Two weeks in the USA. We, that means Peter and me and our Slovakian friend Tomo, came to USA at the beginning of the August to train for the World Cup in freestyle kayaking. There are three events which count into World Cup. First takes place in Tennessee on Rock Island, where we competed in 2006 at World Cup too. The second one is held in Tennessee on Pigeon River and the third one will be in NC in Nantahala Outdoor Center (NOC), where the next World Championships will take place. We flew to Atlanta where we picked up our rental car.
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We arrived to NOC in late evening and set the tents right at a parking place. We spent the next days with training in the hole and surfing on the internet. NOC is quite a nice place to spend some time and chill out.
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After a few days we headed back to Atlanta. Our mission was to find a bigger and cheaper car as we rented at the airport. We wanted to pick up our two other friends from the airport so we needed a bigger car anyways. We managed to rent a Pick-Up truck, an awesome car which would be really cool to drive in Europe. Our next step was to get to Rock Island to get used to this playspot. Hole at Rock Island is a pretty tricky playspot but on the other hand it is fun to paddle it. We met up with Jackson's family and our team mate Nick Troutman. They invited us for a "typical" Tennessee meal. We had a great evening with awesome meal-pork and ribs with so much good things on it which I can't even describe :)
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After a couple of days paddling at Rock Island we moved to Pigeon River. At first glance this playspot seems to be very easy to paddle but you really need to be in good shape. It's pretty exhausting. After three days of paddling we decided to head back to NOC. We really needed a day off! Peter got us some tasty meat. I think a good meal and a day off is the best receipt to gain new energy for next day :) So now I am enjoying my full belly while writing this article. Tomorrow we will be on the water again but till then I will just relax, read my book and enjoy the beaitiful nice nature around me. The first competition will be on the next weekend so wish us luck. I will keep you updated.
See you, Nina
Pictures: Tomas Andrassy
