already bumped into.

As Rob said in an earlier post I've just got back from a 6 week trip to Uganda. I thought I'd post a few photos from the trip and let you know how awsome it is.

So I left on the 3rd of January with a mate from school, Paul Sopes (in the photo above I'm on the right and Scopes is on the left). We booked the tripwith 'Kayak the Nile'. If anyone is thinking about going out there, I highly recomend using these guys as they make it so easy! We started boating right away - on the morning of the 4th.

The first thing that you notice is that there is no shortage of huge rapids.

Above: Scopes running Kalagala and Bujagali (right line)

Me dropping into 'Blade Runner' previously known as Blade Breaker!

Green tree snake, photographed on the Hairy Lemon (right outside our tent!)

The wildlife is truly stunning! We spent 3 days on safari at murchison park. Here there is an incredible game park where we saw everything other than lions. Perhaps the biggest attraction here is the falls itself where almost all of the nile is channeled through a 5m wide gap where the river drops into the African Rift Valley.

But as you can see from the first two photos of the snake and dragon fly you don't have to go far to see amazing wildlife.

I think the main reason that I wanted to go to the White Nile was to surf on the Nile Special; this is a wave about 8-9 feet high that can deliver air time unlike any waves in the UK. To surf this wave however, you need to get the hang of the rope.

Once you've got the rope sorted its time to start throwing some stuff.

Below is a photo of me throwing a Pan-am on the nile Special.

Check out Peter Csonka doing a Clean Helix.

Oh and probably the best thing about kayaking in Uganda is there is no reason for wearing a kag!
The landscape of Uganda is really incredible, particularly at sun set.

Towards the end of our trip the water level dropped very low in the mornings (water levels can change depending on electricity requirements as the river is dam released). This meant that further down along the Nile special wave train Club wave began to work!

Scopes doing a 'donkey flip' on club.

Me learning how to 'Pistol Flip'.

It's always nice to do a bit of familiar low-volume play back at the Hairy Lemon Hole.

The people in Uganda are fantastic, they're friendly and really good fun. The picture above shows a few of the rope kids watching and apparently really enjoying the boating at the Nile Special.

Check out this video of our trip too (make sure you check it out with the HD option):

Look forward to meeting everyone.

Hugh

Tricks Vids

2009-02-09T10:52:00.000-08:00

Finn and myself have been asked to produce some how to vids for tvfreestylers. The first of these can be seen below. It would be great to get some feedback on what you think of them as we go. They are after all for you guys!

Happy viewing

Its all a bit SPECIAL.....

2009-02-02T08:43:00.000-08:00

So recently the Riverside Team have been all over the place making the most of life, Hugh emailed me from Uganda today

"Hey mate, How's it going? hope you had a good time in South Africa. Uganda is awsome - We've been paddling like crazy. Here are some photos that scopes took. See you in a few weeks.

Hugh"

In addition to this 6 of us have just come back from Snow boarding in Les Arcs in the french alps... we had such a good time that we only took one photo

More updates soon so keep your eyes peeled

Ciao for now

Rob

Dartmoor Creeking

2009-01-22T00:04:00.000-08:00

Team ROx had a creeking trip to Dartmoor planned and for once it chucked it down for a couple of days before hand. So much so that the planned run of the Upper Dart was scrapped and pastures new were to be explored.

I have to say that my enthusiasm waned somewhat when my alarm went off at 5am, but I dragged myself down to Riverside along with a load of others, played out the epic that is tying boats on a trailer and headed off into the dark.

The plan was to do the Middle Tavy from Hill Bridge down to Tavistock, which on paper sounded like it could be pretty good fun. Rob vaguely remembered doing it, but for the rest of us it was an unknown. We all got the to get in (eventually!) and the level looked pretty good so the mission was on :0)

Well, what a river! The first 5-6km was pretty continuous grade 3 with some long rapids that usually meant you lost sight of your team at least once. This was a good chance for everyone to build their confidence at having to pick their own way down. This is just about the best river I have ever done at the grade, with a little something for everyone. A much better run than the Dart Loop and only a slightly longer drive- brilliant!

Matt

Winter Sale 31st Jan - 1st Feb

2009-01-20T11:02:00.000-08:00

In need of a new creeker after a boney winter season?

Pick up a bargian on the sale weekend!

