Concept2 Forum

I was out on the water yesterday morning. It was a strangely warm day in Philly (70 degrees in February). It was slightly hazy and around 50 degrees (10 C for those non-American folks). The wind was a little stronger than I'd like but otherwise it was a perfect day for rowing. Conditions like these are my favorite to row in, since its not too hot but you get a good sweat on, and the haziness or fog usually keeps the wind and waves down.

It got me wondering what other people's "ideal" rowing conditions are. Feel free to share some, I'm curious!

Training in the rain, it prevents heating up. I remember a few session, running (very long ago), and a 10k TT, both in rain, it keeps you cool and that helps a lot.

Cooler conditions in general are best, but not to cool, certainly not in combination with wind. My worst experience is a cycling one, got caught in a blizzard, had to cycle into a firm headwind, horrible

Temperature and Humidity have a massive effect.

Have been logging my results and the difference between 17 Degrees C and less than 60% humidity and 28 Degrees and 80%+ humidity is the difference between training at 1:58 pace and 2:01 pace as far as your heartrate is concerned.

Its unfortunate that we don't see humidity figures less than 40% here in Auckland so I find as low as possible and about 17 Degrees C ideal.

A Spring morning on an Italian lake, flat water, snow in the hills, sun behind the mist, sculling through a flock of gulls.

jamesg wrote:A Spring morning on an Italian lake, flat water, snow in the hills, sun behind the mist, sculling through a flock of gulls.

I could do without the birds getting in the way, but the rest sounds incredible! In Philly we just have geese and they don't always move...

The gulls move and complain, not like geese that complain only, a plague nowadays.

Paddling down river to the start, getting an eight to swing all together, listening to the water under the hull. Then sitting afloat under trees a hot July long ago, waiting for the race to start.
And the noise. Row in ice, rain or fog for a year, no one wants to know, then on the day there's a million people shouting at you.

jamesg wrote:The gulls move and complain, not like geese that complain only, a plague nowadays.

Paddling down river to the start, getting an eight to swing all together, listening to the water under the hull. Then sitting afloat under trees a hot July long ago, waiting for the race to start.
And the noise. Row in ice, rain or fog for a year, no one wants to know, then on the day there's a million people shouting at you.

I'll probably miss the quiet mornings on the river i used to have at my old club. The river was "crowded" if there was another sculler out with me. In Philly you're just lucky to get an open lane.

One of the last rows before I sold the boat (dumb move ) was on the Hood Canal (an arm of Puget Sound). Sunny, just light chop, no boat wakes, Olympic mountains gleaming in the distance. The sea lions were popping their heads up to check me out, this osprey kept diving into the water to catch salmon. It was about as close to heaven in a shell that I think I could ever get.

would love to be able to row asleep.
sort of wake up in the morning refreshed - but the body had just done a fm...

other than that..
mild weather - my knees start plaing up under 10°C. I guess its an age thing.
out door undercover in the rain in summer

OTW - sunshine, but not too hot.

I’ve enjoyed rowing after dark this winter. Winds go away and feel and auditory feedback is nice to tap into

Once the weather warms up I'm on Cooper River at 5:00am. It's usually dead calm, like black ink. I can see the skyline and lights from Phila rowing east; turn around and catch the sunrise rowing west. It's intoxicating, sets the mood for the whole day. Love being on my 1x, but really enjoy the 2x with Marianne. We seem to fall "in sync" almost instantly. I tell her we row well together because we're equally incompetent; we took learn to row at the same time. I also love a fast moving quad that "gels". Just haven't got in a quad with the same crew on a regular basis.

I like it warm and calm. Love the warm sunrise rows or late evening.