The Van arrived in Lyon at the Kayak Session HQ to see some of the latest magazines and have a chat with Phillipe Doux. It was great to see how the content and layouts are put together before being read by the masses. In the afternoon we took a visit to our local dealer, Bruno from KWA, located just outside of town. After our shop visit, we headed off to St Pierre de Boeuf to paddle the Espace Eaux Vives white water course and set up shop for the weekend.
Lyon is privileged to have lots of great courses in the area as well as its famous freestyle wave, Hawaii-Sur-Rhone that definitely helps support France’s strong kayaking community.
Espace Eaux Vives is based just an hour south of Lyon and provides a great center for paddlers, rafters and hydro speeders alike.
We spent a few days at the course and it was fantastic to see so many paddlers’ young and old enjoying their time on the water. We saw everything from up and coming slalom paddlers doing their morning training to young freestyle rippers shredding on the numerous holes and waves running down the 750-meter white water course.
KWA, the main kayak retailer in Lyon also came down for the event bringing their recreational and SUP demo fleet down to join the white water boats we had brought with us for people to demo.
We had a great time going paddling and enjoying time on the water with the locals. There are definitely a few young paddlers to watch as they progress over the next few years. This place really is a hub of progression.
For people from the UK, visiting this area is a great idea. For the more reserved paddlers who wish to do a warm weather paddling trip then Lyon is great due to the amount and variety of courses close by and just a stone’s throw from the Mountains.
For the paddlers who are making their annual trip to the French Alps these sites also work perfectly for University Clubs to warm up on before hitting the cold alpine flows.
To see where the van is at, and if it will be passing you, check out our Facebook Page.
Pyranha Team Van – On a mission
Video link – http://vimeo.com/96730334