Dagger Nomad RRP £849 Sale Price £599
Available Sizes:- 8.1 & 8.5 in last seasons colours

Liquid Logic Jefe RRP £799.95 Sale Price £599
Available Sizes:- Jefe Chico, Jefe & Jefe Grande in last seasons colours

Liquid Logic Remix RRP £749 Sale Price £599
Available Sizes:- 59 in last seasons colours

Pyranha Burn RRP £889 Sale Price £699
Available Sizes:- Small, Medium & Large in last seasons outfitting

Pyranha Ammo RRP £889 Sale Price £699
Available Sizes:- Small, Medium & Large in last seasons outfitting

For junior paddlers:Liquid Logic Remix RRP £499 Sale Price £399
Available Size:- 47 in last seasons colours

More offers to come during the next week......

2009 Courses with Riverside

2009-01-17T01:50:00.000-08:00

We are very excited to announce that our new 2009 brochure is now available here!

The brochure includes UKCC coach training and assesment, BCU Star awards, Introduction and further development courses for Open Canoeing and Kayaking and a range of summer holiday courses for 11 - 16 year olds.

We hope that you enjoy having a look through, if you want to book in, download a booking form

For further information, give us a call on 01865 248673 or drop us an email riversidecentre2@btconnect.com

Yours in Paddling,

The Riverside Team

House - 'Mr Potatohead'

2009-01-13T11:01:00.000-08:00

So as House returned for another cold and wet Thursday evening, Connor, Joel, Louis, Dan and Toby all turned up to the centre for a laugh and a bit of fun to lighten the day up. The evening's activity was entitled 'Mr Potato head' and consisted of a lot of vegetables, tape, some cocktail umbrellas and a camera. The idea was to make a comic-strip/movie out of vegetable characters, odd, it may seem, but this session turned out to be one of the best.

I was planning to put the video on the blog but it does not seem to be working, so here is the YouTube link - http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=oRij3kGqLT4
Please remember it is only a work in progress.

If you have got any suggestions then drop us an email.

Joel Silver

New Dons and R.OX Blog

2009-01-09T07:55:00.000-08:00

For use of members only
http://riversideteampaddlers-thedons.blogspot.com
http://riversideteampaddlers-teamrox.blogspot.com
For up to date news on trips

Juniors Christmas bash

2009-01-06T03:20:00.000-08:00

For those of you who missed the party of the year you made a big mistake by not being there. Tim, the Disco King, brought along his music centre complete with disco lighting and smoke machine .... the kids decked the hall with some beautiful snowflake decorations, added some pictures of their summer camping trip to their board.

The bin bags were then put to good use with some terrific costumes and all this was followed up with party games including musical chairs and statues. Stuffed with chocolate log and other nasties the party animals all went home totally hyper at about 9pm. Bet they slept well.

Many thanks to Nathan, Jake, Thomas, Kat and James for coming along and making the evening such a success.Thanks also to Joe for helping out and to James' Dad, Martin and sister Emily for staying and helping with the fun too.

That's it for this year so all the best and Happy Christmas and New Year from me
Jen

Brass Monkies

2008-12-27T08:54:00.000-08:00

Good lord it was cold on the water today! With Hurley down to 2 and the baltic weather conditions only a hardy few ventured forth for a session. For once I took the camera down to take some snaps.
Hugh and Finn were joined by Pete and Dan. Pete, believe it or not, hasnt been on the water for about a month after catching malaria in Uganda- quickly got back into the swing of things as you can see!

The rest of the photos from the session are here

And a few more piccies!

2008-12-26T08:09:00.000-08:00

These photos of last weekend come courtesy of Andy Wicks, who managed to take some great shots with a busted nose and a cheek fracture! Great little session at a fun level.

Flipping out
Wind it up...

...and let it go :)

Backstab

Blunt number 3,257

Matt

Weir sessions

2008-12-21T10:36:00.000-08:00

Had some great weir sessions over the past couple of weeks as the level has dropped at both marsh and Hurley. Really good fun, great company and some big moves being landed. The following photos were taken just after Hurley dropped to 3 on Friday. Many thanks to Steve (aka evolvedlight) for letting me use his photos... they look really cool :0)

Hope everyone has a great Christmas and I hope to see you all on the water in 2009 :0)

Matt

Hurley Classic

2008-12-15T08:43:00.000-08:00

The Hurley Classic is one of the oldest events on the freestyle calender... it has been around since the sports birth and has always tried to keep in touch with the sports roots- the emphasis is on having a laugh!

