Chris, you may be interested to know I've uploaded your Evesham race now. And thanks to Daren's kind offer of hosting the videos (which I took up) following my limited webspace filling up to capacity, I've been able to make available some more video files (in addition to your race).

I've also added a little musical montage of clips from the whole day. This file can be viewed from the top of the page link:

Evesham Golden Mile Race Videos

I should also add, that the video montage includes that classic moment of the day at the end of Chippy's race, he just upped and walked away while all around him were slowly dying!! He's hard that Chippy bloke!!!

Niall,

Total Quality.

Chware Teg (Fair Play).

I love chippys moment too. What you couldn't hear on the vid as he walks off is his flying high slogan "Take a walk!!, Take a walk! MaWaHa Take a walk!!" - hes class you had to be there.

Congratulations to Porky for breaking through the 500,000m barrier for the season. Nice going mate!

Congrats Porky. Keep those meters comin'. I've started my taper for the World Games, so we don't want the Oarsome crowd comin' in and takin' our 5th spot.

Speedy

..................................................................

Speedy
Unleash h*** at the world games ,hope Nials videos of us mortals
suffering spurs you on Been ill for a week so no merters for me, Back tomorrow.

Nial
Top bannana ,

Went to Monmouth rowing club tonight with the crew to try water rowing.Everyone
seem to luv it except me,did not like it at all,definatly will not be getting into
that nonsense.

Martin
Sorry i missed your birthday, buy you a beer when i see you next

Chippy

Thanks Chipster. Got any good Welsh chants I can say before the race??

Excuse me butting in on the Taff Attack thread.

Googling for "Sospan Vach" turned up this site which could provide what you need.
http://www.musicanet.org/robokopp/welsh.html

Dougie.

Super Speedy Lord duke McQuick Emperor of the Erg

When is you race on the blue wet wobbly stuff then? Is it this weekend? How may heats/races do you have to do?

Tell us all what is involved during the weekend, coz some of are fick and don't know what happens at the boat races

Sir Pirate
King of the Seas

Sir Pirate, Lord of the English ergo, sultan of the static boat, ruler of the slide to nowhere,

I/we race Sunday (24 July). I'm in heat 1, then hopefully the semi-final (need to make the top three boats in the heat), then hopefully onto the final (need to make the top two boats in the semi). All of this will be about four hours apart.

Dwayne

Doug,
Thanks for the link to the folk songs, but I was hoping more for a good victory chant.

Dwayne

Take the Max Boyce approach. "Oggy oggy oggy!".

Were closing fast .

Yeah you are. Come on Taffs, put in those meters!!!!!!

Speedy

Sorry guys, I'd forgotten to pudate my log book from Monday and today so just added 20K to the team total. Not much in the big scheme of things but every little bit helps keep that Team Awful away from us!

Niall,
Just got a look at the production film you did at Evesham. OUTSTANDING!!! Loved the way you sinked up the music with the starts.

Speedy

Cheers Dwayne, nice of you to notice the attention to detail so it's greatly appreciated. I think it makes the rowing more dynamic.

Guys,

For a while now I've been wanting to set up a website for Taff Attack so as I had a quiet spell in work today, I decided to jot down some ideas and make a start on setting up some concept pages for you to review. While the pages are in development, I'm going to host them on my NTL webspace and once everyone is happy with the content, I'll promote it to the www.taffattack.com webspace (with Daren's permission).

Anyway, take a look at the link below and let me know what you think:

http://homepage.ntlworld.com/niall.w/TaffAttack/TaffAttackFrameset.htm

What I need from you are:

1) Ideas for sections to be included (these will appear in the menu on the left)
2) Feedback on design, colour scheme, navigation, and look and feel

In order to complete the Bio section of team members I also need from each of you:

Name
Date of Birth
Height
Weight
Location
Profession
Email (optional)
Blog (optional)
PB times for 500m, 1000m, 2000m, 5000m, 1000m, HM, FM, 30mins, 60mins
A recent photo which you'd like to include in your Bio record (optional)

(The other items we can cover off over time so this will be fine for now)

The intention of the website is to both promote our team (it's achievements, goals, ethos etc) and to provide us with a base to be proud of. So it's up to all of us to make it a site we can be proud of. We're the best indoor rowing team out there and I want us to have a website that reflects that.

So get those ideas and thoughts coming and I'll do my best to implement them.

Thanks for your time.

I should add that the only links that actually work at the moment are:

1) Bios (if you click on my name you'll get a sample Bio page to review
2) Photos

Thanks Niall, I'll be in touch next week when I return to Melbourne from Qld hols.

Good luck in the pairs race Dwayne. go get em !

(Ex rower) Martin

Go for it. As you know, I started on something last year, but I spend so much time working on stuff like this for my job that my motivation is low to spend my free time doing yet more. If you're willing, so much the better!

I'll sort out another FTP login for you so that you have access to the root web site.

Nice one, Niall.

