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The plan was to meet at the LRC and make our way to the 4th event of the season. Captain Marfiak borrowed his company car especially for the trip, and upon waking up, found someone had crashed into it – leaving a sizeable dent. We hadn't even left yet, and were already faced with our first saga. The car was temperamental, and passengers Travers, Juan and Fernando feared for their lives, but eventually we all made it to our destination in one piece... :)
The Metro Inn was fine, though Sharyl wasn't too impressed with its drunk, half naked male residents hovering in the hallways. So much for eye candy... :D
A massive thanks to Jo Tang and Jam for organising the logistics for this event. We had dinner at the Borge – where portions were generous and the food was great. The team enjoyed our carbo loading session immensely :)
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Waiter (to Amit): "And for you, Sir?"
Amit: "Could I have the chocolate brownie, please..."
Waiter (smiling matter-of-factly): "Yes you are, Sir..." :)
Travers (teasing Amit): "Awww...such a cute little chocolate brownie, you!"
Amit (with unimpressed sideways glance at Travers and cool, smooth delivery): "And what are you...white vanilla bombe? Excuse me waiter – do you have some fresh Irish cream, please..."
Hahaha!! Amit: 1, Travers: 0... :D
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We went out searching for the 'breakfast of athletes'...and ended up at McDonald's :D
After some good old Macca's porridge, we made our way. A minor wardrobe adjustment took place en route to the race venue as Kitty (now 7 months pregnant) realised her bump no longer fit into the Rage kit she tried to squeeze into :)
Conditions were cold, wet and windy. Between racing, huddling, shivering, husky petting, a media photo shoot and trying to find helms last minute, the day was a bit of a blur...until our refreshing mass dunking at the end!! :D
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This was officially Jam and Lejon's last event with us as they were due to fly out to Singapore in the next few days – we wanted to give them a send off to remember us by :D
Aaron showed some compassion however: "awww...it's cold, man...nah...let's not do it..."
Kitty: "ohhh...look...they're just getting changed..."
At this point, Sharyl bore the greatest look of disappointment ever (like a kid who had just dropped her icecream on the ground). She really wanted this dunking to happen! Amit wandered over and casually asked the boys to take their jackets off: "because we're taking a team photo...we'll look better in our shirts..."
Captain Marfiak: "C'mon guys! Let's go..."
Jam (with mild sense of panic): "What's happening??"
Captain (keeping a straight face): "We're getting the boat!"
Jam and Lejon obeyed our Captain's orders, and followed the rest of the team like the good boys they are :)
Vic (signalling to Captain): "Richard!! Now..!!"
Aaron, Marfiak and Jen grabbed Jam – who put up a serious fight (!!), whilst Amit and Vic pounced on Lejon, who silently resigned to his fate. Jam went kicking and yelling all the way down to the pontoon: "nooooOOOOOO!!" and only stopped for a brief moment while Travers removed his glasses...after which the struggling and screaming promptly resumed :D
We went down there to chuck the two boys in, but the plan backfired...and five of us ended up in the water!! Meanwhile, other teams scurried down to take a look at what the all commotion was about...Rage was in the water...again :)
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One last team huddle at this memorable race day – we said at least Jam and Lejon would never forget us now...to which they replied they could never forget us anyway, even if we didn't chuck them in :)
Quick showers for all and we packed everything up. At the end of the day, our results were a tail final finish in 55.60 for the 200m sprint, 2nd place in the plate major 500m final in a time of 2.29.43, and yet another victory for LRC ladies (1st place, in a time of 1.00.89 against Powerhouse/St Neots).
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Great to have Aimee, Aaron, Juan and Will Man back with us in Stockton. Hope to see you guys whenever you can make it. And a warm welcome to Marco – who has international paddling experience behind him already, but for whom this was the first set of races with Rage. Hope the weather didn't put you off – it's a bit fresher paddling here than in Asia! ;)
Special shout out to Adam and Gav from St Neots for helming for us throughout the day! It was great having you on board – you guys were ace :)
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Recently, this cute Me-love-Uncle-Dave photo of Livvy (baby dragon of Dan and Laura from St Neots) and Dave Taylor emerged on Facebook. Sharyl noted that it was sweet, though "she'd look even more gorgeous in Rage red."