This year it rained- a lot- and the river rose rapidly on the Saturday from an awesome steep green three in the morning to a pretty awful high holey three come Sunday morning, the day of the competition. This was soon remidied when the lockie opened up the final gate to give a big 4 gates for the comp- bring on the carnage!

This really levelled the playing field- it was going to take big moves and linked moves to score high- otherwise you would be scrapping it out in the middle of the pack. There was also plenty of scope for a few beatings- always a crowd pleaser :0)

The competitors were split into 8 heats with 7 or 8 in each heat. All the categories were mixed together, which made for a wide variety of skill levels in each heat- the idea being that the better paddlers helped out the less experienced ones. These heats would run in a jam style lasting 15 minutes with each paddler getting 30 seconds a time to rack up a decent score. The top 5 in each category then progressed to a super final run to international rules.

There was some great talent on view with the better paddlers linking some big moves- Alan Ward threw a massive mcnasty in my heat with Lee Pyke, Joe Bradley and others throwing big loops front and back.

As the competition progressed it was obvious who the top guys and girls were going to be but the rest of the paddlers were very close and the competition was fierce, but friendly.

For many this is their first taste of competition and despite some seemingly odd judging decisions I think everyone seemed to have a great time at a well organised event- must say a big thanks to Garry who kept us all in hot food and drink and to the Kayakojacko team for their organisation of another great event.

For the record I think I came about 13th in the mens Kayak With Alan Ward Coming out on top just beating Ed Smith, Finn was about 11th in the Juniors with Joe Bradley and Ben West topping the table, and Hugh in his first competition did real well, even going for (and in my humble opinion sticking) a Donkey Flip! For the full results go and check out www.tvfreestylers.co.uk .Be great to see a few more of you there next year :0)

Matt

Riverside Shop Christmas Opening Times

2008-12-12T07:13:00.000-08:00

Tuesday 23rd December 11am – 7pm
Wednesday 24th December 10am – 3pm

Come in on Christmas Eve for a mince pie & a 20% discount!

Thursday 25th December CLOSED
Friday 26th December CLOSED
Saturday 27th December CLOSED
Sunday 28th December CLOSED
Monday 29th December CLOSED
Tuesday 30th December CLOSED
Wednesday 31st December CLOSED
Thursday 1st January CLOSED
Friday 2nd January 10am – 6pm
Saturday 3rd January 9am – 5pm
Sunday 4th January 10am – 1pm
Monday 5th January CLOSED
Tuesday 6th January Normal Opening
Hours Resume

Happy Crimbo!

Seeking forgiveness not approval

2008-12-09T00:55:00.000-08:00

Yesterday saw Catherine & myself pay a visit to the guys & girls at Palm Equipment & Dagger Europe, to collect a few boats.......

No Space left in one of our boat stores now!!!

So as you can see we now have a huge collection of Islander Sit on Tops for you to try or buy... and behind all of this lot happens to be a load of lovely Dagger Creek & Play Boats.

Watch this space for more info on how to come and use on of these great Islander Paradise 1's, Paradise 2's and Hula's. More fun than you can shake a paddle at :-)

Lastly if you see us at Hurley Freestyle this weekend be sure to get a NEW free Riverside. Oxford sticker off us.

Be safe

Rob

Pyranha Karnali Review

2008-12-07T10:27:00.000-08:00

A couple of weekends ago a load of people from riverside headed to South Wales to do their Four Star Kayak Training and Assessment, plus a whole bunch of Dons on an Open Boating Weekend.

I was very kindly offered a place on the Four Star Training (Thanks for a great course Roger and Dennis). Now if you don't know me at all then to say I don't spend much time river paddling is an understatement- don't think I have been in a river boat proper in about 10 years! This means that my extensive boat collection does not contain a big floaty thing that is required for such courses. Catherine came to the rescue and leant me the Karnali- apparently its new and everything!