Niall,
You ROCK!! Get site. I'll PM my info to you either today (if I get a chance), or when I get back from Edmonton.

Speedy

Thanks Martin. I'll be in a double though.

Dwayne

Yes, Lord Speedy Queen of Speed in a duke sort of way Hope all goes well on the wobbly wet stuff over the weekend, I excpet a victory from your boat/team.

If you win I will send you an signed photo of me

Best of luck.

Sir Pirate
xxx

Boy if I didn't have incentive before, I sure do now!!

In addition to the above links, I have also added some content for:

1) Team / Kit
2) Calendar / 2005

First million meters......

Time for that T-shirt

Mike

CHIPPY TAKE A WALK!!!!! and you will when you start training properly with the Rickster!!!

Great stuff Mike, well done!!!

It's great to get your first million under your belt. The next million wont seem so bad (honest!!).

Congratulations to Porky for breaking through the 500,000m barrier for the season. Nice going mate!


Congrats Porky.[/b] Keep those meters comin'.


Thanks folks for your support, could have done a few more meters lateley but i been on the mountain bike a bit as well.

Good luck speedy for sunday, well done Wilko on the 1000000 meters, Niall your next for the 500000 meters, goo on son.

Keep it going Taff Attack.





Porky.

Wilko51
Nice effort fella We are thinking of having a garage reggatta soon if you want to come along. No tea and cake just a lot of pain and suffering amongst friends.

Been thinking of having a Taff Attack closed event if anyone is interested, just a couple of machines and blast away. Might let the Pirate in as is name is Morris
and he can say Cwmfelinfach backoods. Any takers ........Porky

Chippy

[/quot Any takers ........Porky



Count me in chippy, just make sure i am not working so let me know in advance. I know that you will say if i didnt turn up i was scared, with the right notice i can be there.

The daddy of the stye,

Porky.

Pencil me in as well guys. If we can do it before the 12 August I'd appreciate it as I'm on holiday.

Yep I'll be up for that. Next week is a possibility but the week after is not possible as we'll be on hols.

I was wondering whether we could link to some of the US/Oz folk with Rowpro? I don't have the s/w but do have broadband in my garage so could easily hook a few machines up?

Mike

Anybody know how Speedy did yesterday at Edmonton?? No results available yesterday or today on the www.2005worldmasters.com website

Hi everyone,

Sorry I have been AWOL for so long! Tonight I've got to finish catching up to all the news I missed. The Evesham gifs were great! I hope to see the actual videos tonight as well. Speedy, I'm sure all your training has paid off--hope to see what the results of your competition were soon!

Yesterday I completed my first ever Century bike ride and I feel great about it. I'm dragging a bit today, but will start rowing probably Wednesday night. I don't even want to see where I am on the team standings list right now--probably the very last!

Skip this if you don't care about biking.

A quick run down on the event as it went for me: We checked in at 6 AM (about 300 cyclists) and set out at 7 AM with a staggered start. Mine of course was the only bike there that had a kick stand, which means it must have weighed a good 15--20 lbs more than any other bike there! This meant getting up at 5:00, which is still the middle of the night to me! Right off the bat I discovered my bike bag was not mounted on the rack properly and had to fix it. This left me playing catch up for a few miles, and further aggravated by dropping my water bottle and having to catch up again. We had a rest stop at around 20 miles at Hampton Beach, regrouped and set off again after about 10 minutes rest. The next rest stop was at 36 miles--a very brief strech and refill water bottles stop-- and then off again. About 3 miles into this leg I ended up alone in front of the group I had been with until at mile 48 on a steep hill my rear shifter cable snapped, leaving me with 2 gears--12th and 6th. I called for aid on my cell phone but since I was only 4 miles from the lunch stop, continued on to the 52 mile mark, where my bike was repaired by a volunteer mechanic. My bike is so old he had to alter the cable he had available to fit. We set off from there about 15 minutes later. 5 miles into this leg I was again ahead of my group and alone until mile 72, where my husband met me to give me moral support! I had my first every Gatorade ever, and found it sort of disgusting but refreshing. Off we set again with the next rest stop to be at the 90 mile mark. Within 3 miles or so I found myself again alone out front. This leg was pretty challenging but I looked forward to meeting my husband and our good friends the Schuetzes, who were going to stop by there to say hi. There were some cruel up hills on this section, or perhaps they just seemed so. I had thought we might have an icecream together--it was at Benson's in North Andover--but it didn't seem like a good idea at the time. As usual just as I arrived at the rest stop, the earlier groups were already leaving, but I managed to hook up with a small group of 3 for most of the last 10 miles. There were an inordinated number of nasty hills on this last section, and my legs were getting very sore, but the closer to the end I got the more I wanted to stop, and I could only stop at the finish, so poured on the last bit of energy and ended up leaving my group and catching up to another cyclist that was further ahead and finished the ride at about 3:15. There were volunteer masseurs there and that was great, though the cold shower beforehand was less than agreeable! My average over the whole ride was 15.3 mph and now I really feel I deserve to buy a bike newer than this one, which was purchased in 1974 and felt more and more like it was made of cast iron as the day went on.

