Another New Toy. Sorry Jax

Went up to Escape Route yesterday in Pitlochry with the intention of just getting my bottom bracket fixed on my NRS and going for a ride in the afternoon. Anyway cut a long story short I came home with one of these......



A cyclo cross bike ideal for winter commuting and maybe some Adventure Race Style events for 2011 with Bobinson. My NRS was taking a bit of time as the back brake has been dodgey lately too. The nice boys at Escape Route let me go for a couple of hour blast on a 2011 Giant Trance demo bike. Just as well I didn't come home with one of them too.


On the recommendations of the Escape Route boys I took a great ride out west of Pitlochry. Superb route. Superb coffee. If you are in the area make sure you pop in and say Cam sent you.

Days Off

Got a couple of days off so, yesterday got out in the truck. As a SORC Committee member I am always on the hunt for new site to run events from.

Good friend Adie suggested he might have a site suitable so it was off for a recce. The entrance drive through the forest was stunning, a track Adie had grown up on testing rally cars. There were sections in the forest that could well be used for Challenge events although a small site.

Two fords on the drive up were very nice but could be a different story after heavy rain.


Once through the forest we headed up to the open hill top. This would be great for Tyro events which is what I was looking for. The site has stunning views across Perthshire and beyond. We headed of the site for lunch via and interesting clear forest section. Big tree stumps, a real reminder of the TFC. Highest point on the site is 306m.

Look out for this site on the 2011 SORC Calender.

After an excellent morning on the hill it was time for an afternoon of Fishing at Adie's Loch. It was my first attempt at fly fishing and I was looking forward too it.

A great afternoon out on the loch learning some of the finer details of Fly Fishing. Unfortunately nothing was caught but that didn't matter. One of the reasons we were there was to check out the feasibility of running Kayak Fishing here. Should not be a problem. It would be a great spot for a bit of kayaking with fishing thrown in. Fishing, I'm hooked..... sorry.

Kanu Messe 2010

I got the pleasure to attend the annual Canoe and Kayak Trade show Kanu Messe held in Nuremberg Germany last week. It is a show our company has attended for the last 5 years at least. It is a great opportunity to see alot of our suppliers in a few days. We get the chance to talk sales for last year, look at new products and try and take a stab in the dark for sales for next year.
We left on Monday and were in Nuremberg for Monday evening. I had had a bit of a cold and was still suffering a little from my ear op. The first full day of meetings was Tuesday.

These shows are great, we get a chance to speak to the owners and designers of the gear we sell in store. Above, here we are speaking to Robert Somer owner of Robson. They produce paddles as well as canoes and kayaks. Here we are discussing his new 16ft sea kayak due out early next year. This was the first one out the mould and was only produced on the Monday.

A new brand to pop up at the show was Totuga. They are producers for a company already so we know their quality. They will be producing a range of Touring and Fishing Sit On Tops to start with. Above, Steve is going through the range of Fishing SOTs for us.

Shred Ready were there on the SystemX booth and showing off there all Carbon Super Scrappy. They also had a great new range of the odds and sods you are always looking for from Select Designs. Look out for these in store very soon.

Sweet Prophecy Cag

It was great to catch up with Danny from Werner. Arguably the best Tech Rep in the business right now. He was going through some great ways to help us sell what is already an easy brand to sell. With his techniques we will sell even more Werner's.


Alex from Avoncraft who sell us Prijon kayaks amongst other things was there and proud of the new Prijon Pure range of whitewater Kayaks. Above he is telling Craig our Lancaster Store Manager the finer points of the Footrest System


Mad River had on display there new Journey 158. Maybe not an ideal boat for the UK Market. But I may have to eat my words.

One of the highlights of the show was the changes Palm have made to their range. Almost a complete revamp of all their cags. New colour ways and some unique new designs. Look out for these to hit the store in 2011

On the plus side all the features have stayed with all the cags and they have been replacements not additions. So this will make things a little easier to work out.

Lorna here trying on one of the 9 new woman's specific garments added to the 2011 range.

Ben the technical rep for Palm and Dagger Europe here going through the new products with us.

Yak were also on the case with some new colour ways and some new PFD's Pete Ford here showing off the new colourway on the Force Jacket.


Tahe Marine were there showing off a new entry level brand. Marine Fit. They also had there new Zegul Range of sea kayaks including this Bairdarka with Teak deck Fittings. The Zegal range comes in Carbon Kevlar and is truly stunning.

Gatz Canoes based in Germany were there and Olaf Gatz was there showing us just how string their Carbon Kevlar construction is by happily standing on this £2000.00 boat.

So that is my brief outline of KanuMesse 2010. We look forward to getting in the products and selling them over the next 12 months.