Outfitting
The boat is fitted out with the latest Connect 30 outfitting. Anyone who has paddled a boat with this in will tell you how easy it is to adjust and sort out ready to paddle. It's also very comfortable with it, allowing a fair amount of adjustment whilst seated in the boat, which is great if you need a bit of a stretch but don't want to/can't get out of the boat to do it.

The stern storage space is vast- I could have been smuggling knock off TV's all weekend and been none the wiser. Due to the back rest system this is really easy to access and load with some good solid clip points.

The deck also is covered in a multitude of solid looking steel cip points for all your possible rescue needs- seem easy to access from the boat and are deep enough to easily clip a karrabiner into with one hand.

First Impressions
If you look at the hull there are no reall edges to speak of, which makes for a really forgiving boat. Mistakes which would be punished in other boats just seem not to affect this one. This is great for the novice and expert alike, as it really instills confidence in the boat. This confidence is backed up by the boats secondary stability- now I don't know how they have manged this but it really doesnt capsize unless you really try quite hard, or you need it to. For a big boat it also rolls suprisingly easily.

For a longer boat it breaks in and out really nicely and ferries controllably front and back, holding its line really well. It also turns well on the spot if required. This entire package makes for a boat that is really manouverable with no nasty hidden suprises.

And the rest
Ok so thats the basic systems check- what about the fun stuff! This thing hole rides like a dream- the boats has the merest hint of a planing hull but it spins easily and unlike many river boats is a fairly stable platform that doesnt bounce around all over the shop.It isn't the nippiest on a wave (funny that) but it is easy enough to manouvere and to move around the river using them.

It boofs drops really nicely, providing plenty of entry speed combined with the ease of which you can pull the front up and keep the boat good and flat. The boat surfaces quickly and punches through anything unpleasant with ease.

Summary
Why have one? Well it's as good a river runner as I have seen, with the latest outfitting, its easy to paddle and it comes in lots of pretty colours- oh and it costs £650 (no. that isn't a typo, it really does!), so, quite frankly, why spend the extra money on something that will do exactly what this can? No, I can't think of any reasons either!

All the details and pictures and stuff are on the Pyranha website (http://www.pyranha.com/), or pop into the shop and speak to Catherine. They seem to have done 2 sizes so far (a M and a L) and there is talk of a S.

Matt

It's getting cold...

2008-12-06T10:08:00.000-08:00

With the winter Temperatures closing in fast, it almost seems too cold to go playboating... almost.

We took the Camera, tripod, warm clothes, went to Hurley and had a good time!
Arriving at 3pm we had about an hour of daylight to get some video down, which we did... here it is, Me, Hugh and a bit of Doug Cooper (TV Freestylers) busting some moves.

Freestyle Kayaking - Winter Time Hurley from Finn Burrows on Vimeo.

Bring on summer...

Talk @ Riverside

2008-12-04T10:43:00.000-08:00

Hey everyone, really sorry to say that Lowri Davies has had to cancel her talk at Riverside on the 11th :( but to save the day, Chris Eastabrook has very kindly offered to come and give us a talk instead!

Young Men, Old Mountains - A Kayak Adventure in Tibet

The expedition took place in late August and September 2007, and headed to the Yarlung valley in Eastern Tibet in search of previously un-paddled rivers.... For me the trip had everything I could possible want; first descents on big volume runs & steep technical creeks, multi-day action, classic Himalayan road problems, drunken nights in small towns and a good mix of terror and lots of laughs!

Don't Miss It!

Thursday 11th December from 7pm at Riverside
Tickets £5 over 19’s; £3 under 19’s in advance, £1 extra on the night

Riverside Centre Oxford
Donnington Bridge
Oxford OX4 4AZ
T ++44 (0) 1865 248673
E riversidecentre2@btconnect.com
W www.riversideoxford.co.uk

The magic Number

2008-11-16T07:11:00.000-08:00

As promised the final installment of last weekends Hurley fest!

Lowri Davies Talks at Riverside

2008-11-12T08:45:00.000-08:00

Lowri Davies is best known as one of the World’s top female freestyle kayakers including being European Champion. However, making small boats spin on every axis while flying through the air is not her only paddling proficiency…

Last year Lowri was selected as one of 8 top white water paddlers for the British Universities Kayak Expedition to explore some of the wild rivers of Siberia, Mongolia and Kazakhstan. The team paddled big volume multi-day rivers through inescapable gorges and ticked off first descents. However, they faced as many obstacles off the water; guns, bribery, arrests, and car crashes to name but a few!

