Crash B environment

[Gettingold]

I'm going to compete in the Crash Bs next year and understand it is held during the middle of what is a rather cold Winter. Coming from Australia I will be stepping out of a Summer of up to 40 degree (centigrade) days. My main concern is not the outside temperature but the artificial heating inside the venue. If anyone has competed at the event I would be keen to know what to expect. Internal temperature, humidity, general description as to whether its stuffy or not. Any help would be welcome.
Regards
Terry Hay

[Citroen]

It was comfortable enough for this softie pommie when I was there in 2009. The air was, possibly, a little too dry (but that may have been due to the physical effort expended on 2K).

The arena is normally an ice rink.

[ArmandoChavezUNC]

Definitely not stuffy. I went some years ago and the temp/humidity was great in the stands (seating) as well as down on the floor where the ergs are.

[Gettingold]

Thanks for the responses. It helps to know before geting there in order to plan a suitable approach.
Regards
Terry

[c2jonw]

Terry, Most frequently mentioned is the low humidity level- one reason we give away a ton of lip balm at the event. Agannis is indeed an ice rink with insulated floor panels laid down on the ice for other types of events, including a parquet floor for basketball. C2JonW

[Bob S.]

To me the main problem in wintry Boston was outside the arena. The city does a lot of work to keep the sidewalks clear or salted, but you still have to watch out carefully for icy patches. Also, the winds, coming in off the ocean, can feel like they are cutting right through you. Nevertheless, Boston has a lot of hearty joggers out doing their exercise in all sorts of weather.

Bob S.

[lindsayh]

Hi Terry, hope all is well - very nice training going on. I am flirting with the trip too.
I have seen others suggest that it is very dry in there. The bigger problem IMO is getting the timing right to acclimatise after the long haul to get there. One problem is that there is no final date confirmed until quite late - this year it was NOV'13 before confirmed. I think we need at least 5 days to recover and get back on track. The best person to talk to is probably Shirley Godkin who has been a couple of times and to the UK as well from New Zealand (and has won). Shirley has done the Canadian IRC first about 2 weeks before the WIRC. You could PM her via the Rowing Company forum - her "name" is "rowmyboat" and I am sure would be happy to give some advice.
Best

[Gettingold]

Thanks for the help guys
I hope you make it Lindsay. I gather Jon Summers and David Williams are contemplating the trip as well. I have been to Boston before but never in the Winter. It should be interesting. The training has been going well. Ian Gibson has produced a training plan for me thats quite rigorous and its paying off. I was at his house last night so he could set up my Rowpro programme to accept all my training rows. Now everything will be easy just to email each row to him for comment.....and hopefully validate a couple of records along the way......Once again....hopefully.
Terry

[rowmyboat]

Hi Terry,

Good to hear you (and maybe Lindsay) are contemplating going to Boston. You certainly won't regret the experience. As Lindsay has mentioned, I have been over and each time I've spent at least 10 days recovering from any jetlag by my kind hosts allowing me to stop on their doorsteps, to compete in the CIRC (in Toronto), 2 weeks prior to Boston. It certainly settled me and to able to participate in a pre-WIRC event was very beneficial. This year I also arrived in Boston on the Wednesday prior to the event to enable some specific training to take place to prepare me for the 2k race. If I was travelling straight to Boston I would indeed hope to arrive there on the Wednesday, or Thursday at the latest. It is a long journey and the body needs some recovery time. Also keep in mind that the weather at that time of year can be very fickle. As it was this year I did have one flight delayed a day. Delays can put travel arrangements in disarray for sure. Take out insurance, some years even US or Canadian participants are unable to arrive in Boston on time because of the weather. On saying that, the previous year I was there was a very 'warm' winter, no problems whatsoever.

As for the arena on the day of the race... I have never found any difficulty with it. It is what it is for everyone and while there are many comments regarding the air I don't give it much thought, it doesn't need to become an excuse for a poor performance.

Best wishes,
Shirley

[Gettingold]

Thank you for sharing your valuable experience Shirley. My intention is to give Boston my best shot and have "No Excuses". If some one kicks my arse it will be because they were simply better than me on the day. I simply didn't want to turn up and be caught unaware. It s just easier to prepare if you're informed.
Hope to see you and Lindsay there.
Terry Hay