Dan said Livvy would love to look just like Uncle Dave, and if we got her a little Rage shirt, she would wear it to the London BDA. This proposal was too sweet to refuse...
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Apart from the aforementioned evil dunkings, we also did something nice in Stockton to make up for our sins – we presented the Clarkes with a little Rage shirt. Livvy made her first public appearance in it at Chinatown Lions. We hope to see her model it at a few more events this season...in the meantime, it looks like dragon roaring practise has commenced :)
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Rocking the Rage look, Livvy! Hope you don't grow out of it too quickly ;)
Love, Raging Dragons, xx.
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It's not uncommon to hear stories about knights in shining armour saving damsels in distress, but here at Rage, we do things a bit differently... :)
After a long day of racing in Stockton, everyone just wanted to get home. But Captain Marfiak's car coughed, spluttered and rattled, before finally carking it on the motorway.
No need to fear – Kitty to the rescue! She called AA, and as the account holder, had to stay and wait with the boys for a mechanic – and then a tow truck...before eventually accompanying them on the 5+ hour journey home (travelling at a maximum speed of 50mph).
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7 months+ pregnant, our Kitty's still paddling and turning heads in the BDA – wait till they hear she just single-handedly saved a car full of grown men, haha!! Go, Kit-Kat!! :D
Jana also informed Marfiak that their washing machine had flooded the kitchen! Poor Captain...we wondered what else could go wrong. Fernando: "Kitty...waters breaking!"
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Fernando kept himself amused with arcade poker games and provided live entertainment during the course of the group's unexpected late night adventure.
Jo Tang's car inherited a stray (Travers) while Kitty's trusty hero sidekick (Ken Chow) drove passengers Katha and Marco back, before picking up the rest of the gang at 3am when they finally reached London. Big thanks to Ken also :)
Apart from this heroic act from Kitty and being an absolute trooper both on and off the water during her pregnancy, she's been a valuable and faithful Rager for many years now – we're certain she'll continue to be for many years to come. Congratulations on 'Paddler of the month', Kitty – you've deserved this and a lot more thanks from us for a long time coming :)
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Special thanks to Jess and Sharyl for organising June's Rage social event :)
Rage showcased our zorb football and sumo skills before enjoying a chilled afternoon of drinks and snacks in the sunshine at Shoreditch's Boxpark.
Buzz turned Sharyl's ball upside down and spun her around over and over. Jo Tang got stuck in a corner while the boys kept bumping her ball which meant she couldn't get up. We all left with whiplash and grazed knees – maybe we should just stick to paddling ;)
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This month, we bid farewell to Jam and Lejon. The team met up in Covent Garden to celebrate the time they've spent with us and the many memories and moments we've shared. From Stockton to Singapore, wherever you are in the world, you will always be our family, friends and fellow Ragers.
Lejon, we'll miss your positive, good-natured, polite presence – and Jam, we'll miss your smile, flip-flops, focus and "fiiiiiiiiiiiiive!!" You've both been a pleasure to have on board – ever attentive, helpful, endearing and unique in your own different ways.
To commemorate their time with us, they each received a card from the team, and were also proud recipients of a limited edition Rage cap :)
We're proud of you guys for pursuing your life and career dreams. Wherever you may be, know that we're behind you in all you do.
Lejon, if you continue with dragon boating in Singapore, be sure to let them know who you learnt to paddle with! And Jam, all going well, fingers crossed we'll get to see you again in the near future. We await your good news :)
Keep us posted, guys – this is not a goodbye forever, but a "see you soon" to our two favourite Rage Singaporean sons.
Much love forever and always,
Your Rage family in London.
Rage as one.
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