I had always wanted to enter a slalom in the UK, and this one fit in time-wise. I had to figure out the division system (in Germany, all competitions are classed in age/gender categories, in the UK, there are divisions according to your level). Leonie and Clive Merrifield who organised the event were super friendly and welcoming and helped me to figure it all out. They also did a great job organising, this was one of my favourite races ever. Leon was over from Germany, and I remember listening to some awesome music on the drive.
Photos: Leon Rüttinger
I loved that I got an opportunity to compete in the team competition, too, because if you can get a team together, you can race (in German competitions, you can only form teams from clubs within the same administrative region). I arrived just in time as well, having done a training session at Fowey in the morning because I didn’t want to compromise my DW training. As ‘Rag, tag and Bobtail, we even ended up winning the team race.
Rag, Tag and Bobtail
Home for the night
My favourite move on the course!
Doing some officiating, which was very much the same as in German races.
I ended up being moved to the open category and winning it, which was a lovely surprise. However, what I’ll remember from this race is how much fun I had and how friendly and accommodating everybody was. And the bookshop. Here is a great detailed write-up about the race from Bideford CC.