Congratulations!!!

Byron

Yes, you earned it. Go ahead and get a nice lightweight bike with good wheels and good tires.

Byron

Havent done many meters of late, but some cycling, and garden digging hopefully contributing to better times all the same. Proved today by setting a new 5K PB of 18:05.3 (1:48.5). Hopefully given Martin something to aim at (worry about more like) when it comes round to setting his time.

bed. Knackered but smiling.

Tidily done Chris !

Top row indeed and shows how much you're improving with all the training with Chippy these past few months. Scary. DF must have been set on your lucky 117 ?

To celebrate the end of my hols and return to cold old Melbourne I did a 10Ker - result below. Had heaps of optimism after the 60 miniter but blew up half way and limped home. DF 106. Confirmed the old adage that a good row a month ago has little bearing on today's row !! Next stop the 30 mins so your 5Ker is safe for a while

Martin

Carla, only one word - WOW !

Great story, just like an alpine leg of the Tour de France. Fantastic achievement.

Martin

I've been taking a rowing course. I went to my first regatta in Ann Arbor on Saturday. I've been rowing on water for about six weeks now. They failed to warn me that the Huron River is full of crabs, and I caught plenty of them. Also, a guy in a launch waving a white flag kept telling me to turn one way, then another during the race. He couldn't make up his mind which way I was supposed to go. Total confusion, but I didn't flip and I finished ahead of the people in the next heat, so I'll call it a successful first race. What a hoot!

Here is Mr Wimp docking after the race:

http://www.math.msu.edu/~drachman/row/byron_docking.jpg

Byron

Congrats, Mike! And don't forget, they send you a cool pin for your lapel, too!

How is Mike Jr. doing?

Yup, just like it, only shorter, slower, and less hilly...well, I guess, not much like it at all!

Great job on your new 10K, Martin.

Niall, I really loved watching the races on video, especially the great job you got capturing the graceful dismount!

Byron, you look like you are having a ball on the water. Speedy better watch out now that you are a rower, too!

Good going, Chris!

You all make me proud to be a Taff!
Time to get my a** back in the saddle!

I'm not sure if "M 2X D" and "Adams" is Speedy's boat (maybe it's under his partner's name or something), but if my interpretation of the results is correct, it looks like his boat came in 5th in his heat (4:05.43, 17.6s behind the winning boat) and they made it to the Semi Final. Then in the Semi Final they finished 7th with a time of 4:17.31 (+24.15 behind the winning time of 3:53.16) and didn't make the final.

That may not be correct, but if you'd like to try and work out the results yourself they're in this file around page 51 - 65 (I think).

Thanks Daren. Looking at the results, I'd have the same understanding. No idea if these times are in line with Speedy's expectations so it'll be interesting to hear his viewpoint on the event.

The winning time in the final was 3:30.57 which looks like half the battle is the ability to keep plenty in reserve during the qualification stages but still having enough to qualify in the first place.

Hi Niall,

Congrats on reaching the 500,000m mark and thanks for setting up the Evesham TaffCam Race footage - great viewing. Loved Chippy's and Dykie's rows and demonstrations of different finishing techniques - priceless ! Searched hard for you in race #2 but recent weight loss seems to have rendered you almost invisible to the naked eye . However the announcer more than made up for it by saying 'Niall Williams this' and 'Niall Williams that' throughout the race - must have been an old mate ?!

My Bio for TaffWeb :-

Martin Wood, 14/7/1949, 6'4", 100Kg, Melbourne, Australia, retired from real work, erging, jogging and eating, Martinjwood@hotmail.com.

Goals for 2006 season - PB in all 10 Ranked events and be a top 10%er for age group in 9 out of 10 (500m - pipe dream !). Sub 6:50 2K before Chippy. Keep in front of Chris's boat for 5K - FM distances.

Times thus far - see below

Thanks for taking on the TaffWeb challenge Niall, it will be a great focal point for the team once everyone is in and we run a few comps in it.

Martin

Thanks Martin. I'll get the updates done tonight and uploaded to our test website for review. One thing missing though (and I'm sure it's not due to shyness!) is a photo for your individual Bio listing! C'mon, show the World what our Australian membership looks like

I was on erg #2 in race #2. Ergs were number 1-7 from left to right as you look at the video (so I'm second competitor from the left).

As for the commentary, yes, Jon Goodall is a good friend and I told him my race plan before the race so that's why he commented on the "perfect race" - bless him!

Mart,

One of those events must fall to me - it would be my proudest erging moment to smash someone of such quality. I beat one or two last year but you always came back within 24 hours. I gotta make one stick! Best chance has to be around 5 or 6k, and maybe 30mins. I'll try a 6 in two weeks, and this time I'll have cotton wool in my ears. When my heart shouts 'STOP' I won't be listening. Your going down Oz. Wifes a nurse, I'll pick a day when shes home.

Cheers fella.