Come and share Lowri’s life and adventures
paddling for 10 weeks in Central Asia
as the only female on the team...
Thursday 11th December from 7pm at Riverside
Tickets £5 over 19’s; £3 under 19’s – advanced booking only

Riverside Centre Oxford
Donnington Bridge
Oxford OX4 4AZ
T ++44 (0) 1865 248673
E riversidecentre2@btconnect.com
W www.riversideoxford.co.uk

A Hurley Weekend

2008-11-10T12:57:00.000-08:00

Still recovering from a couple of long sessions at Hurley. Arrived saturday to find it on 2 gates with no one else around... bonus! Wave was flushy but if you got it right you could fly.

After a night of heavy rain Sunday provided us with a pretty good 3 gates and the appropriate crowd! Great little session with everyone trying out all sorts of stuff.
Attached is a vid of Saturday... the one of sunday will be up soon... enjoy :0)

Matt

Winter playboating pictures...

2008-11-10T08:17:00.000-08:00

Well, i thought i might as well put up some pictures from sessions past and present from Hurley weir.

Matt Throwing down

Over the last few months we've had some sweet water levels, but most of the time we've been paddling rather than taking pictures... anyway here's a few.

Me and Hector - double surfin'

Hugh Going for the Airscrew!

Blunt!

When the water levels drop around here we all mission down to Chertsey weir, not very many photos taken but here's Hugh pretending to do something.

Enjoy the pictures...
More to come very soon!

Finn

Escape from the Valley

2008-11-02T02:33:00.000-08:00

Well with all the non existant water that the valley has been suffering Me, Finn, Hugh Graham and Paul Scopes decided to brave the North and go to HPP for the day.

After managing to negotiate several psycho lorry drivers and some dodgy last minute junction decisions we rocked up at the whitewater course.

The course has changed a lot since I was last there, but we found a couple of pretty good spots to session around the course. The inlet wave is great fun, easy to set up on and maintain. Finn considered this no sport at all renaming it losers hole. He went off in search of pastures new- me being old and stuck in my ways sessioned the top wave till I thought my head would explode- proper cold!

Finn, Hugh and Paul spent most of the session at a small wave just above the looping pool. Good little hole that got a bit stickier as the level dropped. The hole rewarded good technique and as Finns vid shows you could throw some pretty big loops in it. They then moved onto the muncher- not as good as I remember but Finn nailed a couple of big mcnasties in it and Hugh was getting close too.

Check out the vids. The first is of my top wave session (gratuitous amount of me I am afraid).

The second is the guys. Mainly on the small hole above the looping pool, but also has footage of the muncher and losers hole. Enjoy!

Matt

Welcome to the Riverside Shop!

2008-11-01T04:00:00.000-07:00

We have some exciting new arrivals in the shop, the Pyranha Z.ONE and Karnali arrived with great expectations on Thursday. The RRP on them is £649 so they are great as a first boat. Why not pop in and give one a try? we have a demo boat in each. The Karnali is currently only available in large and the Z.ONE in medium, as soon as the other sizes arrive i will let you know.....

The Mens Streetwear.......

Also new in store, the 2009 range of Sweet Streetwear, including the ladies and mens range of hoodies, tees, shirts and hats.

The 2009 helmet range is due to arrive in April, including Strutters, Rockers and the new Wanderer so watch this space......

The Ladies Streewear....

Shop Opening Hours.....

Tuesday 11am - 7pm

Wednesday 11am - 7pm

Thursday 11am - 8pm

Friday 10am - 6pm

Saturday 9am - 5pm
Sunday 10am - 1pm

All shop profits are put back into the Riverside youth club activities, staffing and trips......

House Halloween Night Paddle

2008-10-31T10:29:00.000-07:00

Well, for all of you that missed the House Halloween night paddle, how much fun it was! There was a paddle to the tunnel by Folly bridge with spooky vines and horrid creepy crawlies, stopped for some blood soup then returned to the centre for eyeballs. Here are a few pictures for you, hope to see you next time!

Cath

Remember Norway?

2008-10-29T10:56:00.001-07:00

A little look back at our trip to Norway in August, fun times, here's the video!

Enjoy!