Bikedock Belles

The pair had taken part in this event only once before, two years ago, when Belles Julie and Taryn formed part of the 6-person team. For the weekend's race the pair had again formed an all-female team, but in village spirit it was made up entirely of Dromara Primary School mums. To our knowledge?! this ruled Julie and Taryn out !

After weeks of discussions as to who to invite onto our team, the lucky?! 4 were approached and all enthusiastically replied in the affirmative (while also all saying "who knows what we've let ourselves into with you two?!"). So there you have it, the key ingredient of successful team dynamics...trust!

Paddlers Lorraine and Joanne had been on our team two years ago (after Joanne had been coerced from the lakeside for heat 2 because we actually only had 5 in our team of 6 at the start of the event in 2009!) and therefore knew what they were in for. Little did they know that this year would actually involve some practice – some ?! actually, hours and hours of training, that earned Captain Andrea the label of being a tough taskmaster (ahem, because she's always so prepared for every event?!). Both girls ended up with impressive "badges of honour" – and that was before the actual race !

Paddlers Jenny and Tracy, Hill Rd neighbours of Andrea's who claim to have been infected by Harrower disease, were the newcomers to the event. However kayak instructors highlight that it is all about the swing in paddle technique – and these two have a reputation for swinging !!

Temporarily Jenny was the question mark in the team, on the basis that she had been asked by the Dromara Teachers captain to be on that team. However Jenny knows what side her bread is buttered on – the one that ensures she has a great social life, rather than a salary ! – and she soon gave the nod to her mates.

With a few days to go until the race, and all the excessive prep done, there remained one vital thing to do before the big event – a team name ! So what else would you call an all-female team but "The Coxless 6" ?!

And boy were these 6 "on a mission". A briefing was scheduled in pink headquarters at 17:30, for an 18:30 departure, and a 19:00 start time. The briefing was to cover all things important – the application of make-up, face paint, pink sashes, hair gel and sunglasses, as well as the ingestion of the food of champions such as white wine, mars bars and doritos !

The team arrived at the lake together in the Bikedock van, resembling?! The A-team as they all tumbled out to the pumping Gabriella's "on a mission" song. Did we make an impression? Did we what?! And that was before an organiser came over and asked what team we were, and when we answered The Coxless 6, the reply was "I thought so" !!

Our first race was against the Dromara Teachers, meaning good banter from the start...and even better banter given we caned them ! There were 4 all-female teams and the fastest two had a straight run out in the final – which ended up being us against a very professional team that had beaten us two years ago. Various strategies were being talked about pre final, but in the end they mattered not.....there's not much you can do when the other team grabs your boat before reaching the first buoy ! It was an exciting race (apparently!) and on the final stretch from the buoy the other team proved strong, beating The Coxless 6 by a couple of lengths. Ah well, our prize money for runner-up has ensured continued village spirit....being used to enter the pub quiz mid-week! So not only will some be full of village spirit, but also that of another kind!

Ding Dong!

click thumbnails to enlarge photos, and arrows to scroll through !

Ps next year we want you girls to be involved, lets get a rake of all-female teams in this event !

Andrea