Pila Race Report

One week after the World Cup in Val D Isere was the IXS European Cup in Pila, Italy. Last year I really enjoyed the track there and was really looking forward to the race, I felt I could do really well there and I thought the weather would be good because it was in Italy. We drove down on the Monday after the World Cup, I got a lift with the MS Mondraker team, so huge thanks to them for that! The drive was around 4 hours in the big bus which was pretty cool, it has a PS3 upstairs and 8 beds too J

Tuesday we headed out for some runs on the tracks in Pila, it is really amazing to ride there with many different tracks and one which is about 15 minutes of full on dh, super fast and loose. It was awesome, I was just finding it really tough to hang on. We also did a few runs on the race track and I was feeling better and better, however on my 3^rd run I entered the steepest section of the track that was used in the 2005 World Cup there. There was a tricky high line which I was doing and I just made a small mistake by getting my weight slightly left of where it should have been. I crashed hard over the bars landing on my injured wrist in the process, it was really painful and it felt really week afterwards. I was pretty sure it was just a hard knock and not serious but it was still a bummer. I attempted to ride on the Wednesday, but I could bairly get down without crashing, it was so disappointing. I gave myself a rest on Thursday and just hoped that it would be better on Friday for the start of practice.

Friday came around and it did feel better, not perfect but good enough to ride. The track was dry and rough but still really fun, I felt good and was ready to go. I got in 5 runs on Friday and 3 on Saturday morning, I felt good for seeding. Finally I went up for my run but as it so happens in Europe it started pouring with rain just before my run. I could not change anything then so I just set off and hoped for the best. I had a pretty solid run without pushing overboard but as I entered the last few hard pack birms I felt the front wheel let go and down I went, it was just so slick. I got up and cruised to the finish, I was not too bothered as it was just seeding. I had a time of 4:32, the leader was a 4:03 but he went in the dry and didn’t crash so I wasn’t too worried about that. I knew I had loads more in the tank.

Sunday came around and it was race time, the track was very wet after loads of rain on the Saturday night, but on Sunday morning it wasn’t raining, just overcast. I did one run and the track was a bit lick but not bad at all. However it started raining again and then it was very wet, I did two more runs and it was super slippery but with spikes it was ok. It stopped raining and by the time finals were starting the track was on its way to being dry again, so I felt confident that I could go fast! J

I got up to the start and yet again about 10 minutes before me it started raining, this time it was really coming down. I knew it was going to be slippery I am not the best in mud but I had to give it my best! I set off and it was like ice skating, super glossy but I guess you have to get a bit loose in those conditions. I made a few big mistakes which cost me some time but I was just happy to get down without crashing and getting a race run into the books. I ended 55^th and had a time of 4:50, the winner was a 4:17 but in almost dry conditions so I was not happy but satisfied with the way things went. A few days before I wasn’t sure if I would be able to race so in the end it was a good start.

Thanks to my great sponsors: LE CANNABIS CANFIELD Factory Team, Seattle Coffee Co, Virgin Active, John Wakefield @science2sport, Leatt, Adidas eyewear,Evoc and Flexfit.

SPECIAL THANKS TO MARIA ULRICH FOR GIVING ME A LIFT  BACK TO SCHLADMING!